Can I please get feedback on my film essay?

Describe an important idea in the text. Explain whether or not you think this idea is relevant to teenagers today.

Perseverance is one of the most important human qualities we need to keep in mind throughout life. In the film Unbroken directed by Angelina Jolie, we can see many aspects of perseverance throughout the film demonstrated by Louis. This essay will argue that perseverance is relevant to teenagers as it teaches them to achieve goals, how it can impact emergent survival, to accept apologies and understand each other.

Set during World War Two, Unbroken follows the experience of the physical and mental hardships soldiers face in the harsh environment. A key subplot in the film focuses on Louis, a former Olympian runner who kept his strong perseverance through war. It is Jolie’s purpose to teach us about how perseverance is one of the most important human qualities we need to have throughout our lives.

Perseverance is one of the main human qualities to have as it helps us to achieve our goals in life. When Louis gave up on his Olympic dream of being in a running race and became part of the war, Louis kept his perseverance throughout it. He stated “If you can take it, you can make it” this suggests that if you go through the bad you will be able to succeed in your dreams. This is relevant to teenagers today, as with the lack of perseverance, teenagers give up on their dreams/goals. To show that Louis did not give up on his dreams, despite being in the environment of war, Jolie used uplifting classical music along with close-up shots of Louis to support the mood of the inspiring decision and his charismatic and enduring personality. It is clearly human nature to give up on difficult dreams or goals that we have set for ourselves. But with perseverance, we can often find ourselves achieving a variety of things. The director’s purpose was to reassure us that with perseverance, even in disadvantageous environments you can keep your dreams and go for them.

In disadvantageous situations, perseverance can have a positive impact on us and our survival. In the film, Louis was taken to a prisoner of war camp in Japan. There, he met the leader of the camp The Bird who has shown superiority over the prisoners. He quoted “You are enemies of Japan, you will be treated accordingly.” To show his words into action, The Bird tortured Louis with a wooden plank over his head for hours. Jolie has shown this effect by the use of yellow, bright lighting to dark, showing his shadows to show how long Louis has been holding the plank for. Along with this, Jolie used makeup of real coal patches on his skin to show the disadvantaged environment he was in. Many teenagers around the world are in disadvantaged situations. Having perseverance is relevant to them as it can help them to escape the environment one day. In the film, The Bird has also used bamboo sticks to torture Louis physically. This was shown through high-angle shots to show the vulnerability of Louis and to show that he was keeping his perseverance of will to survive. In our society, many people are situated in these types of situations such as civilians of dictatorship and war. But as Louis did, with perseverance, this can affect positively for those in these situations. Jolie has shown her purpose of how perseverance can have a positive impact on disadvantageous situations, such as war.

Perseverance can teach us to accept apologies and to understand each other. After the war has ended and when Louis was returned to his country, Louis did not mock The Bird nor the Japanese soldiers. When showing this, Jolie has used a low angle on Louis to emphasise the power of his accepting mindset of understanding the Japanese soldiers. At times, teenagers often purposefully ignore apologies as they’re too embarrassed to accept them. But with the perseverance mindset, it can impact accepting apologies and leading to understanding each other. In one of the childhood scenes of Louis, the priest recited “Love thine enemy” and along with this, a low, dim, yellow lighting has been used to project the serene and calm environment that can be taken as the reflection of Louis’ use of perseverance for The Bird. In our wider world, we are to face many conflicts throughout life. We often ignore the person we had conflicts with purposefully because we are not ready to understand or accept their apology. But despite this, with perseverance, we can find ourselves understanding each other better because we have the endurance to listen to each other and communicate. Jolie has purposefully put in the perseverance of Louis to reflect on the meaning of understanding each other and as well as accepting apologies.

With the many aspects of perseverance, we are able to understand how this is relevant to many teenagers around the world in different environments. Jolie’s use of the main idea on perseverance has emphasised how Louis remained unbroken throughout many obstacles and how this can be taken by the audience to reflect it on their lives.

Kia ora - welcome to Studyit!

Great intro - you are clearly signposting your argument - your second paragraph reads like it should be part of your intro and you could consider putting it there instead of in its own paragraph.

Paragraphs - well structured, with good evidence and a clear sense of purpose. I encourage you to consider adding a bit more onto your explanation of why teenagers “with a lack of perseverance give up on their dreams/goals” - why might this be particularly relevant for teens over the population as a whole? can you be any more specific?

You use “show” a lot - you might consider using some different verbs of analysis like “emphasise” “highlight” “portray” “convey” “reinforce” “develop” “imply”

Consider in your analysis of your egs - digging in a little more to how the viewer is being encouraged to FEEL because of these examples, and how this helps portray that idea - are we supposed to feel awe? hope? shock?

3rd paragraph is quite strong and shows insight! Well done - just a couple of tweaks but generally a cohesive thoughtful essay - with great evidence.

Thank you so much!! This helps a lot :sob::sob: