Is Unbroken A True War Story?

Is Unbroken a True War Story?

Unbroken is a film directed by Angelina Jolie that was first shown in theaters in 2014. It depicts Louie Zamperini starting from his time as a troubled child and following him up until his return from World War II. Angelina has a very lugubrious and horrific tone towards war, as displayed by the horrific events that occur in the film. She fully recognizes the nightmarish conditions that soldiers faced at that time. She demonstrates her knowledge of this by showing detailed depictions of harsh events that fall upon Louie like the mistreatment he receives by Japanese military officers and the struggles he faces in the life raft while lost in the Pacific. It is clear that because of the connection, camaraderie,

This camaraderie is evident in scenes that take place in the P.O.W. camps where the U.S. soldiers work together to outsmart the Japanese to get battle updates and extra food for each other. Louis or “Louie” Zamperini starts out his childhood as a rebellious “street rat” who spends his time getting into fights, drinking liquor, and smoking cigarettes. His older brother gets him into running and that is where his life starts to change. He quickly becomes a world renowned high school athlete and takes part in the 1936 Berlin, Germany Summer Olympic Games. Before he can participate in the next Olympics, Louie is commissioned into the U.S. Army Air Force as a Bombardier in a squadron of B-24 Liberators in the year 1941. His service in the Pacific leads to the hardest years of his life. Based on these three of the principles laid out in Tim O’Brien’s How to Tell a True War Story; “In many cases a true war story cannot be believed”(68), “You can tell a true war story by the way it never seem to end.”(72), and “True war stories do not generalize. They

I believe this because the director does a wonderful job of making the story believable, and also because I have watched many interviews and documentaries on both Louis Zamperini and the film itself. Louie and Angelina worked together as much as they could to produce a story that was as close to one-hundred percent true as possible. This movie, although brutal and harsh at times, has a positive impact on society. The main reason for the film’s existence was to shed a very positive light on Louie Zamperini who fought courageously and sacrificed so much for his country and for the well being of the citizens of the United States. In that respect, the movie has a very positive impact. On the public’s view on war in general, it could be different. Depending on who you are, this movie could create a positive or a negative impact. Some could see the war depicted in this movie as disgusting and horrible and it would have a negative impact for them, while others will see this film and recognize the horrible nature of combat, but will also recognize its importance. These people can see how it has made our country better and because of how it changed Louie and many others like him, they will still have a positive outlook on war in general. Louie Zamperini was an incredible man, and through this film, his inspiring legacy will be able to live on