Flying over Japanese-held territory, American Air Force bombardier and former Olympic athlete Louie Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) keeps his eyes open for enemy aircraft. His crew’s initial success, having bombed the Japanese captured island of Nauru, begins to lose momentum when Japanese fighter planes start to tear into the aircraft, piloted by Russell Phillips (Domhnall Gleeson), in retaliation. Gunfire pierces through the bulky exterior of the aircraft, an aircraft which is already full of exposed spaces for its gun placements. Zamperini edges towards the rear of the aircraft on a walkway which rests above the plane’s open bomb compartment, the only thing saving him from a fatal plummet towards the ocean’s surface. Many of the crew are wounded, yet in the corners of the screen we glimpse the results of their combative efforts: a downed Japanese fighter falling through the sky in a blaze of fire and broken machinery. Back on Zamperini’s aircraft, both plane and crew are damaged, but there is life still in them yet. A tense emergency landing promises that they will live another day.

This is the jaw-dropping opening of Angelina Jolie’s new film Unbroken, a biopic about the life of Louis “Louie” Zamperini, who passed away in July 2014. Although Zamperini escaped that first near-fatal conflict, a later mission wouldn’t prove to be as successful. Before this incident, however, Jolie depicts snippets of Zamperini’s life before the war, growing up as an Italian immigrant child in late-1920s, 1930s California and later training for his participation in the 5000m race at the 1936 Olympic Games which were held in Berlin. As a child, Zamperini is depicted as suffering harsh bullying from other kids for his Italian heritage, as well as punishment from his father for his misbehaviour. The film positions such incidents as the genesis of the character’s strong resilience against physical pain, something he will have to endure much of in the years ahead.

The tone of these early scenes goes some way to express the kind of director Jolie presents herself as being; the nostalgic sentimentality for past facets of Americana combined with darker moments of tension and violence is partly reminiscent of Frank Darabont’s style of filmmaking in The Shawshank Redemption and The Majestic. But then again, perhaps the films of Steven Spielberg are a closer approximation of what is being achieved by Jolie in Unbroken as a whole, given the scope and ambition of the production, and its focus on an individual’s place within something far greater than his or herself in times of war, a theme prominent in the likes of Saving Private Ryan, Empire of the Sun and even War Horse.

Having set the scene through the use of flashbacks, the narrative is propelled forward when, sent out on a routine search and rescue operation, the crew’s new plane succumbs to engine failure and crash lands in the Pacific Ocean. Three men survive: Zamperini, Russell and “Mac” (Finn Wittrock). Sharing two inflatable life boats, the three men, at first happy to be alive, soon realise that they appear to be condemned to a slow and agonising death. Either the lack of food or drink, the bloodthirsty sharks which patrol the waters, or a solitary trigger-happy Japanese fighter will end up killing them.

“I have good news and I have bad news” says Zamperini.

On the 47th day of drifting on the open ocean, a Japanese ship picks them up and Zamperini is eventually placed into a POW camp where he will spend the remainder of the war. If it had not been made apparent already, at this point Unbroken reveals itself as a full-throttle endurance test for both Zamperini and the audience. Subjected to physical violence by the camp guards and the brutal malice of Corporal Mutsuhiro Watanabe, Zamperini’s life becomes a harsh and repetitious onslaught of pain and suffering. But, as the film’s subtitle alludes to, ultimately this will be a story of ‘survival, resilience and redemption.’

Jolie’s direction is extraordinary for a second feature and Unbroken demonstrates that the director isn’t afraid to take the time to tell a story properly. It’s not just a matter of the near two-and-a-half hour running time, but the precision of the film’s rhythm and pace. This is particularly true of the film’s latter half after Zamperini enters the POW camp. Each blow suffered by the protagonist is as shocking as the last, whilst never spilling over into gratuitousness. Each subsequent adversity is proportionately measured to increase sympathy for the character and to render his eventual triumph with all the more relief. Her career as an actor has also undeniably given her the knowledge needed to direct actors, with O’Connell giving a sensational performance as the film’s central protagonist.

I would be surprised if Unbroken made much headway this award season given the calibre of other films out for recognition. Added to that, the ‘Spielbergian’ conventionality of its film-making, as polished and as efficient as it is, probably stands against its favour when compared to the more daring and/or experimental qualities of films like Boyhood or Birdman, or the more recognisable subjects of biopics like The Theory of Everything. I for one, however, feel it would be just as deserving for award recognition in the contexts of direction, performance, cinematography and writing as any one of the films mentioned. Only time will tell whether Jolie’s sophomore effort has the strength to stand up to some of the established titans of contemporary Hollywood cinema.