History Film / Unbroken

* OscarBait: The film quite shamelessly attempted to earn Oscars: It was BasedOnATrueStory, had an [[AllStarCast All-Star Crew]] and even came out on Christmas Day. However, reception was [[SoOkayItsAverage tepid]] and it only recieved three nominations in technical categories [[note]] Cinematography, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing [[/note]]

* POWCamp: The majority of the film takes place in one ran by Watanabe, who is {{Understatement/not very nice to his prisoners.}}

* TheNeidermeyer: Watanabe, who takes his anger toward being seen as a failure of an officer out on his prisoners through brutal torture. Even after finally getting a promotion as a Sergeant, it does nothing to lessen his cruelty.

* POWCamp: The majority of the film takes place in one ran by Watanabe, who is not very nice to his prisoners.

* Dehumanization: A subtle example. Watanabe refuses to acknowledge any of the captives in Omori as people, simply referring to them as enemies of Japan. This enables him to carry out brutal methods of torture.[[note]]A bit of TruthInTelevision, both on a broader scale in how prisoners of war are treated and for how the Japanese viewed ''any'' prisoners of war in WWII. Doubly so for Watanabe himself, who fully believed until the day he died that his actions were justified as they were not people, they were enemies of the nation. See SoftSpokenSadist below.[[/note]]

* BreakTheHaughty: Rather than trying to break Zamperini, Watanabe's pride was the one to break when finally realizing Louis would not falter to his torturing.

* JapaneseRanguage: With so many English-speaking Japanese, this is inevitable. Even Watanabe slips into it on occasion.

* TheNeidermeyer: Watanabe, who takes his anger of being unable to get a promotion out on torturing his prisoners. Even after finally getting a promotion as a Sergeant, it does not change how he treats the POWs. In real life, he later attributed his treatment to the fact that he had seen the POWs as enemies of Japan and felt that his cruelty was justified.

* POWCamp: The majority of the film takes place in a Japanese POW Camp ran by Watanabe, who is not very nice to his prisoners.
* RedemptionRejection: After the war, Zamperini wanted to meet Watanabe to say he had forgiven him, and he succeeded in meeting all of his other captors, but Watanabe refused, as [[NeverMyFault he did not see himself nor his actions as criminal]].

* WorthyOpponent: See VillainTakesAnInterest above.

* ColdBloodedTorture: The Japanese were ''very'' fond of this.

* CoolOldGuy: The DistantFinale of Louie Zamperini as an 80-year-old, still running, carrying the Olympic Torch in the 1998 the Nagano Winter Olympics.

* Dehumanization: A subtle example. Watanabe refuses to acknowledge any of the captives in Omori as people, simply referring to them as enemies of Japan. This enables him to carry out brutal methods of torture.[[note]]A bit of TruthInTelevision, both on a broader scale in how prisoners of war are treated and for how the Japanese viewed ''any'' prisoners of war in WWII. Doubly so for Watanabe himself, who fully believed that his actions were justified as they were not people, they were enemies of the nation. See SoftSpokenSadist below.[[/note]]

* FreudianExcuse: Zamperini's relationship with Watanabe closes off with visiting his living quarters after his disappearence at the end of the war, and he sees a picture of Watanabe with his father, neither of them looking happy.

* TimePassageBeard: Phillips and Zamperini during the 47 days in the Pacific. It doesn't get very long, despite the long duration, due to starvation.

* Dehumanization: A subtle example. Watanabe refuses to acknowledge the POWs as people, simply referring to them as enemies of Japan. This enables him to carry out brutal methods of torture.
** A bit of TruthInTelevision, both on a broader scale in how POWs are treated in times of war and for how the Japanese viewed ''any'' POWs in WWII. Doubly so for Watanabe himself, who fully believed that his actions were justified as they were not people, they were enemies of war. See SoftSpokenSadist below.

''Unbroken'' is a 2014 film released by Creator/{{Universal}} and produced by Creator/LegendaryPictures that tells the story of Olympic athlete Louie Zamperini's (Creator/JackOConnell) RealLife account in the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII where he was stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 47 days along with survivor Russell Phillips (Creator/DomhnallGleeson) and was consequently captured and sent to two Japanese Prisoner of War camps under the brutal and interested watch of Corporal Mutsushiro Watanabe (Music/{{Miyavi}}) -- nicknamed "The Bird" -- until the end of the war in 1945.

* CruelMercy: While he did escaped capture and prosecution, Watanabe had to live up to the end of his life with how Zamperini resisted his torturing shattered most of his pride and refused to meet with him after the war to preserve any pride he has left by not seeing himself nor his actions as criminal.

