"If you can take it, you can make it."
Those words of exhortation come from Louis Zamperini's older brother, Pete, when the two sons of Italian immigrants are still in high school. But it turns out Louis will need to cling to Pete's counsel again and again throughout the excruciating trials that soon pile painfully upon him.
Bullies menace Louis in high school, resulting in fights he gets blamed for. It's a volatile situation, especially when combined with his penchant for smoking and drinking. But Pete's seen how fast Louis runs from teenage thugs and school administrators, so he encourages his little bro to join the track team … even offering to help him train.
Turns out Louis is fast. Really fast. As in, the fastest high school distance runner in America. Before he knows it, the so-called Torrance Tornado is competing in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he turns in a record time on the last lap of his race. Louis dreams of competing again in the 1940 Olympics in Tokyo. And he does make it to Tokyo … but hardly how he'd hoped.
World War II scuttles those Games, and Louis winds up as the bombardier on a B-24 Liberator in the Pacific—a plane that earned the nickname of Flying Coffin. That moniker proves prophetic when the engines on Louis' bomber fail, prompting his friend (and the plane's pilot) Russell "Phil" Phillips, to ditch it.
Louis, Phil and another airman named Mac are the only survivors. They lash two life rafts together … and begin marking time and praying for rescue as they strive to stave off starvation and sharks. Mac dies 33 days in. Two weeks after that—47 days after crashing in the ocean—Louis and Phil are rescued … by the Japanese.
Their rescue-turned-capture begins a two-year ordeal for Louis (who's soon separated from Phil) in three different POW camps: one near where they're captured, another near Tokyo and a third far to the north. In the last two camps, Louis and his fellows must endure not only the degradation of being prisoners of war, but the sadistic cruelty of Mutsushiro Watanabe, a monstrous man the Americans call "The Bird."
Beaten and humiliated time and again over the course of two years, Louis takes refuge in memories of his mother's prayers, his friend Phil's faith and those powerful, guiding words of his older brother:
"If you can take it, you can make it."
Those words of exhortation come from Louis Zamperini's older brother, Pete, when the two sons of Italian immigrants are still in high school. But it turns out Louis will need to cling to Pete's counsel again and again throughout the excruciating trials that soon pile painfully upon him.
Bullies menace Louis in high school, resulting in fights he gets blamed for. It's a volatile situation, especially when combined with his penchant for smoking and drinking. But Pete's seen how fast Louis runs from teenage thugs and school administrators, so he encourages his little bro to join the track team … even offering to help him train.
Turns out Louis is fast. Really fast. As in, the fastest high school distance runner in America. Before he knows it, the so-called Torrance Tornado is competing in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he turns in a record time on the last lap of his race. Louis dreams of competing again in the 1940 Olympics in Tokyo. And he does make it to Tokyo … but hardly how he'd hoped.
World War II scuttles those Games, and Louis winds up as the bombardier on a B-24 Liberator in the Pacific—a plane that earned the nickname of Flying Coffin. That moniker proves prophetic when the engines on Louis' bomber fail, prompting his friend (and the plane's pilot) Russell "Phil" Phillips, to ditch it.
Louis, Phil and another airman named Mac are the only survivors. They lash two life rafts together … and begin marking time and praying for rescue as they strive to stave off starvation and sharks. Mac dies 33 days in. Two weeks after that—47 days after crashing in the ocean—Louis and Phil are rescued … by the Japanese.
Their rescue-turned-capture begins a two-year ordeal for Louis (who's soon separated from Phil) in three different POW camps: one near where they're captured, another near Tokyo and a third far to the north. In the last two camps, Louis and his fellows must endure not only the degradation of being prisoners of war, but the sadistic cruelty of Mutsushiro Watanabe, a monstrous man the Americans call "The Bird."
Beaten and humiliated time and again over the course of two years, Louis takes refuge in memories of his mother's prayers, his friend Phil's faith and those powerful, guiding words of his older brother:
"If you can take it, you can make it."
GENRE
Drama, War
CAST
Jack O'Connell as Louis Zamperini; C.J. Valleroy as Young Louis Zamperini; Domhnall Gleeson as Russell Allen 'Phil' Phillips; Finn Wittrock as Francis 'Mac' McNamara; Alex Russell as Pete Zamperini; John D'Leo as Young Pete Zamperini; Vincenzo Amato as Anthony Zamperini; Maddalena Ischiale as Louise Zamperini; Takamasa Ishihara as Mutsushiro 'The Bird' Watanabe
DIRECTOR
Angelina Jolie (In the Land of Blood and Honey)
DISTRIBUTOR
Universal Pictures
IN THEATERS
December 25, 2014
Drama, War
CAST
Jack O'Connell as Louis Zamperini; C.J. Valleroy as Young Louis Zamperini; Domhnall Gleeson as Russell Allen 'Phil' Phillips; Finn Wittrock as Francis 'Mac' McNamara; Alex Russell as Pete Zamperini; John D'Leo as Young Pete Zamperini; Vincenzo Amato as Anthony Zamperini; Maddalena Ischiale as Louise Zamperini; Takamasa Ishihara as Mutsushiro 'The Bird' Watanabe
DIRECTOR
Angelina Jolie (In the Land of Blood and Honey)
DISTRIBUTOR
Universal Pictures
IN THEATERS
December 25, 2014
