Film No. 85 (2014) December 15th. 7:00 PM HOYTS Extreme Screen Carousel Cannington.
When the Golden Globe nominations were released on the weekend I was surprised to see Unbroken was not listed for any awards. I hadn't seen the film but there has been much hype about Jolie's direction and the fact that the Louis Zamperini story had become such a legendary boys own story. After watching the preview screening last night I can understand the reason for the lack of Golden Globe acknowledgement but the film remains impressive.
Louis Zamperini grew up in dry, dusty Torrence CA, the son of Italian immigrants. Depicted as something of a "wild child" he channeled his energies into middle distance running, becoming a state champion, then Olympic qualifier in 1936. He set a new Olympic lap record in the 5,000 metre event in Berlin. Aiming for Olympic glory in 1940 his ambitions were thwarted by WWII. He joined the Air Force as a bombardier in 1941 and spent much of his time in the skies over the Pacific. And this is only the beginning of a tale so tall it really has to be true.
Zamperini, cheats death on his combat missions but is put to the test after spending 47 days in the ocean after an emergency crash landing following an aborted search mission. He and Phillips (Domhall Gleeson)survive to be plucked from the sea by the Japanese who proceeded to torture him till war's end. One particular Japanese officer, named Matsurhiro (Takamasa Ishihara), took a particular dislike to Louis so legend has it.
The two hour film focuses on his life til the end of the war so we learn nothing of the rest of his seventy years. He died just this year (2014) aged 98. Because Jolie only focuses in a linear manner on the chronological order of events with no cutting to loved ones as they must have fretted, wondering why they had heard nothing from Zamperini, we are left watching a film without a truly beating heart. The film, while exceedingly handsome, lacks an X factor. 7GUMS.
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