Unbroken Page #17

SILENCE. Louie, Fitzgerald, Tinker, Miller, Harris and the

POWs stand motionless in the river, all eyes focused on the

Guards staring at them with malevolent intent.

THEN THEY HEAR IT: Guards and POWs alike. It is the growl of

a distant aircraft engine. They all turn to the sky:

POWs see nothing at first in the overcast sky. Then, bursting

through the clouds: A TORPEDO BOMBER in the distance.

Louie stands to face the on-coming Bomber, bracing himself to

die. Tinker, Fitzgerald and Miller also brace themselves.

As the POWs and the Guards watch, the Bomber dives, levels

off, skims over the water.

Louie and the POWs can see inside the plane: the Pilot is

standing. And on each side of the fuselage, under the wings,

A BROAD WHITE STAR.

IT IS AN AMERICAN BOMBER. The plane’s red light is blinking a

message in Morse code.

Fitzgerald near Louie can read the coded message. He cries:

FITZGERALD:

The war is over...It’s really over.

The news spreads throughout the river to every POW. Some

shout. Some break down. Some stand in disbelief.

The Japanese Guards shrink back as the POWs, lowering their

rifles and bayonets as...

Blackie and The Scots jump on each other. Wrestling into the

water.

Tinker, Fitzgerald, and Miller shout with relief and tears.

Harris is slow to completely understand what has happened. A

smile spreads across his broken face.

Louie stands, paralyzed. He doesn’t know how to react. He

sinks to his knees in the water. He covers his face. He made

it. He survived.

He lays back in the water and opens his arms just like every

finish line. Victory.

AA226 EXT. NAOETSU POW CAMP - THE FOLLOWING DAY AA226

A PACKAGE is dropped from the sky, bursting open with cans of

peaches.

Widen to see a message to the American planes, spelled out in

lime on the ground. It reads: “DROP HERE”.

Camera pans the enormous amounts of food and supplies

previous planes have dropped. The men feasting on the goods.

THE SCOTS collecting and eating food. Pockets full.

A TIME MAGAZINE is found in the care package. Its cover is

the HIROSHIMA MUSHROOM CLOUD. They study it. Silent.

Fitzgerald, Miller, Tinker and Clift (seeing him clean for

the first time) share a smoke.

Louie is nowhere to be found.

A226 EXT. THE BIRD’S OFFICE - NAOETSU - DAY A226

Wide of the cement tower to The Bird’s office. The small

figure of Louie climbing the steps.

226 INT. THE BIRD’S OFFICE - NAOETSU - DAY 226

The sound of footsteps.

The door opens. Louie carefully, slowly enters the room.

118A

It looks as if The Bird left in a hurry. Most of his

belongings are gone but among the few items that remain is a

family photo. Giving us a clue into the monster. An image of

him as a young, innocent boy with his strong, Military-leader

father.

Along the wall is his kendo stick.

The enemy escaped. Louie allows this to all sink in.

227 OMITTED 227

228 OMITTED 228

229

OMITTED 229

231

EXT. LONG BEACH AIRPORT - DAY 231

Close on- Louie kissing the ground. (Possibly the shadow of a

B24 bomber over him.)

Louie stands up and looks at the sea of people and press.

Bursting through the crowd are Louise (still wearing Louie’s

airman’s wings pin), Anthony, Pete, Sylvia and Virginia.

PETE:

Louie!

Louise bursts into tears. Louie runs directly to her and

enfolds her in his arms. Anthony wraps his arms around them

both.

Louie, Anthony and Louise with their arms around each other,

not moving, not letting go. There are tears in Louie’s eyes.

LOUIE:

Cara mamma mia.

Louie looks over at Pete. They share a smile.

Fade into a black and white photo of the real Louie with his

family the moment he returned.

CARD ONE:

In 1946 Louie Zamperini met and married his beloved Cynthia

Applewhite. They had a daughter, Cissy, and a son, Luke.

CARD TWO:

Lt. Russell "Phil" Phillips survived the war and married his

sweetheart, Cecy. He and Louie remained friends long after

the war.

CARD THREE:

Mutsuhiro Watanabe, "the Bird," remained in hiding for

several years as a war criminal until he was granted amnesty

by the U.S. in its efforts to reconcile with Japan.

CARD FOUR:

After years of severe post-traumatic stress, Louie made good

on his promise to serve God, a decision he credited with

saving his life.

CARD FIVE:

Motivated by his faith, Louie came to see that the way

forward was not revenge, but forgiveness.

CARD SIX:

He returned to Japan, where he found and made peace with his

former captors. Only the Bird refused to meet him.

Fade in

233 EXT. NAOETSU, JAPAN - DAY 23EXT. NAOETSU, JAPAN - DAY 233

The sound of cheering voices, cars, tramping feet.

ON SCREEN IT READS - LOUIE FINALLY REALIZED HIS DREAM, AND

RAN AGAIN IN THE OLYMPICS.

The shot develops to find the road that runs past the old

camp. It's lined with people, wrapped up against the cold,

smiling and cheering.

Cars appear between the cheering people. One carries a TV

crew. And there in the road, in running gear, is 80-year-old

Lou Zamperini.

LOUIE ZAMPERINI lopes over the snow, Olympic torch held high,

beaming all over his face.

ON SCREEN:
AT AGE 80. IN JAPAN.

Smiling and cheering beautiful Japanese faces surround him.

Louie smiles and waves at the Japanese people smiling and

cheering him on. The beautiful faces of the Japanese

children.

Unity and love. The true undying spirit of the Olympics. The

true undying spirit of Louis Zamperini; running smiling,

joyful. Unbroken.

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