Gallipoli (1981 film)

Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian film directed by Peter Weir. Starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee.

Some young men from rural Western Australia enlist in the Australian Army during World War I. They are sent to Turkey, where they participate in the Gallipoli campaign. During the course of the film, the youngsters gradually lose their innocence regarding the purpose of the war. The climax of the film takes place on the Anzac battlefield at Gallipoli and features the vain attack at the Battle of Nek on August 7, 1915.

Each one of them leaves behind their illusions and their plans for the future. One of them wanted to be an elite athlete, he meets another young man, they end up becoming good friends both in the races and in the army. Their destination is Gallipoli, where they will have to face the powerful Ottoman army and where they know that almost everyone is going to die.

Synopsis

The story begins in Western Australia in 1915 with Archie (Mark Lee), an 18-year-old runner who just wants to go to war against Turkey. However his uncle Jack his (Bill Kerr) only wants him to be a racer. After a race, Archie is going to enroll in the cavalry, but one of those who were present tells the officers that Archie was not 21 years old, so he could not enroll, there he meets Frank (Mel Gibson ) who tells him that in Perth he could sign up.

So it was that they headed for Perth, but something didn't go very well and they ended up in the desert and in two more weeks the train left for Perth, but Archie didn't want to wait and went through the desert with Frank, who didn't have much faith in getting out of the desert alive, but Archie knew how to find his way and that's how they arrived at old Dan's farm where they were very well looked after. Frank and Archie eventually made it to Perth, where they signed up for the cavalry, but only Archie got in, because Frank couldn't ride a horse.

Frank enrolled in the infantry and was transferred to the training camps in Cairo, Egypt, where he soon met Archie again and that's how they asked for Frank's transfer to the cavalry, which was accepted since Frank he was a runner and would serve well in the cavalry.

Finally the cavalry and infantry moved to Gallipoli where the Turkish army was. A bombardment is started, but the Turkish soldiers return to the trenches and the Australian cavalry and infantry are ordered to attack with fixed bayonets and not fire. The Turks had machine guns and rifles and the Australians couldn't go five yards and they dropped dead, it was a massacre. Frank is sent to the colonel for instructions, and the colonel decides to change the order, but Frank is late in the trenches to announce the change. The soldiers had already started coming out to attack. Minutes before going out himself, Archie repeats the words that his uncle Jack ( Bill Kerr ) said to him before going for a run: What are your legs? Steel springs, and what are they going to do? Take me full speed, how fast can you run? To that of a leopard, and how fast are you going to run? Like a leopard. At that moment Archie and the others come out of the trenches, being exposed, little by little they all fall, but Archie resists a little more, several projectiles hit his body, the image of Archie being frozen with the bullet impacts on the body.

Cast

• Mark Lee... Archy Hamilton
• Mel Gibson... Frank Dunne
• Bill Kerr... Uncle Jack
• Harold Hopkins... Les McCann
• Charles Lathalu Yunipingli... Zac
• Heath Harris... Stockman
• Ron Graham... Wallace Hamilton
• Gerda Nicolson... Rose Hamilton
• Robert Grubb... Billy.
• John Morris... Colonel Robinson
• Bill Hunter... Major Barton
• Peter Ford... Lieutenant Gray
• Tim McKenzie... Barney
• David Argue... Snowy

Comments

Gallipoli realistically depicts life in Australia around 1910 — reminiscent of Weir's film Picnic at Hanging Rock set in 1900 — and captures the ideals and personality of the Australians who join the fight, and the conditions they have to endure on the battlefield. However, it modifies some events to support the dramatic account and contains some historical inaccuracies. Perhaps most importantly, the officers responsible for the attack on the Entente commando are portrayed in the film as British, when most historians agree that the blame for the failure lies with two Australian commando officers.

The film continued the so-called Australian New Wave of war films, such as Breaker Morant (1980) and preceded the five-part television series ANZACs (1985), and The Lighthorsemen (1987). Recurring themes of these films are Australian identity, such as mateship and larrikinism, the loss of innocence in war, and the coming of age of the Australian nation and its soldiers (later renamed the ANZAC spirit)..

Actor Mel Gibson said, “Gallipoli was the birth of a nation. It was shattering a dream in Australia. They had teamed up as partners to fight the Huns and ended up dying by the thousands in dirty trench warfare."

Production

The Australian film was one of the country's greatest production ambitions. Its development was a grueling and prolonged one, in which the story was developed from a historical point of view. In it, truthfulness was the maxim pursued by the director at all times. Its instrumental soundtrack was composed by Brian May. It also contains fragments of the album Oxygène by the French musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre.

Reception

The film production was very well received at the Sydney and Los Angeles Film Festivals, where it generated an intense post-screening discussion. It was also a turning point for two film professionals. Both Peter Weir and the actor Mel Gibson were able to enter thanks to this film over time in the American market and work in Hollywood.

Awards

The film was awarded the 1981 AFI Award: Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Lead Actor (Mel Gibson), Best Supporting Actor (Bill Hunter), Best Director, Best best production and best adapted script; and with the 1982 Australian Cinematographers Society Award: For Best Cinematography (Russell Boyd).