Last weekend, that is nine days ago, Lynda and I went to see our first movie of 2015. Two movies that came out over Christmas that I wanted to see were Unbroken, and the one about breaking the German code in WW2, which may have been named Enigma. By January 23rd I figured both of those would be gone, and we’d have to wait for them to hit television. However, Unbroken was still there at a nearby cinema. We went, to celebrate our anniversary a day early.

I was surprised to find the theater quite crowded. This is a movie that has been out for at least a month, for which the ads quit running around Christmas. Most movies will be gone by then, or will be on their last weeks, showing to a handful of people. But this theater was crowded enough that we couldn’t get as good seats as we like. Clearly this movie has legs.

It did not disappoint us. It’s the story of the son of Italian immigrants in California, Louis Zamperini. To keep him from going the way of a delinquent, he is steered in the direction of running track. He worked hard at it and became good—good enough to make the 1936 US Olympic team, and to be the highest American finisher in the 5000 meters. He said that Olympics was only a warm up for the next one, scheduled to be held in Tokyo in 1940.

But World War 2 got in the way. Zamperini wound up in the air corps (Army air, I think). The movie showed him continuing to train between missions. Only two missions were shown: a bombing run and a rescue mission. This latter one went awry when the plane crashed due to mechanical failure. Only three of the crew survived the crash, and one of those died during their time in life rafts.

The movie does an excellent job chronicling their time at sea, from catching fish to worrying about circling sharks to being shot at by a Japanese plane. After 47 days in rubber life rafts the two fliers are rescued—by Japanese forces, not American. The rest of the film chronicles Zamperini’s time in Japanese captivity, which lasts till the end of the war. The man who headed up two of the camps he was in was a particularly cruel captor, who was particularly hard on Zamperini. They are released from the camp when the war ends. A poignant denouement indicated that Zamperini was able to forgive his captors, seeing most of them after the war.

Everything about the movie was excellent. The acting was superb, the photography great. The parts of Zamperini’s life chosen for the story were excellent. One could sense the trials he went through, and how he was able to triumph over his circumstances and come through the ordeals unbroken in spirit, with his mind and body strong enough to be fully healed and lead a normal American life after the war. It’s hard to find fault with any aspect of Unbroken.

I don’t know how long this will be in the theater, but it was still there this weekend. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to. It will be hard to not be moved by Louie Zamperini’s story.