Gallipoli (1981 film)
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| Gallipoli | |
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 Gallipoli movie poster. |
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| Directed by | Peter Weir |
| Produced by | Patricia Lovell |
| Written by | Peter Weir (story) David Williamson (screenplay) |
| Starring | Mel Gibson Mark Lee Bill Kerr distributor=Paramount Pictures (USA) |
| Release date(s) | 1981 |
| Running time | 110 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | AU$ 2.6 million |
| IMDb profile | |
Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian film, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson, about several young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey, where they take part in the Battle of Gallipoli. During the course of the movie, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the nature of war. The climax of the movie occurs on the Anzac battlefield at Gallipoli and depicts the ill-fated attack at the Nek on the morning of the 7 August 1915 by the 3rd Light Horse Brigade.
Gallipoli provides a faithful portrayal of life in rural Australia in the 1910s — reminiscent of Weir's 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock set in 1900 — and captures the ideals and character of the Australians who joined up to fight, and the conditions they endured on the battlefield. It does, however, modify events for dramatic purposes.
Gallipoli was mainly filmed in Australia with some location work done at the Pyramids of Giza near Cairo which is where the AIF trained. Locations include Lake Torrens, a dry salt lake; Yallunda Flat, a scenic country sporting venue; and the coastline near Port Lincoln, which is used for the scenes at Anzac Cove.
The screenplay is by David Williamson and original music was provided by Australian composer Brian May (who had also scored Mad Max). However the most striking feature of the soundtrack was the use of excerpts from Oxygene by French electronic music pioneer Jean Michel Jarre. Quiet or sombre moments at Gallipoli, and the closing credits, feature the Adagio in G minor by Tomaso Albinoni.
The film was produced by R&R Films, a production company owned by Robert Stigwood and media proprietor Rupert Murdoch whose father, Keith Murdoch, was a journalist during the First World War who had visited Gallipoli briefly in September 1915 and became an influential agitator against the conduct of the campaign by the British.
Due to the popularity of the Gallipoli battlefields as a tourist destination, the film is shown each night in a number of hostels and hotels in Eceabat and Çanakkale on the Dardanelles.
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[edit] Plot and Overview
Gallipoli is roughly divided into three parts; the first third is set in Western Australia in May 1915 as the first news of the Gallipoli landings is published, the second third is set in Egypt and the final third at Gallipoli — battle only occupies the final minutes of the film.
A sub-text of the film is of "war as a game" and the two main characters, Archie Hamilton (played by Mark Lee) and Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson), meet at an athletics carnival. Both are sprinters and the numerous running sequences in the film are set to Jarre's Oxygene. Archie Hamilton's athlete character was inspired by a line from C.E.W. Bean's Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 describing Private Wilfred Harper of the 10th Light Horse during the attack at the Nek:
- "Wilfred... was last seen running forward like a schoolboy in a foot-race, with all the speed he could compass."
Archie is an idealistic 18-year old stockman keen to join up even though he is under age. He is trained by his uncle Jack (played by Bill Kerr) and idolises Harry Lasalles, the world champion over 100 yards — when choosing a false name to enlist under, he calls himself "Archie Lasalles". Jack makes Archie recite a mantra before he runs:
Jack: What are your legs?
Archie: Springs. Steel springs.
Jack: What are they going to do?
Archie: Hurl me down the track.
Jack: How fast can you run?
Archie: As fast as a leopard.
Jack: How fast are you going to run?
Archie: As fast as a leopard!
Jack: Then let's see you do it.
Frank is a railway labourer of Irish descent with no interest in fighting for the British. However, bonds of "mateship" make him try for the light horse with Archie and, when he fails because he cannot ride, he joins the infantry with three of his mates, Billy, Barney and Snowy. Many of the motivations that compelled young men to join up appear; the propaganda associated with German atrocities in Belgium, the sense of adventure, the attraction of a smart uniform and the pressure from society to "do your bit".
In Egypt, Frank and his mates are encamped near the Pyramids and spend their free time in Cairo, drinking, being ripped off by merchants and visiting brothels. In a game of Australian Rules Football played beneath the Pyramids, screenwriter David Williamson appears in an uncredited cameo role as the Victorian "lofty bastard" who Frank tells Billy to target. During a shambolic training exercise, Frank and Archie meet once again and Frank is able to transfer to the light horse because they are now being sent to the Gallipoli peninsula as infantry.
