Gallipoli: Film Analysis - Essay Example

Running head: Gallipoli: Film Analysis Gallipoli: Film Analysis [Writer's name] [Institution's name] Gallipoli: Film Analysis In 1981, an Australian director, Peter Weir made the film Gallipoli. As the title suggests, this film follows Australia's involvement in the 1915 Gallipoli campaign, focusing on the fictional lives of two young idealistic mates - Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee) and Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson) who become best buddies and decide to enlist together for military service when they join the war effort. Despite the fact that the story of these two characters is fictional, Weir's eye for historical accuracy is precise and the events depicted in the film reflects the powerful national legend of Gallipoli and ANZAC day. This film provides insight on the attitudes to the war, enlistment, training, trench warfare and the danger of imminent death. Historical Element The film is unique in that it brings the ongoing personal records of participants from all sides of the conflict in a deeply humane and respectful manner. A six-year effort in the making, the photographs, diaries and letters of three Australians, two Britons, three New Zealanders and two Turkish soldiers are presented from the beginning of the campaign to its end. Interspersed with commentaries by war historians and re-enactments of shell-fire battles, trench-warfare and beach onslaughts, there is a wealth of grainy, black and white archival footage of the landings and the troops on both the Allies' and the Turkish side. Records of rising casualties punctuate each failed engagement. It is a chronological narrative that feels relentless, bringing home the utter futility of this campaign and disgust at the high-minded, wilful blindness of politicians and generals who ordered it despite wide-spread advice to the contrary. (http://www.infilm.com.au/reviews/gallipoli.htm) Settings: The three settings that were shown in the film Gallipoli were in Western Australia, Egypt and Gallipoli. The first setting in the film was Archie in Western Australia. The earth was red and orange it was really dusty and it was a wide-open space with not many houses nearby. There were shrubs around and a few trees, but most of the land was just dirt. The following setting was in Egypt at the training grounds for the soldiers. The climate was extremely hot and sand was everywhere. The dunes and pyramids made it a good place to train because it is very hard to run in soft sand. The market place was very busy with Egyptians trying to rip off the Australians with there unreasonable prices. The Gallipoli scenes seemed to me to be pretty realistic, although a lot of people thought that they would have liked the film more if it had captured the true horror that would have been there. Apparently the conditions in which the soldiers had to live in were much worse then shown in the film. The exceedingly bright lighting seemed to illustrate how the climate would have been. Disgustingly hot, tiring and miserably sunny. The distance between the Turks and the Australians' trenches were only shown about 10-20 metres away from each other, this would have been an accurate spacing in the war (Bachmann 1996 p 32). Archie - Was an 18 year old who wanted to join the Anzac's. He lived on a homestead with his family. His Uncle was his trainer for sprinting, Archie was a fast runner who had won the Kimberley Gift in less than 10 seconds, and he beat Frank who came in second. They both became good friends on the journey to enlist in the war. Archie was looking for adventure and excitement when he joined the light horse. He thought that if he went over he would be helping his countrymen. He tried to enlist in his hometown, but people knew him and they told the soldiers so he tried his luck in Perth with Frank. Archie had no idea of what the war would be like, he was too ambitious like a lot of the other soldiers and he thought he would come back a hero. Frank - Was a young man from Perth who was a good runner, but he wasn't as good as Archie. He meets Archie at the Race they had discussions about the war. Frank at first didn't want to go to war, he thought that everybody that goes there is on a suicide mission. He eventually joins when he sees how much recognition the men that go to war get, especially from the women. Frank was positive that he would not join the infantry, he wanted to join the light horse with Archie, but he came from the city and he had know idea on how to ride a horse. He tried to enlist in the light horse but was unsuccessful this made him change his mind about joining the infantry. On the outside Frank acted tough and he made a joke out of most things, but deep down inside him he was as petrified as everyone else at Gallipoli. Frank's friends were also fairly main characters in the film. Snowy, Bill and Barney were all enthusiastic about joining up together. Bill and Barney are the craziest of the three, they get in a lot of trouble when they are together, whereas Snowy is the sensible one who never lets a foot astray, he seemed to be very religious. Storyline: The film Gallipoli is about the lives of two young men who went to war to fight against the Turks. The movie starts with Archie being trained by his Uncle as he is preparing for a big race that could jumpstart his running career. At the race Frank meets Archie, Frank placed a bet that he could beat Archie, Archie won and Frank lost his money. At the race soldiers turn up to try to recruit young men for duty in the war. Archie tries but someone tells the soldiers that he is under the legal age. Frank and Archie meet again in a restaurant. Frank says that Archie should try to enlist in Perth where nobody knows him. They travel together by jumping on a train that was headed for Perth, but they don't know that the carriage that they were in was to be left at a deserted