Movies - Gallipoli

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	Movies - Gallipoli

Gallipoli is a 1981 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 and to promote an anti-British agenda.

Gallipoli was mainly filmed in South 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.

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, Archy 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. Archy 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."

Archy 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 "Archy Lasalles". Jack makes Archy recite a mantra before he runs:

Jack: What are your legs?
Archy: Springs. Steel springs.
Jack: What are they going to do?
Archy: Hurl me down the track.
Jack: How fast can you run?
Archy: As fast as a leopard.
Jack: How fast are you going to run?
Archy: 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 Archy 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 attrocities 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 Archy 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.

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Movies - Gallipoli

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