Where is the Faith in “American Sniper” and “Unbroken?”
Posted on January 19, 2015 at 3:37 pm
Two U.S. military heroes wrote books about their lives that became movies released in the last few weeks. Both men wrote movingly about the way faith anchored their lives and guided their actions. And yet there was little mention of their faith in the two films, “Unbroken,” the story of WWII soldier Louis Zamperini, and “American Sniper,” the story of Iraqi veteran Chris Kyle.
Both stories focus on the dramatic stories of warriors who died before the movie versions of their lives came out. Both “American Sniper” and “Unbroken” include an early scene of their families sitting in church. Both men struggle with substance abuse after returning from war.
And both films largely skirt the faith that Kyle and Zamperini said were key to their identity — and their survival.
Rated PG-13 for war violence including intense sequences of brutality, and for brief language
Profanity:
Some strong and offensive/abusive language
Alcohol/ Drugs:
None
Violence/ Scariness:
Intense wartime peril and violence, characters injured, abused, and killed, some disturbing images, parent strikes a child with a belt
Diversity Issues:
A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:
December 25, 2014
Date Released to DVD:
March 23, 2015
Amazon.com ASIN:
B00HLTDC9O
Copyright 2014 Universal Pictures
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie breaks into the top ranks of American directors with “Unbroken,” showing an exceptional understanding not just of actors, but of tone, scale, and letting the camera tell the story. Working with the magnificent cinematography of Roger Deakins (“True Grit,” “Skyfall”), she adopts a classical style well-suited to the WWII setting, but every choice is careful, thoughtful, and powerful.
Based on the best-seller by Laura Hillenbrand, this is the story of Louis Zamperini, the son of Italian immigrants. He was a rebellious kid who became an Olympic athlete. His bomber plane crashed over the Pacific, and he survived for 47 days at sea, before being captured with one surviving crewmate, by the Japanese. In the prison camp, he was singled out for horrific abuse and repeatedly beaten.
The screenplay by the famously off-beat Joel and Ethan Coen is straightforward, direct, and sincere, keeping the focus on the war years, with the incidents from Zamperini’s past brought it primarily to show us how he relies on his memories to keep going. “Nobody’s chasing me,” he tells his brother who is urging him to run faster as he trains for a race. “I’m chasing you,” his brother tells him.
That internalized sense of mission helps him hold onto the idea of his own power as the brutal Japanese captors try to take everything away from him.
The opening scene puts us in the sky, and Jolie superbly evokes the thrill and the terror of flying on a bombing mission in aircraft that seem barely past the era of the Wright brothers. The crash scene is vertiginously disorienting. Jack O’Connell plays Zamperini with an effortless masculinity, understanding that it has nothing to do with macho posturing, just an imperishable sense of integrity, courage, and honor. O’Connell, Finn Witrock (“Noah”), and Domhnall Gleeson (“About Time”) perfectly capture the rhythms of an experienced crew, some amiable wisecracks and bravado to recognize the perilousness of their situation, but always focused, on task, and always, always, putting the team first.
We become so attached that it is sharply painful to see the characters experience such deprivation and abusive treatment. Japanese pop star Miyavi (real name Takamasa Ishihara) plays the sadistic Mutsushiro Watanabe, known as Bird. He knows of Zamperini’s celebrity as an athlete and sees that he is a symbol to the other prisoners.
If the Bird can break Zamperini, it will crush the morale of the whole camp. So, he singles Zamperini out for beatings and mind games. But Zamperini knows that “we beat them by making it to the end of the war alive.” He simply will not give up, and defining his own sense of what it means to win allows him to maintain a sense of control that is his most powerful weapon.
It is gorgeously filmed, superbly acted, and directed with great sensitivity and compassion, but the real impact of the film comes at the end, when we learn through a few simple titles, what happened to Zamperini after the war. Even Jolie recognizes that there is nothing she can put on screen to match the real-life footage of Zamperini, back in Japan at four days before his 81st birthday, running with the Olympic torch.
Parents should know that this movie includes very intense and disturbing wartime peril and violence, with a plane crash, an extended period lost at sea, and grueling prison camp abuse, and some strong language including racist epithets. School-age bullies harass and punch a character and a parent beats a child with a belt.
Family Discussion: What was the toughest challenge for Louis? Why didn’t he give up? Why did he forgive his captors?
One of the biggest films of the year is “Unbroken,” based on the true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete whose airplane crashed into the Pacific in WWII. He survived for weeks in a lifeboat and then spent two years undergoing brutal abuse in a Japanese prison camp. Angelina Jolie directed breakthrough star Jack O’Connell along with Garrett Hedlund and Domhnall Gleeson. Here’s a look behind the scenes.
December 2014: A Lot of Oscar Hopefuls and Holiday Blockbusters
Posted on December 1, 2014 at 7:00 am
Happy December! Everyone is busy in December, but make time now on your schedule for some of the year’s biggest films, including Oscar hopefuls, blockbusters, and even a couple of possible surprises. (NOTE: As typical at this time of year, release dates may vary in different cities.)
