In Los Angeles on 2 July 2014, Louis Zamperini  died, aged 97. On the other side of the world, in the humid conditions of South East Queensland, Angelina Jolie was almost finishing directing her second film about him.

Based on The New York Times bestseller by Laura Hillenbrand, UNBROKEN: A WORLD WAR II STORY OF SURVIVAL, RESILIENCE AND REDEMPTION, captures the extraordinary tale of survival of Louis Zamperini, the Olympic distance runner and World War II veteran. He survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific after his bomber crashed; enduring two, unbearable years in a Japanese prison camp.

Louis Zamperini was born in 1917, just as the United States entered World War I. Encouraged by his older brother, he started running competitively. Soon he was creating new records and by 19 he was the youngest person ever to qualify at the 1936 Olympics in the 5,000m race.

An outstanding performance by 24 year old Jack O’Connell as Louis Zamperini whose life dramatically changed when his plane crashedoff the coast of Oahu during World War II. He and one of the other surviving crew members drifted for 47 days on a raft in shark-infested waters before being captured by Japanese forces.

At the camp they spend more than two years as prisoners of war, surviving torture at the hands of the infamous prison guard Mutsuhiro “The Bird” Watanabe; a gripping and compelling portrayal by Miyavi.

One could feel the pain and suffering in captivity. Bird forces Louis’s fellow prisoners to take part in his punishment, insisting that they line up to punch him in the face. On another occasion, with Louis in a Christ like position, Bird forces him to stand for hours, carrying a huge plank of wood on his shoulders.

As her second directed film Jolie has proven she is just as good behind the camera as she is in front of it. This film spans a lot: sports, war and most importantly, survival.

With its beautiful cinematography, lighting, set design and attention to detail. I could have been watching a Spielberg film, akin to Saving Private Ryan. It would have been good to have shed a bit of light into Zamperini’s later life rather than have it summed up briskly with titles explaining the last seventy years of his life. Especially since he became a born again Christian and forgave his captors.

Nevertheless, UNBROKEN is an excellent biopic because it is a triumph of the human spirit story which I, and no doubt many others, will find both fascinating and inspiring.