Good Movie, but........

Rating: 7/10 (3 June 2015)

This is based upon a true story
We see Louis Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) as a kid doing petty thief things, becoming a track star in school so he wouldn't be picked on for being Italian, being a member of the 1936 Olympics Team as a runner, being a Bombardier in WWII, and being downed by engine failures in a plane that was used for parts for other aircraft, and finally being a POW in a Japanese Prison Camp.
From the title we know he will survive everything and maybe this is why we didn't feel empathy anywhere in his life. We didn't need the Kleenex boxes we thought we might need. The 47-days in the life raft showed the plane survivors as fairly healthy and their skin should have shown more blotches from the sun.
It is when Louis gets to the prison camp in Japan that we see him experiencing brutal pain thru beatings. that are administered by the camp commander, Watanabe (Takamasa Ishihara). who the prisoners nickname The Bird. Now where did we see him before? Huh?
Didn't we see him at the 1936 Olympics when the torch was being carried in to the stadium? Didn't Louis look to his right and saw Watanabe who looked to his left and nodded to Louis? Wasn't that him? I thought Watanabe, in the camp, was jealous and took pleasure berating and beating Louis. If that was not him, then why was that nodding scene at the Olympics included in the movie? Why indeed because there was no mention in the statements at the end of the movie acknowledging their somewhat meeting at the Olympics and of Watanabe being in the Olympics. Why indeed?
Oh, you say Louis was remembering that time when he was in the camp. No, he had that memory when he was in the plane and about to crash in to the ocean. This memory was not from the camp, but from the plane. See?
This was not a Hogan's Heroes thing in the camp. We saw no interaction between prisoners and guards. We only saw the confrontations between the Bird and Louis. We didn't see much family love from the family except for his brother who helped guide him to a life free of petty crime.
Again, we did not feel any compassion for Louis although I am sure, in that real life, beatings and other tortures were the hi-lite of the day for the Bird. Perhaps the Director (Angelina Jolie) should have concentrated more on Louis' suffering so that we could have needed that Kleenex. Didn't happen.
Oscar nominations were: Cinematography which was very good; and for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.
Over all a good movie that should have shown more real-life suffering by Louis Zamperini as that would have made the title more significant. From all accounts I felt that Louis Zampirini should have been awarded a medal for his endurance and loyalty for not bad mouthing the United States when given the opportunity over Japanese radio.
See the statements when the credits run to learn more of what happened to everyone. (7/10)
Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Brief short stuff.