Frank and Archie arrive at Anzac Cove and endure the hardships and boredom of the trench warfare that prevailed for much of the campaign. Frank's infantry mates fight in the Battle of Lone Pine on the evening of 6 August — the fighting is implied but not depicted. Billy seems shellshocked and tells Frank what happened to the others: Barney was shot and killed while running alongside Billy, and Snowy is in a hospital, but in such bad condition that he is not being given any food or drink. His last request to Frank is that his diary be sent to his parents. The following morning Archie and Frank take part in the charge at the Nek which is to act as a diversion in support of the British landing at Suvla. Frank is made a runner for the regiment commander, Major Barton (played by Bill Hunter).
The 8th and 10th Light Horse attack in three waves across a narrow stretch of exposed ground defended by machine guns. The first wave is timed to go at the end of an artillery bombardment; however failure to synchronise watches means the bombardment ends seven minutes early. Nevertheless, the brigade's commander, Colonel Robinson, insists the attack proceed; the first wave goes over the top and is cut down. Right before the second wave goes over, Archie sees that an old rival of his, Les, is about to go over (in a scene early in the movie Archie agreed to a bet by Zac, an Aborigine friend, and raced barefoot against Les riding a horse without a saddle. Archie won because Les fell, but his feet were injured.) with the second wave. Archie calls his name, but Les does not respond. He is obviously despondent and hopeless. The second wave goes over, and Les is one of the first shot. Major Barton wants to halt the attack. Lieutenant Gray (Peter Ford) claims to have heard someone state that they saw marker flags. Robinson, remote in his dugout gets a garbled message that marker flags, used to signal to friendly artillery, have been seen in the Turkish trenches, before shellfire cuts the phone lines. Barton gives Frank a message to carry to brigade HQ but when he arrives, Robinson insists the attack continue.
Frank returns to Barton and suggests he go over Robinson's head to the division commander, General Gardiner, an Australian. Frank runs to the beach and Gardiner's headquarters. The general, hearing that at Suvla "the officers are sitting on the beach drinking cups of tea", gives Frank the message that he is "reconsidering the whole situation", effectively cancelling the attack. As Frank sprints back, the phone lines are fixed and Robinson tells Barton to push on. Before going over the top, Archie repeats his mantra. Archie and the rest of the third wave go over the top. Frank arrives only seconds before the men are sent over. The final frame freezes on Archie being gunned down in an image that evokes Robert Capa's famous photograph, Death of a Loyalist Soldier, Spain, 1936.
[edit] Criticism
Gallipoli is a fairly faithful depiction of conditions and events. The notable deviation of the film from reality, and the one for which it has been criticised, is its portrayal of the chain of command at the Nek. Although he is seen wearing an AIF uniform, Colonel Robinson is often mistaken for an Englishman due to his accent. Colonel Robinson's character equates to the brigade-major of the 3rd Brigade, Colonel J.M. Antill, an Australian Boer War veteran. So it was in fact an Australian, not an Englishman, who gave the order to persist with the attack. Nor was there a benevolent Australian general to call off the attack; it ended when all the waves had gone. Other critics have pointed out that the Australian attack at the Nek was a diversion for the New Zealanders' attack on Sari Bair, not the British landing at Suvla. The British were therefore not 'drinking tea on the beach' while Australians died for them. Moreover a British regiment in fact suffered very heavy losses trying to support the Australian attack at Nek once it was realised that the offensive was in trouble. The inherent Anglophobia of the film is also seen during a scene in Egypt in which British officers are represented as haughty and disparaging of the Australians. No evidence for any such disdain on the part of British commanders for their Australian troops actually exists.[1]
[edit] References
1. Robert Rhodes James, "Gallipoli", pp.274-276, 1965
[edit] See also
- Olympic films
- The Anzac legend
- Peter Weir
[edit] External links
| Films Directed by Peter Weir |
| Homesdale | The Cars That Ate Paris | Picnic at Hanging Rock | The Last Wave | Gallipoli | The Year of Living Dangerously | Witness | The Mosquito Coast | Dead Poets Society | Green Card | Fearless | The Truman Show | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | War Magician |
 Cinema of Australia |
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Film chronology: 1890s-1930s • 1940s-1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s |
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