Gallipoli (1981) – Superb
Genre – War Movie (based on true stories)
Time: 1 Hour, 50 minutes
Platform: You Tube (free)
“Great” Britain always prides itself on its long history of ‘standing up for what’s right” and so on with WW1 and WW2 being two such examples. In both cases, the general historical view has been that Britain stood alone and won the wars fair and square, aided by Empire troops. American aid in both cases is also acknowledged. Rare is the British film that gives credit to “Empire” troops be they from Australia, New Zealand, India and other colonies (no British film yet on Indians in WW1 and there is only one Indian film till date on Indian troops in WW1, which is covered in my book Lights Camera War).
This 1981 Australian film however came at the right time as it paid tribute to the ANZAC troops involved in one of the biggest disasters of WW1, the Gallipoli campaign. Winston Churchill has not been given enough blame for this disaster as his WW2 fame overshadowed his WW1 role as First Lord of Admiralty; he was the man who literally pushed for an attack against the “soft underbelly”.
The Gallipoli campaign lasted one full year from January 1915 to January 1916 resulting in an estimated 56000+ Allied deaths while their German / Turkish opponents had an estimated 77000+ deaths. The Turks could be content with a clear victory as all the Allied troops evacuated the territory in January 1916. Churchill was only demoted to another cabinet position.
The film was part of the late 1970s/ early 1980s “Australian New Wave” that brought a host of talent, among whom was Mel Gibson, who achieved international stardom in the 1980s. As with most stars who achieve later fame, their earlier performances are always something to look for; the ‘star image’ hasn’t set in and they can take risks that a ‘star’ couldn’t otherwise take. Gibson even acted as a slightly mentally impaired boy who married a spinster in the 1979 film Tim. No stardom then!
Plot: Two physically tough boys Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson) and Mark Lee (Archy Hamilton) from the Australian outback volunteer to join the Australian Army and ‘fight against the Germans’. Their journey takes them from the outback, through their training, onwards to Egypt and then finally to the shores of the Gallipoli Peninsula. They soon learn the harsh lessons of combat – its about saving the man next to you and in your company, than any flag or higher ideals. The stark reality of combat sets in. Since Dunne was a sprinter, he is employed as a ‘runner’ in the pre-electronic non-wireless days – literally someone who runs from position to position, to pass orders.
The combat scenes were all shot in Australia and the “ANZAC cove” is undistinguishable from the real one in Turkey. The terrain has been chosen well – the rise from the seashore to the heights which were all commanded by the Turkish commanders, one of whom attained later fame as Kemal Ataturk of Turkey. The stark reality of combat. The dust. The heat. The ever-present misery. All these come through in this brilliant film. There are some ‘filmi ‘moments but since the overall story telling and script is far superior, these small moments can be ignored.
This and Mad Max were the films that set Gibson on the road to his international stardom. As already mentioned, he was ‘fresh’ and didn’t have any of his later mannerisms.
This is a brilliant war film that once again captures the futility of the war and the disastrous Gallipoli campaign where the young died in droves and the older commanders couldn’t or wouldn’t see the ‘ground reality’ while they moved pins and symbols over maps far behind the front lines.
The film is free on You Tube
https://youtu.be/9s_7Nfh3g-0?t=1
Historical Background – 5 out of 5
Script – 5 out of 5
Story – 4 out of 5
Direction – 5 out of 5
Photography – 5 out of 5
Total – 4.8 out of 5