Unbroken (2014)
Directed by Angelina Jolie, with Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleeson.
This brings up the discussion about truth and accuracy when doing movies based on real events and real people. This is the true story of an Italian American kid who became a track star, then ended up as a bombardier on a B-24 in WWII. The plane crashes in the ocean, leaving only 3 people alive, who, after about 47 days at sea are picked up by a Japanese ship and put in a POW camp. There, he endures repeated brutality. At the end of two hours,
and his camp is liberated. He is reunited with his family, the end.
I remember when this came out, and the critical consensus was dead on. This movie is really well-directed. Jolie is a very assured, calm, competent filmmaker. There's nothing flashy or showy or overly exciting about any of it, though. The problem with Unbroken is that the story itself is weak. Yes, it's a true story, but when those beats don't add up to a compelling narrative, you have to get creative.
The first 30-45 minutes they intercut between his bombing runs as a bombardier and his running track exploits. Then they abandon this motif. From there it's a lot of starvation and slave labor. The problem is there are few if any moments that pull against the downward trajectory of the story. It's depressing and brutal. A parallel example would be The Shawshank Redemption, when Tim Robbins breaks into the warden's office and plays a record for the prisoners -- that moment of defiance, and simple joy, is missing from Unbroken.
Also unlike Shawshank, Unbroken does not stick the landing. We are meant to believe there is a quasi-mystical side to this, that the real character makes a deal with God to dedicate his life to him if he gets him through this, and then we see in text cards at the end that "he fulfilled his promise". The text at the end also tells us that the main guy decided that "forgiveness is more important than revenge" or something. The problem with both is that they are literally making you read it, instead of showing it happen.
Ultimately, the running and being an Olympic athlete are beside any point the film is trying to make. In short, it's missing heart. Yes, it is admirable showing the guy's bravery and stoicism, but it's a pummeling tale of life in a Japanese POW camp. At the end, he survives, barely. It's like, as a pitch, someone says: "there's this immigrant Italian kid who made the Olympic team, competed in Hitler's Olympics, was in a B-24 crew in WWII, got shot down, survived being adrift for 47 days, was sent to a POW camp for two plus years, and came home." Then someone in the room should have said, "Yes, and?"
Unbroken is well made but emotionally muted.
6/10