~~December 29, 2014~~
YOU CAN NOT OUT RUN THE WAR
Some of you may know that I worked as a physician with the Veterans Administration for almost 28 years. I worked with patients from WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the current conflicts. All deserve their merit but the POW’s are way beyond deserving.
Watching this movie, reminded me of all those that I took care of.
A great movie to watch. Excellent directing job by Angelina Jolie and superb acting job by Jack O’Connell, the British actor who played Zamperini.
Louis Silvie “Louie” Zamperini (January 26, 1917 – July 2, 2014) was an American World War II prisoner of war survivor, Christian inspirational speaker, and Olympic distance runner. Zamperini is the subject of two biographies and the 2014 film Unbroken.
IF YOU CAN TAKE IT, YOU CAN MAKE IT
~~Plot~~
The film opens showing Louis “Louie” Zamperini flying as a bombardier of a United States Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bomber, during an April 1943 bombing mission against the Japanese-held island of Nauru. The plane is badly damaged in combat, with a number of the crew injured. The brakes of the plane are shot away, but the pilot manages to bring it to a stop at the end of the runway thanks to a lucky flat tire.
The movie then flashes back to Louie’s childhood as a young Italian immigrant boy. Louie was a trouble maker, stealing, drinking liquor, and smoking, to the disappointment of his parents. He was picked on by other kids for being Italian.
One day Louie was caught looking up womens’ dresses from under bleachers during a track meet, and runs. His brother Peter sees how fast he runs, and decides to train him to be a runner. Peter trains Louie everyday to become his best. As he grows, Louie becomes an accomplished distance runner, earning him the nickname “The Torrance Tornado” (he grew up in Torrance, California), and eventually qualifies for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Louie does surprisingly well in the Olympics, coming in 8th and setting a record for speed in the final lap in the the 5000 metres race, running it in 56 seconds.
Returning to the present day, Louie and the surviving crew of the previous mission, along with replacement crewmen, are sent on a search and rescue mission with a plane that had previously been used for spare parts. Louie does not believe that the plane is airworthy, but the others tell him that it is suitable.
During the mission, however, both of the plane’s left engines fail, causing them to crash in the ocean. Louie and two other survivors, Mac and Phil, survive and live on two floating safety rafts. After three days a search plane flies over them but does not see them and they are unable to get its attention.
After 45 days, they get the attention of a Japanese plane which strafes the floating rafts but misses them. On the 46th day Mac dies, leaving only Louie and Phil.
On the 47th day, Japanese forces capture Louie and Phil and they become prisoners of war. The Japanese force Louie and Phil to tell them what they know about the Allies. Louie tells them that he doesn’t know anything because he’s been stuck on the boat for more than a month. Their captors do not believe them and send Louie and Phil to a POW. camp.
Louie and Phil are separated into different camps. At the camp in Tokyo where Zamperini is sent, he meets a Japanese guard, Mutsuhiro “Bird” Watanabe, who treats him very cruelly, in part because of Zamperini’s status as a former Olympian. “Bird” is especially tough on Louie out of jealousy, beating him often. Louie is given the opportunity to broadcast a message home saying that he is alive. When he refuses to broadcast a second message that would be anti American he is sent back to camp where Watanabe has all the other prisoners punch him for not showing respect.
After two years, Watanabe gets a promotion and is taken out of the camp where Zamperini is being held. Louie is grateful that he is gone. One night the camp is damaged when Tokyo is bombed by American forces. Louie and the other internees are forced to move to another camp where Zamperini discovers that Watanabe is in charge. The prisoners are now put to work loading coal barges. One day after Louis sprains his ankle and is unable to work, “Bird” tells him to lift a giant piece of wood. Louis successfully lifts and holds the wood, angering Watanabe leading to a harsh beating.
At the end of the war, Zamperini and the other prisoners in the camp are set free to return to their homes.
Back home in America, he kisses the ground and hugs his family.
At the end of the film there is a slideshow showing what happened after the war. Louis was married and had two children. Phil survived and eventually married his sweetheart. Mutsuhiro “Bird” Watanabe went into hiding for several years and successfully evaded prosecution in spite of being listed in the top 40 most-wanted Japanese war criminals by General Douglas MacArthur. Louie forgave his war-time captors and met with many of them. Watanabe, however, refused to meet with Zamperini.
In January of 1998, Louis had an opportunity to revisit his time as an Olympian when he ran a leg of the Olympic Torch relay for the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. He was four days short of his 81st birthday. The site for his leg of the relay was not far from one of the POW camps where he was held during the war.
Zamperini died on July 2, 2014 at age 97.
~~As it appears in …. “
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbroken_%28film%29
Watanabe was known as “The Bird,” and had gone into hiding during the American occupation of Japan. However, in 1952, the United States granted amnesty to Japanese war criminals, after which he emerged to become a businessman.
He died in April 2003.
~~GALLERY~~
~~RELATED~~
http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2014/12/23/angelina-jolie-olympics-unbroken-louis-zamperini-movie/
#MovieTime #Unbroken #LouisSilvieZamperini #AmericanWorldWarII #PrisonerOfWar #Survivor #ChristianInspirationalSpeaker #OlympicDistancerunner #BombardierUnitedStatesArmy #AirForcesB24LiberatorBomber #TheTorranceTornado #MutsuhiroBirdWatanabe #LoadingCoalBarges #OlympicTorch #AngelinaJolie #WWII #Survival #Resilience #Redemption
#WeAllAreOne #ItIsWhatItIs #DrRex #hrexachwordpress
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Angelina Jolie Directed Movie HD
~~Published on Feb 17, 2014~~
We ALL are ONE!!
It Is What It Is 