Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
has been one of my favourite book about WWII survivor. The story is about an Olympic runner, Louis ‘Louie’ Zamperini, who later served in WWII and fell into the hands of the Japanese military. I was excited upon knowing that Angelina Jolie was going to produce the ‘true story’ into a movie. I watched this inspiring movie again last night with my hubby. Heartbreaking yet inspiring enough.
Zamperini joined World War II as a bombardier, and he survived a plane crash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with his 3 others friends. They stranded for 47 days before they were captured and forced into a tormented condition in Japanese POW camps in Omori and Naoetsu for 2 years. I couldn’t stand watching the parts where he was beaten by the camp guards, and Japanese corporal Mutsuhiro Watanabe (The Bird). This movie reminds me of my late grandpa where he was beaten by the Japanese corporal that made him permanently half-deaf because his left ear was beaten using a rifle.
The reason I love watching this movie a lot is not because it’s directed by my favourite actress Angelina Jolie, it’s due to the moral of the story. I couldn’t bear watching the beating scenes but it inspires me to lead a life without giving up. The movie might be a bit discriminating or bias but I love the ending story as it offers the word ‘forgiveness’ rather than ‘taking revenge’. In fact, my late grandpa told us to never hate the Japanese because they are human, and not all of them are bad. They had to follow the orders from their superior.
At the end of the movie, my hubby said both Zamperini and Watanabe could be best friends if it wasn’t due to the war because they both had similarities. Anyway, you should watch this movie if you haven’t watch it before. The book is also written in a way which you would love to spend hours reading it.