place in the desert. They travel across the desert and become good friends. They meet a camel driver who gives them water and the three have a discussion about the war. The camel driver didn't even know that there was a war on. After there experience with the camel driver they move onto a farm where they have another discussion about the war with a family. The camel driver and the family have totally different views on the war. The camel driver had an unbiased opinion about the war. He disagreed in wars, whereas the farming family praised Archie for wanting to enlist in the war. Frank noticed the admiration that Archie was getting from the family and more specifically the daughter. Because of this Frank decides to enlist. In Perth Frank and Archie both try to enlist in the light horse because Frank was brought up in the city, he didn't know how to ride a horse. Archie makes it in, but Frank decides to enlist in the infantry. He meets up again with his mates, Snowy, Bill and Barney who were also in the infantry. The quartet travelled to Egypt where they train to go to Gallipoli. The group has a lot of fun together and they get up to a lot of mischief. Whilst in training, the light horse and the infantry meet up, and Frank and Archie are reunited. Because the light horse was not bringing their horses Frank decided to ask if he could join the light horse, he was allowed. When the men arrived in Gallipoli the reality of the war set in. Bombs were exploding, guns were going off, and there were people dying everywhere. The film shows the officers having a meeting but all their watches had a different time but they all didn't check it, so at the charge of the Nek the soldiers didn't attack when they were meant to. They attacked to late when the Turks had already got back in their trenches. Wave after wave the Anzac's was slaughtered. The break down in communications made it hard for orders to be relayed. Frank had the job to run to and from the officers to relay messages. He was too late to tell the commanding officer that his orders were changed. Of Frank's friends nobody survived. Snowy was starved to death, because he was dying and the able bodied soldiers needed the food. Barney, Bill and Archie were all killed in the charges. Movie Techniques Propaganda techniques are used throughout the movie as well. Bandwagon is seen in many instances during the first part of the movie. Archie and Frank's friends influence him to bandwagon and join up. Archie believes it's his patriotic duty to join up, since he has been told that by others. Transfer is also used in the movie while Frank and Archie are in Europe. It shows Egypt as a beautiful and relaxing place, with women there to please them for barely any money at all and being able to play a good game of rugby every now and then. Egypt is shown as a beautiful place. Last name calling is used during the movie. This is seen when Frank and his friends are making fun of the British by getting an eyepiece and one of the little sticks that they carry around and talking like British people do. Critical analysis The movie opens off with the scene of Archy training for his hundred yards sprint. "What are your legs? Springs, steel springs. What are they about to do? They're going to throw me down the trail. How quick can you run? As quick as a leopard. How fast are you about to run? As quick as a leopard. Then let's see you do it!" These are the words of motivation used by his Uncle Jack, which you will see used later in the movie. The actual battle scenes come into the movie rather abruptly. One moment you're at a ballroom scene in Egypt, and the next you're in a boat heading to the shores at Gallipoli. The encampment on the shore is lit up with strings of light bulbs, reminiscent of a crowded carnival midway. Grim "carnival" indeed as occasional enemy shells come screeching into the encampment area and you see the wounded on litters or shuffling around with their assorted array of bandages. You don't see the dead, though in one trench scene a soldier shakes the protruding hand of a dead man and says, "Glad to meet you."(http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/AZC08L556VVJ1?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview) When Archy hears about the outbreak of war, he is excited. Like most Australian men, he is keen to join the army because he deems it as his obligation for the reason that he is physically stronger but also thinks it would be a short war and a great adventure. Other reasons for enlistment were represented in the characters of the railroad workers who desired the approval of young women and the chance to quit their jobs and earn higher wages. Like Archy, they believed it would be a great adventure and did not understand the realities of war. At an athletics race Archy meets Frank who is reluctant to enlist because he does not see it as Australia's war rather England's war and consequently does not see it as his responsibility to fight. Frank represents those Australians of Irish origin that were doubtful of the rightness of the British cause and does not wish to participate in the opportunity to get him killed. The diverse attitudes that Australians felt concerning the British are demoralized effectively by Weir. The on the whole the contrast comes from Archy's ill-bred patriotism and Frank's contemptuous practicality towards the English. One aspect of the ANZAC legend is the concept of mateship. Visually, it is best summarised when Archy is declined from the enlistment for being underage, and so they embark on an arduous journey across a desert stretch to Perth to illegally enlist there under a counterfeit identity. Weir portrays a sense of isolation among Frank, the city slicker, as well as Archy, the country-boy. Whilst capturing the huge, isolated area of desert in a superb honour to nature, Weir positions Archy and Frank at intense opposite ends of the border. Over time, despite the