“Unbroken” is an incredible story. The life story of Louie Zamperini is almost unbelievable. The man went through more horrors that we could ever imagine. From a difficult childhood, to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, to being shot down in WWII, to spending 47 days in a life raft in shark-infested waters, to the horrific treatment he received at the hands of the guards for over two years in two Japanese POW camps, Zamperini’s story is unparalleled.
Years later, after he had returned from the war, Zamperini found faith in Jesus as a result of a sermon by Billy Graham. A heart that had been filled with anger, hatred, and revenge was immediately changed and he traveled to Japan to meet with his captors to offer his forgiveness and to share his faith. The general who was the most brutal (around whom the last third of the movie is centered) refused to meet with him, so Zamperini wrote him a beautiful letter of grace and forgiveness.
I have not read the bestselling biography by Laura Hillenbrand on which this movie was based. But I have heard it’s an incredible book filled with Zamperini’s faith and the whole story of his life. The movie version only covers the portion of Zamperini’s life through the end of the war.
While faith was alluded to in the film, it wasn’t really a story about God. We saw how Zamperini himself had the inner strength to stand through these unimaginable horrors, but we didn’t see Zamperini touched or changed or given this strength by God. There was one moment in the life raft when Zamperini made a promise to God that if he survived, he would devote his life to Him, but that was pretty much the last mention of his faith until we were told of his post-war conversion in a few on-screen sentences of epilogue, just kind of tacked on the end of the movie.
I’m glad I saw this movie, but I don’t particularly want to see it again. I’m glad I got a little taste of the horrors some people endure in this life. I am glad I saw a portrayal of the evils that can come from war and unbridled power. I am amazed at all that Louis Zamperini endured and what an incredible person he is, that through it all, he truly did remain unbroken.
But that’s what makes this film not really a faith-based movie. I left the movie thinking how amazing Louie Zamperini was, not how amazing God is. As Justin Chang of “Variety” said, the way his conversion was handled in the credits “[left] you blinking at the unrealized potential of a longer, bolder and more spiritually inquisitive movie than this one.”
Even not considering that element, the movie seemed short on redemption. Which wouldn’t have been bad if they didn’t proclaim it on the movie poster: “Unbroken: Survival. Resilience. Redemption.” Yes, Zamperini and the other prisoners were physically redeemed when they were released and brought home, but there was no sense of anything deeper. The movie was two hours of torturous hell with two minutes of “happy ending.” It just wasn’t enough for me.
I would encourage you all to go see it (better yet, read the book) out of respect for Louis Zamperini’s life. He died this July at the age of 97. Just go into it with realistic expectations and be prepared to leave a little depressed. Because the evil in this world IS depressing. And without the hope of Jesus, that’s all we’re left with.
Related article: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to release documentary about life of war hero Louis Zamperini
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Thank you! We were on the fence about going to see it. We read the book as a church this past year.
I read the book and it is one incredible story. I was wondering how the movie would incorporate the entire body of work during his amazing life. Now I know…..it didn’t. Thanks for the review…..on the fence about going to see the movie.
Royallen and Liz – I still definitely think it’s worth seeing. It’s just really hard to watch, which is a good thing; it was really hard for him to go through it. Honestly, no movie can ever cover all that a book can and Jolie had to make her choices of what to include. I would still go see it, just go see it with realistic expectations that it’s only going to tell you part of the story.
Zamperini became an elder and a pillar at Hollywood Presbyterian Church. I had never heard of him till a friend of mine attended one of his “motivational” speeches. He was blown away.
Zamperini came back from the war with severe PTSD. He always gave the credit of his survival and redemption to Divine intervention and the power of Forgiveness. It is hard to interpret his life any other way. The book will knock your socks off. And make you a little angry at the Japanese. They made the German POW camps look like day spas. It would be too difficult for the audience to portray it. Some things in war should at most be spoken of, but never seen. However it’s what makes his redemption all the more remarkable.
Zamperini died a witness to the fact that Forgiveness is the one thing that is greater than all the evil, sin, and cruelty of war.