Gallipoli (1981)
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''Gallipoli'' is a 1981 Australian
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by
Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born 21 August 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), '' Gallipoli'' (1981), '' The Y ...
and produced by
Patricia Lovell Patricia Anna Lovell ( Parr; 1929 – 26 January 2013), commonly referred to as Pat Lovell, was an Australian film producer and actress, whose work within that country's film industry led her to receive the Raymond Longford Award in 2004 ...
and
Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer, and impresario, best known for managing musicians such as Cream, Andy Gibb, and the Bee Gees; theatrical produc ...
, starring
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
and Mark Lee. The film revolves around several young men from
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
who enlist in the
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...
during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. They are sent to the
Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...
peninsula in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
(modern
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
), where they take part in the Gallipoli campaign. During the course of the film, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the purpose of war. The climax of the film occurs on the
Anzac The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...
battlefield at Gallipoli, depicting the futile attack at the
Battle of the Nek The Battle of the Nek () was a minor battle that took place on 7 August 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign of World War I. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The name derives from the Afrikaans word for a "mount ...
on 7 August 1915. ''Gallipoli'', which had a budget of $2.6 million, provides a faithful portrayal of life in 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, as well as the conditions they endured on the battlefield, although its portrayal of
British forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping ef ...
has been criticised as inaccurate. It followed the
Australian New Wave The Australian New Wave (also known as the Australian Film Revival, Australian Film Renaissance, or New Australian Cinema) was an era of resurgence in the worldwide popularity of the Australian cinema, particularly in the United States. It began ...
war film ''
Breaker Morant Harry Harbord "Breaker" Morant (born Edwin Henry Murrant, 9 December 1864 – 27 February 1902) was an English horseman, bush balladist, military officer, and war criminal who was convicted and executed for murdering nine prisoners-of-war ...
'' (1980) and preceded the 5-part TV series ''
Anzacs ANZAC, ''Anzacs'' (named for members of the all volunteer army formations) is a 1985 Australian five-part television miniseries set in World War I. The series follows the lives of a group of young Australian men who enlist in the 8th Battalion ( ...
'' (1985), and '' The Lighthorsemen'' (1987). Themes of these films include the Australian identity, such as
mateship Mateship is an Australian cultural idiom that embodies equality, loyalty and friendship. Russel Ward, in ''The Australian Legend'' (1958), once saw the concept as central to the Australian people. ''Mateship'' derives from '' mate'', meaning ''f ...
and
larrikinism Larrikin is an Australian English term meaning "a mischievous young person, an uncultivated, rowdy but good-hearted person", or "a person who acts with apparent disregard for social or political conventions". In the 19th and early 20th centurie ...
, the loss of innocence in war, and the continued coming of age of the Australian nation and its soldiers (later called the
Anzac spirit The ANZAC spirit or ANZAC legend is a concept which suggests that Australian and New Zealand soldiers possess shared characteristics, specifically the qualities those soldiers allegedly exemplified on the battlefields of World War I. These ...
). ''Gallipoli'' received heavy international promotion and distribution and helped to elevate the worldwide reputation of the
Australian film industry The cinema of Australia began with the 1906 production of ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received international recogni ...
and of later
Australian New Wave The Australian New Wave (also known as the Australian Film Revival, Australian Film Renaissance, or New Australian Cinema) was an era of resurgence in the worldwide popularity of the Australian cinema, particularly in the United States. It began ...
films. The film also helped to launch the international career of actor
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
. Due to the Gallipoli battlefields becoming tourist destinations in the 21st century, the film is often shown at the
hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...
s and
hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
s in
Eceabat Eceabat is a small town in Çanakkale Province in the Marmara Region of Turkey, located on the eastern shore of the Gelibolu Peninsula, on the Dardanelles Strait. It is the seat of Eceabat District.Çanakkale Çanakkale is a city and seaport in Turkey on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. It is the seat of Çanakkale Province and Çanakkale District.Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...
. In the ''
20 to 1 ''20 to One'' (known as ''20 to 1'' before 2016) is an Australian television series on the Nine Network from 2005, that counts down an undefined "top 20" of elements or events of popular culture, such as films, songs, or sporting scandals. The ...
'' episode "Great Aussie Films", ''Gallipoli'' was listed as Number 1.