fact that, social barriers are broken down, and the importance of the circumstances escalates, the distance among the two closes forging a continuing friendship. On arrival towards Perth, many aspects of the reactions of people to the war and the pressures in the community on them to enlist are explored. When Archy and Frank stays with a family one night, the daughters praise Archy for his courage and bravery for enlisting to fight in the army and shun Frank for not enlisting. When the two finally arrive in Perth, Frank's hometown, they are showered with misleading propaganda and nationalism encouraging the war effort. Frank's father of Irish heritage advises him not to enlist to fight for Britain but above all, the British killed Frank's grandfather. Ultimately Frank is persuaded to enlist, thus Archy joins the 10th light horse brigade, but Frank, incapable of so much as mounting a horse, winds up in the infantry. Weir represents all these pressures to enlist very evidently in the film. The general attitude of the community to the prospects of war was very enthusiastic although there were some who opposed the war. Most Australians were blinded by their sense of nationalism and the glorification of war and saw it as responsibility to demonstrate loyalty to the 'mother' country. So many men were eager to enlist in the army that the recruiting officers had plenty to choose from and high physical standards were set. This was shown in the film when the men were measured and weighed. Many men who were considered healthy and fit were turned away because they did not meet these requirements. Especially when the ships carrying the men was leaving the harbour, large crowds of people gathered waving flags and cheering, bidding the troops farewell. This scene in the movie demonstrates in one mere shot the atmosphere and excitement in the air (O'Regan, 1996 p 12). Training in Egypt illustrated many things that contributed to the ANZAC legends. Australian soldiers had a dislike for authority, a sense of humour and mateship. Firstly, when Frank met up with his railroad worker mates they showed the very least, if at all any respect to the "superior" British officers, furthermore mocking them by riding on donkeys with a British accent. This was a very humorous scene in the film, representing the fact that the new recruits, coming from an egalitarian society, disliked discipline, saluting, drilling and strict military orders. This was the basis of the ANZAC legend. Australian soldiers had a dislike for authority. It was clear that Australian troops had an attitude that respect had to be earned rather than from the title they carried. This gave the impression that the Anzacs were poor soldiers but good fighters. Also, the idea of mocking and playing pranks on their officers gave the Anzacs a comical and amusing reputation, adding the quality of humour to the legend. The third quality of mateship is essentially a very obvious quality to all Australians alike in any circumstance but during the training in Egypt, mateship is shown in its purest state when Frank meets again with Archy in a feigned battle - infantry vs. light horse. Here the two reunite and Frank asks for consent to switch into light horse because his best mate is in it. The officer shows empathy towards their mateship and agrees. Through Weir's extensive lead-in to the concluding disagreement, a profound sense of connection as well as mateship is forged between the most important characters and the audience making the film's heartbreaking conclusion all the more moving. One of the factors that add to the legitimisation of the film and its issues is that this scene was actually filmed in Egypt in the shadow of the pyramid and the Sphinx (White 2000 p78). The rest of the film is spent in the Gallipoli Peninsula as the troops land at Anzac Cove. The ANZACS are held to a hillside, only yards from the Turkish trenches. The only purpose of the attack was to divert Turkish attention away from the landing of 25,000 British soldiers at Suvla Bay one mile away. The advantage was on the side of the Turks who had had warning of their arrival and occupied the higher ground, overlooking Anzac Cove. One very accurate scene of the landing at Anzac Cove is the scene where the Anzac soldiers are swimming underwater during a daytime air attack with the sight of their nude bodies silently thrashing through reddening water, exposed to the danger of sniper fire. This is one of the most disturbing scenes in the film because the actual violent scenes are essentially very mild. despite the fact that the infantry attack Lone Pine (Frank's mates Barney is killed as well as Snowy seriously injured in the stomach) the Light Horse are to with full force attack the Turkish positions across a vast area of land which is called the Nek. The artillery barrage, designed to force the Turks out of their trenches, was scheduled to continue until 4.30pm for some reason the artillery barrage stopped at 4.23pm. The ANZAC attack occurred on time at 4.30pm but in those 7 minutes the Turks had time to return to their positions in the trenches and repulse the ANZAC attack. Two waves of Light Horsemen were finished off by means of machine gun fire, they could not even reach the trench that show fast the guns were. This confusion is depicted very accurately in the film. Because the field telephone line had been cut by shelling, Archy is offered to be a runner. Archy declines this offer choosing to fight, assigning Frank the job, running between the front and commanding officers. The AIF Colonel who was in charge of the attack gave strict orders to the Light Horse to carry on attacking even though they had gone through a lot of losses furthermore in spite of the fact that the British Forces have landed safe and sound and are "drinking tea on the beach" just a mile away. The ending scene of this film is of Archy writing a letter home to his parents explaining