Gallipoli (1982): Peter Weir’s Chronicle of the Australian Battle, Starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee (Movie Endings)

The battle in Gallipoli, in which thousands of Australians and New Zealanders lost their lives, in large part due to stupidity, arrogance, carelessness, bad decision-making, and even worse channels of communication.

Grade: A- (**** out of *****)

Gallipoli
Australian theatrical release poster

Several young men from Western Australia enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War. They are sent to the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire, where they take part in the Gallipoli campaign.

During the course of the film, the young men lose their innocence about the purpose of war.

Gallipoli provides a portrayal of life in Australia in the 1910, capturing the ideals and character of the Australians who joined up to fight, as well as the conditions they endured on the battlefield, although its depiction of British forces is rather inaccurate.

The epic story is told through the friendship between two young Australians, Archy (Mark Lee) and Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson), who became flee-foot messengers during that crucial year of WWI.

The climax occurs on the Anzac battlefield at Gallipoli, depicting the futile attack at the Battle of the Nek on 7 August 1915.

The beachhead battle, in which the ANZAC offensive forces were outnumbered by the Turks and their German allies, is beautifully recreated by ace lenser Russell Boyd; moments of it are really tough to watch.

The film modifies events for dramatic purpose and contains a number of significant historical inaccuracies.

Thematically, but not stylistically, “Gallipoli’ bears resemblance to Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory,” which also deals with the stupidity and arrogance of the military elite, albeit in France.

The film is extremely well-acted by Mark Lee and especially the young an handsome Mel Gibson, who appeared in Weir’s epic tale right after his international success in the “Mad Max” film series.

The movie conveys the loss of innocence and the coming of age of the Australian soldiers, and, by implication, of their country.

An early scene shows Uncle Jack reading from Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book about how Mowgli has reached manhood and now must leave the very family of wolves that raised him.

Mel Gibson later commented, “Gallipoli was the birth of a nation. It was the shattering of a dream for Australia. They had banded together to fight the Hun and died by the thousands in a dirty little trench war.”

The soldiers of Gallipoli head to war because it is expected of them, just as Australia headed to war because, as part of the British Empire, it was expected of the nation.

Movie Ending: Disturbing Defeat (Spoiler Alert)

Gray, Major Barton’s second-in-command, admits to Barton that he was the soldier who said that he saw marker flags, though he did not remember who told him. Frank suggests to the Major that he go over the Colonel’s head to General Gardner. The General tells Frank that he is reconsidering the attack. Frank sprints back to convey this news, but the phone lines are repaired, and Colonel Robinson orders the attack to continue. Barton joins his men in the attack, climbs out of the trench pistol in hand, and signals his men to charge. Archy joins the last wave and goes over the top. Frank arrives seconds too late and lets out a scream of anguish and despair. As Archy’s companions are cut down by gunfire, he drops his rifle and runs.

The final shot is a frame that freezes on Archy being hit by bullets across his chest, head flung back, falling backwards.

Cast

Australian New Wave

Gallipoli followed the superb courtroom war drama Breaker Morant (1980) and preceded the TV series ANZACs (1985), and The Lighthorsemen (1987).

These films share the theme of Australian identity, such as mateship and larrikinism, the loss of innocence in war, and the continued coming of age of the Australian nation and its soldiers (later called the ANZAC spirit).

Up until Gallipoli, Weir was known for his acclaimed mysterious and even metaphysical works, made in Australia, such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave.

The artistic success of this picture led to his making of American movies with bigger budget and bigger stars, such as the riveting political thriller, The Year of Living Dangerously, co-starring Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson, and Witness with Harrison Ford.

Of Similar Interest:

Kubrick’s Paths of Glory (1957)