''An Accidental Soldier'' is an Australian television

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

produced by

Goalpost Pictures Goalpost Pictures is an Australian film production company founded and run by Rosemary Blight, Ben Grant, Kylie du Fresne, and Cass O’Connor. History The 2007 suburban comedy '' Clubland'', directed by Cherie Nowlan, debuted at the 2009 Sun ...

, released on 15 September 2013, and starring

Marie Bunel Marie Bunel (born 1961) is a French film and stage actress. Biography Bunel was born on 27 May 1961 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Val-de-Marne, France. She attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in West Hollywood, California and to ...

Dan Spielman Dan Spielman (born 1979) is an Australian actor. His career spans film, television and theatre. Spielman grew up with his younger sister in Beaumaris, Melbourne. Without formal acting training, Spielman has worked in theatre, television and fil ...

Julia Zemiro Julia Zemiro () (born 14 April 1967) is a French-born Australian television presenter, radio host, actress, singer, writer and comedian. She is best known as the host of the music quiz and live performance show '' RocKwiz''. Zemiro is a fluent ...

, and

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include ''Breaker Morant'' (1980), ' ...

. It is written by Blake Ayshford from the screenplay of John Charalambous, who based it on his 2008 book ''Silent Parts''. The film was directed by

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

and was shot just outside

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia.

Plot summary

Harry Lambert (

) is a timid 35-year-old Australian baker who is shamed by his rural neighbours to join the

1st AIF The First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army during the First World War. It was formed as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 15 Au ...

and fight in the Western Front of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Behind the lines, he continues to bake bread but when they are called up to fight, Harry realises he doesn't want to kill and leaves the battlefield. In the countryside, deserters are being trailed; he barely avoids capture when Colombe Jacotot (

) finds him. She is a quiet farm-wife, who has faced the horrors of war: the death of her son and her husband abandoning her. Neither knows the other's language but they quickly find themselves unexpectedly in love. She teaches him about true courage; he shows her beauty in a life that she thought was over.

Production

Director

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

requested an unnamed Australian actress for the French-speaking Colombe. However, a French casting director gave

's name to the producers. She auditioned via

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...

and Ward looked no further. "You can't pretend that Frenchness," Ward said, "even if somebody speaks very good French. There is incredible honesty and charm to unel'sperformance." Melburnian

plays Colombe's friend and neighbour, Isabelle. Zemiro was born in France and emigrated to Australia as a child. She speaks French fluently and this is her first major French-speaking role. Ward's husband

plays Captain Foster. This is the first collaboration for the couple since the 2009 film ''

Beautiful Kate ''Beautiful Kate'' is a 2009 Australian drama film directed by Rachel Ward and starring Ben Mendelsohn, Rachel Griffiths, Bryan Brown, Maeve Dermody and Sophie Lowe. Ward adapted the script from a 1982 novel of the same name by Newton Thornburg; ...

''. CGI erased power lines and houses in

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

, recreating the French countryside in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Producer

Sue Taylor Taylor Media is an Australian film and television production company founded in 1991 by Sue Taylor. The company has produced children's dramas ('' Minty'', ''Southern Cross'', '' Time Trackers''), mini-series ('' The Shark Net''), documentaries ...

stated, "There is a six-week window after the winter rains in the spring where we do look a little like France. I always felt we could do it."

Reception

Critical reception

Graeme Blundell of ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' stated, "

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Ayshford, in taking the colonial part of the novel, which interweaves events from 1968 and fading memories of the war with events from 1918, also provides a hushed story of an unlikely love. Adaptations into film are difficult to manage. But Ayshford and his sympathetic director have created something quite singular and filmically exciting."

Accolades

In 2013, ''An Accidental Soldier'' received six

AACTA Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

nominations, including Best Telefeature, Mini Series or Short Run Series, Best Direction in a Drama or Comedy for

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

, and Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama for

. The film was also nominated for an

AWGIE Award The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previo ...

for Telemovie: Adaptation for Blake Ayshford.

References

External links

''An Accidental Soldier'' 's official website

''An Accidental Soldier''
at

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

's website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Accidental Soldier 2013 war drama films Australian drama television films Australian war drama films Anti-war films about World War I Western Front (World War I) films World War I television films 2010s English-language films 2010s French-language films Films based on Australian novels Films based on military novels 2013 television films 2013 films 2013 multilingual films Australian multilingual films