In December 2014, the film "Unbroken" was released on large screens. The review of this picture from the main character of this drama - Louis Zamperini - remained unknown to the public: Louis died six months before the premiere. Nevertheless, heated debate arose among film critics and spectators over the picture. What is the film “Unbroken” about and who shot it?
The creators of the picture
The biography of Louis Zamperini, an athlete who experienced all the scourges of World War II, was widely discussed in the United States as far back as the 1950s. In the wake of general interest, the film company Universal Studios acquired the rights to film the story exactly by the end of the 50s. Then it was planned to entrust the role of Louis to the famous Hollywood actor Tony Curtis ("There are only girls in jazz"), but the matter was stalled.
In 2010, the world saw the book of Laura Hillenbrand, dedicated to the biography of Zamperini. When this edition became a bestseller, the “bosses” of the Universal film company became active again and commissioned the Coen brothers (“Spy Bridge”) to write the script for the film “Unbroken”.
Francis Lawrence (“Constantine: Lord of Darkness”) was supposed to sit in the director’s chair, but he refused. So Angelina Jolie became the director of the film "Unbroken".
The review, which came to the picture immediately after its premiere from the periodical Variety publishing house, states that Jolie showed "impeccable skill" and "sober restraint" in her work. Other critics complain that she turned a brilliant story simply into a good, ordinary story. What is this “narrative" about?
“Unbroken”: review, short story
The picture “Unbroken” is a biographical one and reflects the events of a certain segment of the life of the American athlete Louis Zamperini.
The story begins with the fact that Louis arrives in Berlin to take part in the Olympic Games. It was 1935, Nazism was already rampant in Germany.
Louis did not manage to earn a single title in games, but Hitler himself noticed him, who even expressed a desire to talk with the athlete in his box. After that, Zamperini departed back to the States and began preparations for the next Olympic Games, but World War II broke out.
Soon, Louis was sent to the front. He flew military aircraft. Once the crew of Zamperini crashed in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. 47 days, the pilots hung out at sea until they were nailed to the Japanese islands. So Zamperini was captured by the Japanese.
In captivity, life was far from a fairy tale: beatings, overwork and bullying. But the athlete nevertheless returned home when the allied forces won.
The plot, as you can see, is very exciting. But a critic at The Hollywood Reporter notes that Jolie has too tightened on the section where Zamperini is held captive: for a long time nothing happens on the screen except bullying, which makes the viewer yawn, despite all the horrors shown on the screen.
Jack O'Connell as Zamperini
Initially, the role of Louis was predicted by Dane de Haan. This is a young American actor who has not yet been marked by the main roles. But Angelina defended the British candidate Jack O'Connell. He began, like many other actors, with serial projects: in 2005 he appeared in a soap opera called Doctors, and a little later he managed to be shot in four episodes of the purely English murder detective.
In 2007, Jack also did not differ much: he was offered only episodic roles in the movie. But soon the actor, finally, got into a big movie: he appeared in the horror film “Lake of Paradise” and the action film “Harry Brown”.
The role of the bad guy went to Jack in the youth series "Duckbills." And in 2014 for O'Connell the "finest" hour came, because any actor could dream of the role of Zamperini. Jack won the BAFTA Award for his work in the movie Unbroken.
Other role performers
What else is said about the cast of the “Unbroken” project? A review of the film by Forbes Publisher describes the situation perfectly. A certain Scott Mendelssohn in his review notes that with the participation of such little-known actors, Jolie managed to make a good picture. But, unfortunately, Angelina’s film cannot be called good.
The game of actors in this tape cannot be called talented or emotional. Rather, many performers look neutral on the screen, sometimes even indecisively. Who can be seen in the frame of “Unbroken”?
As already mentioned, the main role went to the British Jack O'Connell, and the singer Miyawi acted as his Japanese tormentor. Zamperini’s close friend and colleague was played by Domnal Gleeson (“Boyfriend from the Future”), and Garett Hedlund, who starred in the legendary “Troy”, this time got the image of John Fitzgerald. Jay Courtney (Terminator: Genesis) got the role of Hugh Cappernell, Finn Wittrock (Noah) played Francis McNamaru, and Alex Russell appeared on the screens in the image of his brother Louis Zamperini.
Premiere
The film "Unbroken", reviews of which appeared at the end of December 2014, was first shown in Australia in November. In December, the tape was able to see the residents of Canada, the United States, Spain and the UK.
In early 2015, “Unbroken” was presented to film enthusiasts in Western and Eastern Europe. After all, the Japanese will see the picture only in February 2016. But the curious have certainly quenched their interest by reading the online feed.
Box office
The film fully paid its price at the box office: at a cost of $ 65 million, 163 million was earned. This is not the final figure, since the picture will be shown at the beginning of 2016 in several more countries.
“Unbroken” (Unbroken): review, reviews, kinolapy
Negative reviews of film critics are often associated with many errors made in the film. For example, pilots wear uniforms instead of flying suits, which looks very strange. And the girls appear in the frame in dresses, the style of which will be developed only ten years after the events described. And this is not a complete list of kinolapov found in the film "Unbroken".
Reviews by critics of a positive nature make up slightly more than half of all other reviews. We can say that the picture provoked numerous disputes. On the one hand, Jolie took into development an original story that cannot leave the viewer indifferent. On the other hand, all critics to one degree or another agree with the assertion that the actress should not have gotten into directing: one could “squeeze” much more out of this plot, and Jolie limited herself to a meager description of events, without giving the whole narrative an interesting form.
Viewers reviews
Ordinary viewers were less critical of the movie "Unbroken": reviews, reviews coming from them, provided the tape with a rating of 7.20 on the IMDb website.
Positive feedback came primarily from fans of the actress, who admire her beauty and respect the humanitarian activities of Jolie. Enthusiastic fans in advance favorably reacted to the project of Angelina called "Unbroken". The review from this category of viewers boiled down to the following: the story moved to the core, Louis Zamperini is an outstanding personality. Spectators sincerely admire the strength of mind and endurance of the protagonist, but the circumstances in which this power is revealed were spelled out in the script. But where is all the same merit of Angelina?
Many agree that the story of Louis Zamperini deserves a better film adaptation. All the events described in the film could be given a more interesting and original visual form. Then two hours of the picture would not have seemed like an eternity, and Angelina Jolie herself would finally cease to be blamed for the lack of directorial talent.