Plot

In
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, May 1915, Archy Hamilton, an 18-year-old stockman and prize-winning sprinter, longs to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He is trained by his uncle Jack and idolises Harry Lasalles, the world champion over 100 yards. Archy wins a race with a bullying farmhand, Les McCann, Archy running bare-foot and Les riding his horse
bareback Bareback riding is a form of horseback riding without a saddle. It requires skill, balance, and coordination, as the rider does not have any equipment to compensate for errors of balance or skill. Proponents of bareback riding argue that riding ...
. Frank Dunne is an unemployed ex-railway labourer who has run out of money. He is an accomplished sprinter and hopes to win the prize money at the athletics carnival; he also bets a lot of money on himself winning. Archy and Uncle Jack journey to the athletics carnival. Frank is surprised when Archy defeats him, and is bitter at first and feels robbed of his bet. Eventually, Frank approaches Archy in a cafe after getting over his loss. Archy gives all the prize money he won at the race to Jack and tells him that he will not be coming home for he has decided to enlist. They both decide to travel to
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
and enlist there. As Archy and Frank are penniless, they secretly hop on a freight train. As they awake the next morning, they discover the train had stopped at a remote desert station instead of Perth. The station attendant informs them that they could either wait a
fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...
for the next train, or walk 50 miles across the dry lake bed to reach a location with a more frequent service. Archy immediately sets off while Frank chases behind trying to persuade him to stay, reminding him that they could die in the desert much as members of the Burke & Wills expedition did. With Archy's navigation skills, the pair eventually reach a cattle station in safety. Upon arriving in Perth, they arrange to stay with Frank's father, an Irish migrant. Due to Frank's Irish heritage and general cynicism, he has little desire to fight for the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
. Archy persuades him to try to enlist in the
Australian Light Horse Australian Light Horse were mounted troops with characteristics of both cavalry and mounted infantry, who served in the Second Boer War and World War I, World War I. During the inter-war years, a number of regiments were raised as part of A ...
. Failing to ride a horse, Frank enlists in the infantry with three co-workers from the railway, Bill, Barney and Snowy. Many of the motivations for enlistment are revealed: wartime anti-German
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
, a sense of adventure and the attraction of the uniform. All soldiers embark on a transport ship bound for
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
. Frank and Archy are separated and embark on different
troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...
s. Some months later, Frank and his fellow soldiers train near the
Pyramids A pyramid () is a Nonbuilding structure, structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a Pyramid (geometry), pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid ca ...
and spend their free time in Cairo, drinking and visiting
brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...
s. During a training exercise, Frank and Archy meet once again; Frank is able to transfer to the Light Horse, as they are now being sent to the Gallipoli peninsula as infantry. They arrive at Anzac Cove and endure several days of hardships and boredom in the
trenches A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches res ...
. Frank's infantry friends fight in the
Battle of Lone Pine The Battle of Lone Pine (also known as the Battle of Bloody Ridge (Kanlı Sırt Muharebesi) was fought between Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) and Ottoman Empire forces during the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War, between ...
on 6 August. Afterwards, a traumatised Billy tells Frank what happened to the others, Barney has been killed and Snowy is in a hospital but in such bad condition that he is denied food and water. The following morning, Archy and Frank are ordered to take part in the charge at the
Nek Filippo Neviani (born 6 January 1972), known by his stage name Nek, is an Italian singer-songwriter and musician. Nek is popular in Italy and throughout the Spanish-speaking world, and has performed and released most of his albums in both Italia ...
, a diversion in support of the British
Landing at Suvla Bay The landing at Suvla Bay was an amphibious warfare, amphibious landing made at Suvla on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire as part of the Battle of Sari Bair, August Offensive, the final United Kingdo ...
. Archy is ordered by Major Barton to be the message runner. He declines the offer and recommends Frank for the role. The Light Horse are to attack in three waves across a stretch of ground defended by Ottoman machine gunners. The first wave is to go at 4:30 a.m., after an artillery bombardment. Unfortunately, the commanders' watches are not synchronised and the bombardment ends too early. The brigade's commander, Colonel Robinson, insists the
Anzac The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...
attack proceed; the first wave is cut down by the Ottomans within seconds. The second wave goes over, to a similar fate. Major Barton wants to halt the attack to end the carnage, but the Colonel says that somebody told him Anzac marker flags were seen in the Turkish trenches, indicating that the attack was partially successful. The phone line goes dead, and Barton gives Frank a message to carry to Brigade HQ, but when he arrives, the Colonel insists the attack continue. Lieutenant 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. Frank hurries to Gardner's headquarters down on the beach. The General is informed that, at Suvla, the British landing party is brewing tea on the beach. He 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 as hard as he can. The final frame freezes on Archy being hit by bullets across his chest, head flung back, as if breaking the tape at the finish of a 100-yard sprint, and falling backwards.