* EvilIsPetty: Watanabe is the cruelest to Zamperini out of jealousy at his Olympic achievements and wanting to take out his frustration at failing officer's school.
* FreudianExcuse: Zamperini's relationship with Watanabe closes off with visiting his living quarters after his disappearence at the end of the war, and he sees a picture of [[JerkassWoobie Watanabe with his father, neither of them looking happy. In fact, part of the reason for Watanabe's cruelty was his upbringing in a wealthy military family, and that he was the only son to fail in the officer school]].
* GratuitousItalian: Zamperini in his adulthood. Though justified that he is a first-generation-American son of an immigrant family that speaks Italian at home.
* AHeroToHisHometown: Due to the sheer amount of war hero stories that emerged in the aftermath of World War II, not many people outside of Zamperini's hometown of Torrance, California, were aware of his story prior to the release of Laura Hillenbrand's novel or the film. However, almost every resident of Torrance knows his story and name, and he is absolutely loved and revered by the city.[[note]](His alma mater, Torrance High School's football field is named Zamperini Stadium and is where his public memorial service was held, his childhood home at 2028 Gramercy Avenue has been restored by the city's Save Historic Old Torrance coalition and operates tours of the home, the Torrance Historical Society proudly boasts the largest collection of Zamperini memorabilia open to the public including his WWII-issued death certificate, and the tiny public airport based in southwest Torrance's official name is Zamperini Field.)[[/note]] The residents of the town highly anticipated the film's release, including honoring him posthumously in the city's float during the 2015 Rose Parade.

* TheNeidermeyer: Watanabe, who takes his anger of being unable to get a promotion out on torturing his prisoners. Even after finally getting a promotion as a Sergeant, it does not change his POW treatment.
* NeverMyFault: Following the end of the war, Watanabe never accepted that what he did at the POW camps were war crimes.

* POWCamp: It being run by Watanabe, who is not very nice to his prisoners.
* RedemptionRejection: After the war, Zamperini wanted to meet Watanabe to say he had forgiven him, and he succeeded in meeting all of his other captors, but Watanabe refused, as [[NeverMyFault he did not see himself nor his actions as criminal]] and [[RevengeBeforeReason refused to let go of his personal vendetta against the former up to his death]] in 2003.

* SoftSpokenSadist: Watanabe. At times, [[EveryoneHasStandards even his own guards seem to think he goes too far]].

* SoreLoser: Following being defeated by Zamperini's unbreakable spirit, Watanabe would unapologetically carry his personal vendetta against the former for this after the war up to his death in 2003, even refusing to meet with his former ArchEnemy of a prisoner to be forgiven.
* SympathyForTheDevil: It's implied Zamperini carry this when visiting Watanabe's quarters and finding out his FreudianExcuse behind his sadism towards him throughout the war. It's also what prompts the former to offer his forgiveness towards Watanabe upon meeting with him after doing so with all of the other Japanese military jailers after the war, only with Watanabe refusing out of pride preservation and not to let go of his personal vendetta against Louis.

* VillainousBreakdown: Always-smug Watanabe seems to break down near the end, when injured and malnourished Zamperini doesn't drop the 150lb railroad tie that he's forced to hold on his shoulders for hours of torment. Despite his exhaustion, Zamperini shouts a war cry in Watanabe's face and defiantly lifts the railroad tie over his head. Watanabe, who had ordered a guard to shoot Zamperini if he dropped it, savagely beats him before defeatedly falling to his knees, his pride shattered by Zamperini's resistance.
* VillainousRescue: When the Japanese plane strafes the life raft, a bullet strikes a shark behind Zamperini. The other sharks are distracted by the bleeding carcass, giving the Americans a few minutes of relative safety in the water. On day 47, Zamperini and Phillips are picked up by a Japanese warship.

* BigBad: Miyavi Watanabe, AKA "the Bird."

* BigBad: Watanabe.

* ArcWords: For Zamperini: ''"If I can take it, I can make it."'' For the Bird: ''"Don't look at me!"''

** ''Unbroken 2: Path to Redemption'' was released in 2018 and covers the later years of his life, mainly his conversion to evangelical Christianity during evangelist Billy Graham’s 1949 “Los Angeles Crusade.” It featured almost none of the original cast and was a BoxOfficeBomb that received generally negative reviews from critics.

This film marks the second feature directed by actress Creator/AngelinaJolie, who had a very professional creative team behind: the Creator/CoenBrothers writing the script, Roger Deakins doing the cinematography, Creator/AlexandreDesplat composing, Music/{{Coldplay}} for an AwardBaitSong and special effects by Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic. Deakins was nominated for the twelfth time -- and didn't win again -- with other 2 nominations for the film, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, in the 2015 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s.

* RedemptionRejection: After the war, Zamperini wanted to meet Watanabe to say he had forgiven him, and he succeeded in meeting all of his other captors, but Watanabe refused, as [[NeverMyFault he did not see himself nor his actions as criminal]] and [[RevengeBeforeReason refuses to let go of his personal vendetta against the former up to his death]] in 2003.

A sequel called ''Unbroken: Path to Redemption'', about events only alluded to in the end of the film and covered in the book by Hillenbrand, was released at the end of 2018.

** In real life, Watanabe stated during a SixtyMinutes interview that he wasn't even ''acting on official orders'' when it came to how he treated his prisoners. To quote: “I wasn’t given military orders. Because of my own personal feelings, I treated the prisoners strictly as enemies of Japan.”

* RedemptionRejection: After the war, Zamperini wanted to meet Watanabe to say he had forgiven him, and he succeeded in meeting all of his other captors, but Watanabe refused, as [[NeverMyFault he did not see himself nor his actions as criminal]] and [[RevengeBeforeReason refuses to let go of his personal vendetta against the former up to his death]] in 2003]].