Mise-En-Scene Analysis Of Unbroken

The film I have chosen to analyse Angelina Jolie’s biopic film, Unbroken which was released late 2014. The film begins before World War II started in 1936 and finishes in the year 1945 when the war ended. During the war, it was the norm for militants and even civilians to be captured and taken to prison camps to be tortured for information or used as slave labour and tortured because they were the enemy. The main protagonist, Louis Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) is a young Olympic runner hopeful whose life changed dramatically at 25 when he went from athlete to being a soldier fighting for his country in the war. When Zamperini’s plane crashed he is captured by the Japanese army and lived in a number of prison camps until the end of the war.

The scene analysed is set in Naoetsu, Prisoner of War camp in northern Japan where Zamperini was tortured and forced into labour until the end of the war in 1945. The scene uses micro features to represent Zamperini as a very strong individual who refuses to give up and finds ways to triumph even when faced with extreme adversity.

The two micro features I have chosen to analyse are mise-en-scene and cinematography because I believe that they create important representations of the protagonist. The specific scene I have
This powerful moment demonstrates that Zamperini will never give up. The protagonist is framed to the left and a deep shot is used to outline the protagonist but draw focus to the Japanese CO running at him at the same time. This framing enables the audience to see the facial expression on the CO’s face next to the protagonist’s powerful stance, emphasising the contrast between the two characters. It also allows the audience to see the reaction of the people in the background which is important because it shows how surprised they are as they have all stopped doing their work as it is not normal for someone to stand against a