Entertainment
‘Unbroken’ – slow, but inspiring story about human spirit
Film: “Unbroken”; Cast: Jack O’Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Takamaasa Ishihara, Alex Russell, Finn Wittrock and Jai Courtney; Director: Angelina Jolie; Rating: ***
Minutes before Louie Zamperini, an athlete-turned-war hero, boards a train to participate in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, his brother Pete tells him: “Louie, a moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory”. From then on, pain becomes an internal part of Louie’s life — right from the 47 days he spent along with two other crew-members in a raft after a near-fatal plane crash in the shark-infested Pacific, to the time he spent as a slave in two prisoner-of-war camps in Japan.
It’s those inspiring words by Pete and the superhuman force of will that not just kept Louie alive but also taught him some of life’s important lessons. One of which is to have the heart to return to his captors in Japan many years later and forgive them.
“Unbroken” is a highly inspiring and commendable tale of triumph and human endurance. But, director Jolie, who narrates the gut-wrenching true story of a real war hero with utmost conviction, takes too long to tell it. It’s ironic that it takes endurance to sit through this tale of endurance. But if you keep aside the film’s sluggish pace, there’s so much to take back from this awe-inspiring story of will power, survival and forgiveness.
Jolie’s style of narration stands out, especially when she takes us back and forth in Louie’s life at crucial junctures of the story. For instance, right in between the attack on US Marines by Japanese during the World War II, we’re told the upbringing and early years of Louie, who as a wayward and aimless teenager spent most of his time stealing and smoking cigarettes and drinking. In another scene, minutes before the plane crash in the Pacific, we’re told how Pete discovered his brother’s hidden talent and subsequently nurtured and coached him to be a runner.
Most of the time is spent on narrating the harrowing journey of Louie during the war. It would’ve been nice to have known how he dealt with life after the War because it isn’t easy to usually to come to terms with one’s past. Nevertheless, Jolie has proved with her second directorial, which is as complex as her first — “In the Land of Blood and Honey” — that she can handle such subjects convincingly.
But Jolie’s work in “Unbroken” becomes generic after a point and she doesn’t have a clue about how to take the story forward. Agreed Louie is a hero, a punching bag who will never give in, no matter what the price. But by repeating this aspect of the story again and again, she eventually mutes its essence and power.
Jack O’ Connell is fast becoming one of the most promising actors, particularly after his performances in last year’s two best British films “Starred Up” and “71”. In “Unbroken”, he goes as far as any actor could go to play his part. The unimaginable mental and physical anguish he endures is hard to digest, but the sincerity with which he has played the character in “Unbroken” is outstanding.
International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.
Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.
The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.
Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile
The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.
The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.
“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.
Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings
Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).
Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.
The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.
Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.
Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities
The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.
On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.
Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.
“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.
The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.
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