Cast

* Mark Lee as Archy Hamilton *
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
as Frank Dunne *
Bill Kerr William Henry Kerr (10 June 1922 – 28 August 2014) was a British and Australian actor, comedian and vaudevillian. Born in South Africa, he started his career as a child actor in Australia, before emigrating to Britain after the Second World W ...
as Jack * Harold Hopkins as Les McCann * Charles Yunupingu as Zac * Ron Graham as Wallace Hamilton *
Gerda Nicolson Gerda Maureen Nicolson (11 November 1936 – 12 June 1992) was an Australian actress, who worked across all major forms of media, including theatre, television and films, she was best known for several long-running television roles, and was a co ...
as Rose Hamilton *
Robert Grubb Robert Grubb (born 31 January 1950) is an Australian actor. He studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he graduated"Local star's flying high" by Craig Wellington, '' Sunday Tasmanian'' (21 Feb, 2010) Retrieved from ...
as Billy (Lewis)Railway Foreman: "Dunne, Lewis, Wilkes! Where the hell are you?!" - Frank: "Anyone seen Billy Lewis? Barney Wilson? Snow?" - On the slip, on the dying Tom, is written "G.S.W." - in the movie * Tim McKenzie as Barney (Wilson) *
David Argue David J. Argue (born 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Snowy in ''Gallipoli'' as well as the lead role in the 1993 film '' Hercules Returns'' and Dicko in the 1983 film ''Razorback A feral pig is a pig, domes ...
as Snowy (G. S. Wilkes) *
Steve Dodd Steve Dodd (1 June 1928 – 10 November 2014) was an Aboriginal Australian actor, notable for playing Aboriginal characters across seven decades of Australian film. After beginning his working life as a stockman and rodeo rider, Dodd was g ...
as Billy Snakeskin * Robyn Galwey as Mary * Don Quin as Lionel * Phyllis Burford as Laura * Marjorie Irving as Gran * Bill Hunter as Major Barton * Diane Chamberlain as Mrs Barton * Peter Ford as Lieutenant Gray * Geoff Parry as Sergeant Sayers * John Morris as Colonel Robinson * Stan Green as Sergeant Major * Max Wearing as Colonel White * Jack Giddy as Athletics Official #2 * Paul Sonkkila *
David Williamson David Keith Williamson (born 1942) is an Australian playwright, who has also written screenplays and teleplays. He became known in the early 1970s with his political comic drama '' Don's Party'', and other well-known plays include '' The Clu ...
made a cameo as an Australian soldier playing a game of
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
in Egypt.


Themes

A theme of this film is loss of innocence and the coming of age of the Australian soldiers and of their country. An early scene in the film shows Uncle Jack reading from
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
's ''
The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...
'' about how
Mowgli Mowgli () is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Mowgli stories featured among Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' stories. He is a feral boy from the Pench area in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, who originally appeared in Kiplin ...
has reached manhood and now must leave the family of wolves that raised him. The actor
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
commented, "
Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...
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 Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which combatants are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. It became archetyp ...
." In an examination of ''Gallipolis legacy
SBS Movies
notes "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.


