With Reference to the Film Unbroken, to What Extent Do Personal Histories Provide an Accurate Representation of Soldiers Pow Experiences in World War Ii?

“With reference to the film Unbroken, to what extent do personal histories provide an accurate representation of soldiers POW experiences in World War II? ”

On the 7th of december, 1941, Japan launched an unexpected attack on the United States Pacific Fleet at Hawaii’s Pearl Harbour. The astonishing attack critically damaged the American fleet, furthermore preventing, for the most part, any interference made by America with the Japanese military operations. Consequently, as a result and in response to this, the United States of America had officially declared war upon Japan the next day on December 8th, 1941. Following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, Japan succeeded in achieving military success for a long series of time. Personal histories and the film Unbroken are extremely significant in establishing historical truths in regards to American soldiers in Japanese prisoner of war camps during WWII. This therefore allows for a wider understanding of soldiers prisoner of war experiences through the brutality of the prisoner of war camps and varying perspectives that the film explores.

BRUTALITY IN JAPANESE PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS

Personal history alongside Angelina Jolie’s film Unbroken are effective in conveying historical truths in regards to the brutality of American soldiers within Japanese prisoner of war camps during WWII. The film Unbroken depicts the struggle of young Louis Zamperini, an American soldier who is brutally victimised by “The Bird”, a specific Japanese POW commander, while exploring a clear representation of the hatred and resentment that the Japanese demonstrated upon the United States and its soldiers. By drawing upon Jim Horton, a surviving American soldier and prisoner of war of the 21st infantry division, he confidently states that “The Japanese had such a hatred for the Americans, that they used every excuse they could to be cruel” which is further exemplified and made evident throughout the film, specifically where Zamperini is singled out, bashed and beaten in one of the many torture scenes. The film has a recurring motif of starvation, malnutrition and illness experienced by each of the American prisoners of war which is physically evident through the appearance and overall condition of their bodies. The excerpt from Warren Kozak’s Curtis LeMay: Strategist and Tactician, “There were more than 140,000 white prisoners in Japanese prisoner of war camps. Of these, one in three died from starvation, work, punishments or from diseases for which there were no medicines to treat.” furthermore heightens the accuracy of this deception in the film. Furthermore, a key scene explored in Unbroken is the “Punch him in the face” scene, where Zamperini’s fellow american POW soldiers are forced to hit him, and if they refuse, another soldier will be beaten with a wooden pole each time. It is evident that American POW soldiers suffered from physical abuse by the Japanese, and Charles Ceals, further confirming this issue through his own personal experience, referencing Japanese soldiers, “Often drunk on sake, they'd come in the huts in the middle of the night and carry out brutal beatings”. Although the film Unbroken may appear to some audiences as over exaggerated and false, it is successfully able to achieve and further demonstrate the brutality American POW soldiers suffered from by Japanese commanders whilst enduring time in prisoner of war camps during World War II.

PERSPECTIVES

Personal histories, particularly film, are helpful to a certain extent, in which audiences are able to gain a greater understanding of previous historical events. However, Unbroken only specifically explores the personal experience and narrative of an American prisoner of war soldier, Louis Zamperini, who had his own very unique and individual experience. This particular personal history is somewhat limited, in the way that it only problem vides a very westernised, singular, biased perspective; through viewing this film, the audience is developing an image of a historical

...