Andrew McMurtryREVIEW: Gallipoli (1981)
Gallipoli is a necessary movie in the creation of the Australian image to the world. What else but Australia’s greatest ever battle and the announcement of the arrival of Australia on the world stage could show Australia and Australians for what we truly embody. Australians, after World War 1 especially due to battles such as Gallipoli, are seen as courageous and steadfast in the face of insurmountable odds. This is what we Australians are defined as. And while films such as “Jindabyne” trying to resituate Australians within the culture, there will always be the need for nostalgic films such as “Gallipoli”, so as not to forget our rich history.
The view of the nation in Peter Weir’s “Gallipoli” is Australia in its traditional view as a dusty outback nation. This is shown on the Hamilton farm in the initial stages as Archie (Mark Lee) practices his running, and all the way through the long desert walk after Archie befriends Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson) after defeating him in the Stawell Gift race. There are several “Traditional signifiers of Australiana” including, the most famous footrace in Australia, the Stawell Gift, the Simpson desert, in which Frank and Archie run across so as to enlist for the war, and, of course, Gallipoli itself, the most famous battle in Australian history, which many people believe trumpeted the arrival of Australia on the world stage. This movie contains Australian actors and an Australian director in Peter Weir as well. It uses Australian colloquialism and rhetoric in the dialogue to truly show that this is an Australian film.
Tom O’Regan, a professor at Griffith University, said “what Australian culture needed was contemporary representations, not nostalgia films. Australians needed to be resituated within their own culture and history with new and more relevant symbols than that of the Australian legend, mateship and the Aussie battler.” While this is important, Australians also need to know about their history and especially with regards to Gallipoli and the ANZAC legend as the qualities of mateship, sacrifice and toughness, which have come to define Australia, are so ingrained in our society and are vital for us to know. To add to the iconic list of “signifiers of Australiana” are the two small battles of Lone Pine, which was an Australian victory, and The Nek, which was a disastrous failure. The Nek is shown in more detail as it was the most senseless waste of life in the whole Gallipoli campaign and also the culminating battle.
Gallipoli creates images of Australia as a sunburnt country and Australians as a tough, strong, courageous people who go about their lives with a dry humour and a nonchalant attitude. It remarks rather loudly that Australians are ingenious and stubborn as they dug in at “Gallipoli” and didn’t just turn around and leave because it was too hard or too much of an arm-wrestle. It says a lot about mateship and the sacrifice that those soldiers made to ensure that Australia would not be attacked. This is an image for Australians to be proud of, but as a history. Today we need new representations to align ourselves with. But as a historical film, “Gallipoli” does a great job of establishing an image of the Australian men who went to war and the home they left behind to defend.
Gallipoli is a great film which gives a good representation of Australia and a reasonably toned down version of the horrific yet courageous events of Gallipoli. The sense of mateship and loss that occurred when their friends were killed also comes through. I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5. It is a good movie to show a representation of the Australian involvement in World War 1 as well as showing the humour and carefree attitude that helped those involved through this conflict. It is also an important film for Australia as the Gallipoli campaign was a very important time in Australia's history.
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