Production

Peter Weir had wanted to make a film about the Gallipoli campaign since visiting
Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...
in 1976 and discovering an empty
Eno Eno may refer to: Music * English National Opera, London * ''Eno'', an album by Japanese band Polysics Organisations and businesses * Eno (company), a Chinese clothing and accessories business * Eno Center for Transportation, a non-profit t ...
bottle on the beach. He wrote an outline of the script and gave it to David Williamson to turn into a
screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...
. The script went through many variations; the
South Australian Film Corporation South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are managed ...
did not like an early draft and said they did not want to fund the film, which then had a proposed budget of A$4.5 million. In May 1979 Weir asked
Patricia Lovell Patricia Anna Lovell ( Parr; 1929 – 26 January 2013), commonly referred to as Pat Lovell, was an Australian film producer and actress, whose work within that country's film industry led her to receive the Raymond Longford Award in 2004 ...
to produce the film. The script then began to focus on the story of two runners. Lovell managed to raise A$850,000, which was not enough to make the film.


Pre-production

On 1 May 1980
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...
and
Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer, and impresario, best known for managing musicians such as Cream, Andy Gibb, and the Bee Gees; theatrical produc ...
announced they were forming a film company, R&R Films, later known as Associated R&R Films. This was a joint venture between
News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...
and the Robert Stigwood Organisation. They pledged an investment total of A$10m in local productions, with ''Gallipoli'' being the first but the company did not produce any more films. Lovell approached them with the script, and they agreed to fund it provided the budget did not exceed $3 million. He later said the final budget was $2.8 million, or $2.4 million with the rest consisting of fees. This was the highest budget of an Australian film to date. Murdoch's father,
Keith Murdoch Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist and media proprietor who was the founder of the Murdoch media empire. He amassed significant media holdings in Australia which after his death were expan ...
, had been a
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
during World War I, and after visiting Gallipoli in September 1915 became an influential agitator against the conduct of the campaign by the British high command. Francis O'Brien, the only American in the company, was appointed international president of the company, and became
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
of the film. Ben Gannon returned from the U.S. in 1980 join the company as general manager, and was associate producer of the film. He spent two years with the company, which he later described as "very frustrating". R&R had intended to develop more Australian films, with Australian directors and writers, with the next project slated as a film based on Gabrielle Lord's novel ''Fortress''. The company was first registered with the
Australian Securities & Investments Commission The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is an independent commission of the Australian Government tasked as the national corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to regulate company and financial services and enforce laws to pro ...
on 13 August 1980 as R&R Films Pty Ltd, and is still registered with its address listed as
News Corp Australia News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp. The group's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television prod ...
's
Surry Hills Surry Hills is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...
headquarters.


Casting

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born 21 August 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), '' Gallipoli'' (1981), '' The Y ...
cast
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...
in the role of the cynical Frank Dunne, and newcomer Mark Lee was recruited to play the idealistic Archy Hamilton, after participating in a photo session for the director. Gibson described the film as "Not really a war movie. That's just the backdrop. It's really the story of two young men". Gibson explained the director's reasons for casting the two leads
I'd auditioned for an earlier film and he told me right up front, 'I'm not going to cast you for this part. You're not old enough. But thanks for coming in, I just wanted to meet you'. He told me he wanted me for ''Gallipoli'' a couple of years later because I wasn't the archetypal Australian. He had Mark Lee, the angelic-looking, ideal Australian kid, and he wanted something of a modern sensibility. He thought the audience needed someone to relate to of their own time.


Filming

''Gallipoli'' was filmed primarily in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
. The
cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...
scenes were shot in
Beltana Beltana is a town north of Adelaide, South Australia. Beltana is known for continuing to exist long after the reasons for its existence had ceased. The town's history began in the 1870s with the advent of copper mining in the area, construction ...
, the salt lake at
Lake Torrens Lake Torrens ( Kuyani: ''Ngarndamukia'') is a large ephemeral, normally endorheic salt lake in central South Australia. After sufficiently extreme rainfall events, the lake flows out through the Pirie-Torrens corridor to the Spencer Gulf. ...
, and
Adelaide railway station Adelaide railway station is the central Terminal station, terminus of the Adelaide Metro railway system. All lines approach the station from the west, and it is a terminal station with no through lines, with most of the traffic on the metropol ...
. The pyramid and bazaar scenes were filmed on location in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. The farewell ball scene was not in the original script but was an idea of Weir's during shooting. It cost an extra $60,000 to make. A large set recreating the Turkish Gallipoli peninsula was built on a stretch of coastline west of
Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a city on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of South Australia. Known as Galinyala by the traditional owners, the Barngarla people, it is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, ...
. It has been known as Gallipoli beach ever since. With its legacy, an Anzac war memorial honouring those who fell in the Gallipoli campaign has been erected near the beach.


