ladeez and gentlymen - introducing the one and only - angelina jolie
so much talk about this film being the directional debut of the lady
well at least her first b-i-g feature film with some ginormous budget
seen the trailer so many times i feel like i have seen the film already
thus expectations - none - the mind is open as it cranks into action
beautiful sunrise shot and pan right to see a squadron of aircraft
world war 2 bombers - on board one of them is louis zamperini
he the subject of this bio-pic played by englishman jack o'connor
impressive and authentic looking scenes inside one of the planes
confirmation of the likely budget and the director's eye for detail
zamperini is the bombadier seen at work as they near their target
a promise ' to light it up like christmas' as a large factory is seen
bombs away - then wry smiles as a large explosion cloud forms
presumably on a japanese island base - then the zeroes attack
scarily good scenes then of machine-gunfire being exchanged
fighters downed and various air-crew shot up and a limp home
a crash-landing on their island base and relief as part one ends
and so back in time we go to see lz as an immigrant schoolboy
a loner - bullied - a petty thief and worry for his italian parents
but his elder brother nurtures him as his athletic talent is spotted
seen running on a tree lined avenue - pan up, down - now a man
he wins some big races so gets sent to berlin for the 1936 olympics
bro's parting words - 'a moment of pain is worth a lifetime of memories'
in his chosen 5,000 metre race - no medal but an astonishing last lap
caught the eye and handshake of hitler but no mention of that here
so part 2 finishes quite clinically - it's all very well done but, but...
next - fast forward back to the lads now on another flying mission
search and rescue for a downed plane but their one dies mid-flight
a crash into the sea and only 3 survivors - more impressive scenes
they clamber onto a couple of liferafts - now adrift in the pacific
what an ordeal - for them too no doubt - it goes on and on and on
just too many unlikely scenarios as jolie wants us to empathise
fashionable goaties grow, hair does not, a shark is hauled on board
47 days adrift then 'rescued' by the japanese - part 3 - over (phew)
in the prisoner-of-war camp the commander singles out our hero
he's a bit of a boy though (played by miyavi - a japanese pop star)
his character nicknamed 'the bird' then sets out intimidating lz
screams at him and continually pummels him with his staff
he lines up all the other prisoners to punch him one-by-one
no doubt true but - no blood, no broken skin, no bruising
at which point she has lost me - it's actually quite boring
proven by an irresistable urge to close the eyes for a bit
alerting to catch the scene of him holding a large beam aloft
'if he drops it - shoot him' - na - up it goes - screaming defiance
thinking - christ-like - skinny man in rags and large piece of wood
intentional? - well everything else in this film is clearly micro-managed
and finally - the end of the war - the yanks arrive - yay - we are saved
the final scene - a heroes welcome stateside and with his loving family
the compulsory real-life photos shown and the rest-of-life footnotes
louis became a christian and embarked on a mission of forgiveness
real footage then shown of him carrying the olympic torch in japan
aged 80 - a few seconds of film that kind of redeemed 2 hours of it
ms jolie - technically on top of it - the attention to detail impressive
but just no - soul - nothing to latch on to - nothing to actually f-e-e-l
the huge orchestral score (alexandre desplat) tries to inspire that
but it just seems too ponderous to me - and the final clincher
as the credits roll - a new tune from wunderband coldplay
she throws everything at this film - but - nothing sticks
which makes me feel quite sad for louis zamperini
another case of a celebrity highjacking a real story
the imitation game of hollywood strikes again...
