World War II veteran and devout Christian Louis Zamperini influenced Angeline Jolie to drop to her knees and believe in the power of prayer during a shoot of the movie, "Unbroken."
The movie, based on the book written by Laura Hillenbrand, is entitled, "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption." It is is Jolie's directorial debut focusing on the remarkable life of Zamperini, who passed away on July 2 at 97. Jolie was at his deathbed 45 minutes after his last breath.
Jolie, while shooting a particular scene in New South Wales, Australia, needed a miracle when the scene needed sunlight but a storm was in rage.
"She was not a person of faith and had never prayed before but she found herself at the very last scene of the movie," Zamperini's daughter, Cynthia Garris, said Friday in a New York press conference. "They needed sunlight to shoot this very important scene and there had been a storm that had been going for a while," Zamperini's daughter Cynthia Garris said at a press conference in New York on Friday."
She recalled Jolie dropping on her knees and prayed for a miracle. "Everybody saw it," she said.
After praying, the rain stopped miraculously. According to Garris, the moment was a testament of her late father's faith and its ability to give impact to non-religious people.
"The sun came out, a rainbow came out, she said, 'let's get this take' [and] they shot the take. When she said 'cut,' it started to rain again," Garris said. "She was moved by my father's faith to try that and that's what he wants for people to get from the movie."
She also shared Jolie saying 'I know he's with us, I know he's there with God.'
Zamperini's life revolved around his triumphs over war ordeals, including his 47 days of raft life after a plane crash, and how he survived being tortured by Japanese. Jolie spoke about her decision to involve Christian values after the war hero asked that the faith theme should be "universal" to achieve better appeal to broad audience.
Amy is a Press Services International Columnist from Adelaide. She has a BA in Creative Writing and Screen & Media, and now works as a freelance photographer, videographer and writer. She was runner-up in the 2018 Basil Sellars Award. Her previous articles can be viewed here: http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/amy-manners.html