Soundtrack

The original music was provided by Australian
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...
(who had also scored ''
Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...
''). The film includes excerpts from ''
Oxygène ''Oxygène'' (, ) is the third studio album by French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre. It was first released in France in December 1976 by Disques Motors, and distributed internationally in 1977 by Polydor Records. Jarre recor ...
'' by French
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
pioneer
Jean Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompan ...
during running scenes. Quiet or sombre moments at Gallipoli, and the closing credits, feature the ''
Adagio in G minor Adagio in G minor for strings and organ, also known as Adagio in Sol minore per archi e organo su due spunti tematici e su un basso numerato di Tomaso Albinoni (Mi 26), is a neo-Baroque composition often misattributed to the 18th-century Veneti ...
'', by
Tomaso Albinoni Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera co ...
. The film also features the '' Pearl Fishers' Duet'' by
Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', w ...
playing on Major Barton's
gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...
before the final attack, drawing a parallel between the bond shared by the ill-fated soldiers of the film and the fishermen in Bizet's opera. A soundtrack album was not released.


Release

The film was screened at the Variety Club of Australia in 1980 and at the 1981
Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Cinema of Australia, Australian film indu ...
. It was released in Australia on 13 August 1981 by Roadshow Film Distributors, in the United States on 28 August, by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
, and
Cinema International Corporation Cinema International Corporation (CIC) was a film distribution company started by Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures in the early 1970s to distribute the two studios' films outside the United States – it even operated in Canada before it ...
handled the rest of international distribution. It was released in UK cinemas on 10 December 1981. On 1 May 1981, the
Australian Classification Review Board The Australian Classification Review Board is a statutory censorship and classification body overseen by the Australian Government. The corporate body is responsible for reviewing classification decisions made by the Australian Classification ...
announced that the film would receive a PG certificate rating. ''Gallipoli'' proved to be a success domestically, grossing AUD $11.7 million at the box office in Australia. Although critically praised by many, the international releases were not quite as successful financially. ''Gallipoli'' only earned US$5.7 million on the US market. ''Film Comment'' wrote that "
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...
apparently lavished substantial print-ad spending in an effort to create a broad market for a specialized film that faltered beyond first-run -as did virtually every other 1981 film on which this strategy was used."


Reception

The film has an approval rating of 91% based on 46 reviews at review aggregator site
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, with an average score of 8/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Peter Weir's devastating anti-war film features a low-key but emotionally wrenching performance from Mel Gibson as a young soldier fighting in one of World War I's most deadly and horrifying battles".
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
gives the film a score of 65 out of a possible 100 based on reviews by six critics, indicating generally favourable reviews. Almost 40 years on, the film is still well regarded by Australian critics with
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...
film critic, Luke Buckamster, describing it as "one of the best loved and most quintessially 'Australian' films". Irrespective of the generally positive critical reception, the historical accuracy of the film still provokes historical cultural debates by commentators.


Box office

Gallipoli proved to be a domestic success, grossing A$11.7 million at the Australian box office. Although the film was widely acclaimed by critics internationally, its box-office success outside Australia was modest. It earned US$5.7 million in the United States, where it was distributed in arthouse cinemas. In France, the film only attracted 39,227 spectators.


Awards & nominations

The film was nominated for or won the following awards:IMDb: ''Awards for Gallipoli''
Retrieved 23 April 2013.


