Unbroken

A strong story, excellently shot and acted. I was (pleasantly) surprised by the large space dedicated to staying in the lifeboat, I was entertained by the credible power of the spirit that emanated from the protagonist from start to finish, and I did not see any unnecessary pathos for even a moment, which I was originally a little worried about. Everything was human, Roger Deakins' camera was beautiful as ever (he did great especially with the aforementioned richly yellow boat on the surface of the blue ocean), Alexander Desplat's music was this time mostly rather inconspicuous, but in a few important moments not to be overlooked, and Angelina Jolie again directed in that Eastwood (and perhaps a little Spielberg) style - clearly, lightly and every now and then with some great shot, such as when the boat arrives in the shadow of a Japanese ship (the ocean again, I know). (11/22/2017)

Unbroken may be an old-school film on the surface (thanks to Deakins’s epic, somewhat kitschy cinematography), but in terms of its narrative, it is an arduously monotonous and unimaginative drama that doesn’t have an expression of its own. O’Connell also lacks expression, as he doesn’t remove the mask of stoicism from his face and doesn’t allow us to fully appreciate his inner struggle, which is crucial to the film’s dramaturgical effectiveness. Like the protagonist of 12 Years a Slave, Zamperini is mostly unable to outwardly fight back due to the external circumstances. Despite the comparable pacification of the main character, however, McQueen’s uncompromising opus did not suffer from the same degree of repetitiveness (to the point that the order in which the scenes are arranged ceases to matter) and did not raise the heretical question of why we should watch the suffering of this particular man. The protagonist of Unbroken is defined in the introduction by only his Italian roots and outstanding physique (in shots of him running, which are strikingly reminiscent of Forrest Gump). I would have liked to know more about the man that I’m supposed to spend an hour with in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean and more than two hours with in a Japanese POW camp. The malicious attempt to read against the grain also leads to a dead end – I have no interest in torture porn with a PG-13 rating and thus without a single gore scene. Zamperini isn’t much more of a malleable character than his adversary, a sadistic Japanese guard whose portrayal would have been labelled as stereotyping fifty years ago, when the far more complex The Bridge on the River Kwai had its premiere. The film’s credibility and its ability to draw the viewer in are diminished both by its (unintentional?) overdramatisation and by its fear of humour, which, according to the filmmakers, could have perhaps broken the numbing (for both the protagonist and the viewer) chain of pain and suffering. I hoped that at least some adequate comedic exaggeration would reveal the Coen brothers’ creative signature. This is ultimately limited to the Jobian nature of Zamperini’s story, which is underlined by the pro-Christian closing credits just to be sure (the film itself does not in any way develop the religious level, or any other motif for that matter). Besides showing how much more dramatic and psychological potential lies in the story of Zamperini’s life after the war, the authentic epilogue is by far the most impressive part of the film. You can describe yourself as unbroken if you can manage to sit in the cinema for two whole tiresome hours for these last two minutes. Maybe that was the intention. 45% (01/17/2015)

Angelina Jolie surprises with her old-fashioned, consistent direction and a very conscious tone that permeates the entire film. There aren't many highlights, but the standard is maintained throughout. Unfortunately, the pacing (the drive) fails dramatically and doesn't hold consistency. Given the fantastic opening ten minutes, which suitably lure you in, there is a sense of stagnation throughout the rest of this adventure story, which has the basic plot premise of The Shawshank Redemption, but a bit lower in quality. Essentially without sentimentality – thumbs up for that. The women in Hollywood have been balling it up proficiently recently (Bigelow, Jolie). The acting is fine, and Roger Deakins is a safe bet. (07/16/2016)

It is visible that Angelina learned from masters, but it didn't help her much in just shooting something that is terribly typical for Americans. It is a strong story, but personally, I think I would prefer it in a book format. There are big scenes, there are wonderfully harsh scenes, but overall it is just an effort to show how some Americans had a difficult time. Louis's story is captivating and cruelly beautiful, but in this film adaptation, it didn't touch me as much. (02/01/2015)

Angelina Jolie managed to show up even Clint Eastwood with this film, without the pathos I expected, but with a powerful story and the excellent Jack O'Connell in the leading role. She didn’t achieve this by being original, but by employing an accurate, clean, old-school Hollywood narrative like those done by Edward Zwick or Ron Howard. With a nod to Forrest Gump, the film completely overshadows prison stories like Hart's War and paraphrases the idea of The Shawshank Redemption. Of course, it is questionable if she could have completed such an ambitious project without the Coen brothers as screenwriters and Roger Deakins as the cinematographer. But let’s not be mean. It’s still not bad for the former Lara Croft. (02/16/2015)