December 5
Copyright 2014 Fox Searchlight
“Wild,” with producer Reese Witherspoon, based on Cheryl Strayed’s Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, a book so gripping and inspirational that Oprah brought back her book club to make sure the five women in the world who had not already bought it would go out and get it. When everything in her life fell apart, Strayed went for a walk, more than a thousand miles. Witherspoon might find herself up for an Oscar competing with the other film she produced this year, “Gone Girl.”
December 12
“Exodus: Gods and Kings” Christian Bale plays Moses in this Biblical epic, directed by Ridley Scott with the grandeur and power he brought to “Gladiator.” He’s got stars who can make that kind of scale work, including Joel Edgerton as Rhamses, along with Ben Kingsley, John Turturro, and Israeli star Hiam Abbass.
“Inherent Vice” The very cerebral Paul Thomas Anderson directs, based on a book by the sometimes impenetrably cerebral Thomas Pynchon, and the trailer makes it look like a darkly comic crime farce along the lines of Elmore Leonard. The sensational cast includes Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon (again), Jena Malone, Josh Brolin, Maya Rudolph, and Owen Wilson.
Copyright Paramount 2014
“Top Five” Chris Rock wrote, directed, and stars in this fictionalized story of a comic actor with a career crisis. This one has a ton of great buzz coming off the festival circuit and could be one of the brightest spots this month.
December 19
Copyright Disney 2014
“Annie” Disney’s remake is based on the original film, based on the Broadway musical, based on the Depression-era Harold Gray comic strip. The cast singing their hearts about about the hard-knock life and the sun coming out tomorrow includes Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, and, in the title role Quvenzhané Wallis of “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
“Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” We’ll all feel a special pang to see Robin Williams in one of his last roles as Teddy Roosevelt and Mickey Rooney as a museum guard in this third of the series about museum exhibits that come alive at night. Joining the cast is “Downton Abbey’s” Dan Stevens as Sir Galahad, and Ben Kingsley as King Tut. Returning favorites include bickering buddies Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan, Rami Malek as Ahkmenrah, and Ben Stiller both as the harried former guard who learned the secret in the first film and as…I’ll just let that be a surprise.
“Mr. Turner” Another festival favorite is this Mike Leigh film about the brilliant, influential, and occasionally controversial British artist J.M.W. Turner. Anything from Mike Leigh is worth seeing, especially with Leigh regulars Timothy Spall (long overdue for the kind of showy lead role he gets here) and Lesley Manville.
December 25
“Unbroken” The closest to a lock for Oscar nominations is Angelina Jolie’s film based on Laura Hillenbrand’s blockbuster best-seller, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. It is the stunning real-life story of a man who was an Olympic athlete and then served in WWII, where he was shot down by the Japanese, survived weeks lost at sea with no food or water, only to be captured and imprisoned by the Japanese and subjected to the most brutal conditions. This may be the first time you hear the name of star Jack O’Connell. It will not be the last.
“Into the Woods” Stephen Sondheim’s complex meditation on fairy tales and other stories we tell children is pretty meta on stage. I’m betting this version from Disney will have a little more fairy dust. I know it has an all-star cast, including Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick, and Johnny Depp.
“Big Eyes” It’s hard to believe that strange paintings of children with enormous eyes were briefly insanely popular in the 1970’s. It’s even stranger to find out that they were not the work of the artist whose name was so attached to them that he was a joke in Woody Allen’s “Sleeper.” He in fact put his name on the paintings created by his wife. Who better to tell this strange tale than Tim Burton, and who better to star than Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams?
“Selma” One of the most important moments in American history is brought to screen by the brilliant director Ava DuVernay, with David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King in the story of the march for civil rights that made it impossible to continue to ignore the virulent racism of the Jim Crow era and led to sweeping federal legislation. Oh, and Oprah’s in it, too. Look for some Oscar nominations for this one.
One of the most anticipated films of the year is “Unbroken,” directed by Angelina Jolie, and based on Laura Hillenbrand’s best-seller, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. It is the story of Louis Zamperini, who died this month at age 97, after an extraordinary and heroic life that included competing as an Olympic athlete, 47 days on a raft in the Pacific Ocean after his plane crashed during WWII, and then surviving torture and starvation in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Perhaps most remarkably, he found peace after the way by learning to forgive the men who tortured him. This first trailer looks like the film will do justice to Zamperini’s story.
But it can never be as powerful as the man himself.
, this is the story of Louis Zamperini, the son of Italian immigrants. He was a rebellious kid who became an Olympic athlete. His bomber plane crashed over the Pacific, and he survived for 47 days at sea, before being captured with one surviving crewmate, by the Japanese. In the prison camp, he was singled out for horrific abuse and repeatedly beaten.
, and Zamperini’s own book, 
, along with the films 
and 
, also based on real-life WWII stories of American prisoners of war.
, a book so gripping and inspirational that Oprah brought back her book club to make sure the five women in the world who had not already bought it would go out and get it. When everything in her life fell apart, Strayed went for a walk, more than a thousand miles. Witherspoon might find herself up for an Oscar competing with the other film she produced this year, “Gone Girl.”
. It is the story of