why he ran away from home and pins the letter and his athletics medal to the trench wall with a bayonet. He prepares himself for certain death with the words used by his Uncle Jack to motivate him before running a race. Frank does not arrive at the front with the orders to stop the attack in time to prevent the 3rd wave, including Archy, from going over the top to his death. Archy leaves the trench and sprints across the Nek before being hit by machine gun fire. Perhaps the only historical inaccuracies in the film were that the realities of the Gallipoli campaign were much more gruesome contrary to the implication of the film. The film did not illustrate the realism and bloodshed of the atmosphere nor the massive amount of causalities and fatalities spent by the failure of the Gallipoli campaign. What would have been more correct with the representation of the trench warfare and the charge of the Nek could include surroundings of more dead bodies, untreated wounds and far more mayhem with the shelling and gunfire going on. What the film does not say a great deal for is the poor living conditions in the trenches. This was the place where they ate, slept, smoked cigarettes, wrote letters and did their toilets in. There was not much indication of disease and infestations of lice in the film or any sort of death relating to poor hygiene or disease in the trenches. There were no complaints about the tinned food, which was salty, and lack of water in such hot conditions. It seems that Weir focused most on the concept of mateship and the betrayal of war, showing had quickly and pointlessly young lives can be destroyed. His visual masterpiece carries a profound anti-war message that strikes home effectively in its assessment of the futility and tragedy of war rather than looking at diverse aspects of Gallipoli. Gallipoli also portrays a lot of racism in it. Archie is a farm boy and perhaps one of the fastest runners in Australia and Frank is a drifter who goes from town to town trying to trick people out of their money. After meeting after a race they decide to travel together to Perth, only Archie wishes to join the army at first but Frank decides to after seeing what kind of respect he'll be given if he does. They are split up though during recruiting, Archie put in the light horse and Frank (who's not able to ride a horse) goes into the infantry. They soon meet up in Cairo experiencing many things there and seeing their old rivals the British. Before leaving for Gallipoli, Frank requests to be switched to the light horse with Archie and later is. They then travel to Gallipoli where they begin to see the true horrors of war. The ANZAC need to break the Turkish line there, Frank is ordered to be a message runner and Archie fights. The attempt is suicidal as most if not all of the Australians are shot down before they can even get out of their trenches. At the last minute though Frank is given a message to stop the attack but doesn't get there in time to save Archie. Examples of fact, opinion and propaganda are seen throughout this movie. Three examples of fact are seen throughout the movie. First is that Archie's running time in the race is 1:02. Second is that Frank can't ride a horse. And third is that Harry Leeds is a world champion sprinter. All of these are said or represented during the movie "Gallipoli" also shows three examples of opinion. First is when one of Archie's friends near his farm says that girls run and men ride. Second is that Archie can run as fast as a leopard, probably not true but he believes he can. And third is that all Egyptians are petty thieves. Frank states this and it's an opinion because not all Egyptians are thieves. Also, contrary to the idleness of the British soldiers in the film, the British did their fair share of fighting at Gallipoli and suffered heavy casualties. The reality is, the Anzacs had suffered so insignificant in comparison to the casualties of the British and the French troops. Australia had sent 300 000 men to fight and suffered 80 000 deaths. On whole, the film Gallipoli is a reliable and historically accurate source for the study of Gallipoli and the creation of the legends that surrounds the ANZAC troops. willingness to endure hardships, reluctance to accept unquestioningly the authority of other, their spirit of independence, a sense of humour, resourcefulness, mateship, courage and endurance and a belief in a fair go for all. The experiences on the Gallipoli Peninsula formed the framework for the view of these characteristics that are deemed as the qualities born from the struggle in the bush and in the struggle of battle, becoming the characteristics of all true Australians. Personal view I think that Peter Weir explained what it would be like in the war very well. From the types of food that was given to the Anzac's (Brown biscuit porridge and fried bully beef.) to the people in Australia's views to the war. I think that they should have made the scenes in Australia shorter. I don't think they needed to be lost in the desert apart from the fact that they met the camel driver, who expresses his views to wars. The screenplay writer could have made Frank and Archie have a short conversation with someone else that had the same opinions as the camel driver but then they would be able to cut out walking in the desert. References Bachmann, G 1998. ``Films in Australia." Sight & Sound v. 46 no. 1 p. 32-6 http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member reviews/AZC08L556VVJ1? Ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview retrieved on May 29 2007. http://www.infilm.com.au/reviews/gallipoli.htm retrieved on May 29 2007. O'Regan, Tom 1996. Australian national cinema London. New York: Rutledge p 12 White, David 2000. Australian movies to the world: the international success of Australian films since 1970 Sydney, Australia: Fontana. [New York, N.Y.: distributed by F. Ungar Pub. Co p 78 Read More