Home media

The film was first released in Australia on
VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...
in 1984. In 2001 ''Gallipoli'' was released for the first time on DVD
widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ...
with two extra features, an interview with director Peter Weir and cinema trailer. In 2005 a North American and 2006 (UK) Special Collector's Edition DVD was released with a different extra feature and includes a 63-minute documentary titled ''Entrenched: The Making of Gallipoli'' with interviews from the cast and crew and production. A 2015 2-disc Commemorative Edition was released by
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...
on DVD and for the first time, on
Digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...
HD and
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
exclusively in Australia.


Historical accuracy

''Gallipoli'' shows much of the conditions and events that soldiers endured in the Gallipoli theatre of war. Archy Hamilton's athlete character was inspired by a line from Australian war historian
Charles Bean Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean (18 November 1879 – 30 August 1968), also commonly identified as C. E. W. Bean, was an Australian historian and one of Australia's official war correspondents. He was editor and principal author of the 12-volume ...
's ''Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918'', describing Private Wilfred Harper of the 10th Light Horse during the forlorn
Battle of the Nek The Battle of the Nek () was a minor battle that took place on 7 August 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign of World War I. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The name derives from the Afrikaans word for a "mount ...
, "Wilfred... was last seen running forward like a schoolboy in a foot-race, with all the speed he could compass". An officer, who wrote a letter to Harper's mother, stated "Wilfred I believe was one of the few who got at most twenty yards". The most notable deviation of the film from the truth and the one for which it has been most criticised, is its portrayal of the chain of command at the Nek. Although he is seen wearing an AIF uniform, Colonel Robinson is often mistaken for an Englishman due to his accent. Colonel Robinson speaks with a clipped accent typical for an upper class Australian of the period. Colonel Robinson's character was based on the
brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...
of the 3rd Brigade, Colonel
John Antill John Henry Antill, CMG, OBE (8 April 190429 December 1986) was an Australian composer best known for his ballet ''Corroboree''. Biography Antill was born in Sydney in 1904, and was educated and trained in music at Trinity Grammar School, Sydn ...
, an Australian
Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...
veteran. Very little British command and control was exercised at the Nek. In his popular history novel ''Gallipoli'', published in 2001,
Les Carlyon Leslie Allen Carlyon (10 June 1942 – 4 March 2019) was an Australian writer and newspaper editor. Early life Carlyon began his career in journalism with ''The Herald and Weekly Times'' as a cadet on the '' Sun News-Pictorial'' (now the '' ...
agreed that the film unfairly portrays the English during the battle, with Carlyon laying the blame for the debacle squarely at the feet of Antill and 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade commander, Brigadier-General Frederic Hughes, "The scale of the tragedy of the Nek was mostly the work of two Australian incompetents, Hughes and Antill". The film implies that the fictional and benevolent General Gardiner called off the attack, when in reality the attack petered out when half of the 4th wave charged without orders while the surviving regimental commander in the trenches, Lieutenant-Colonel Noel Brazier, attempted to get the attack called off. Other critics, Carlyon included, have pointed out that the Australian attack at the Nek was a diversion for the
New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...
's attack at the
Battle of Sari Bair The Battle of Sari Bair (), also known as the August Offensive (), represented the final attempt made by the British in August 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. At the time of ...
, not the British landing at Suvla. The British were therefore not "drinking tea on the beach" while Australians died for them. Two companies of a British regiment, the
Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers () was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689, shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and becam ...
, suffered many losses trying to support the Australian attack at the Nek once it was realised that the attack was in trouble. Some have also criticised the film for its portrayal of British officers and their disdain for Australian discipline behind the lines. According to
Robert Rhodes James Sir Robert Vidal Rhodes James (10 April 1933 – 20 May 1999) was a British historian and Conservative Member of Parliament. Born in India, he was educated in England and attended the University of Oxford. From 1955 to 1964, he was a clerk of ...
, no evidence for any such disdain on the part of British commanders for their Australian troops exists.Robert Rhodes James, "Gallipoli", 1965, pp. 274–276. The British command's low regard for the discipline of Australian troops behind the lines has been widely documented by earlier historians, such as
Charles Bean Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean (18 November 1879 – 30 August 1968), also commonly identified as C. E. W. Bean, was an Australian historian and one of Australia's official war correspondents. He was editor and principal author of the 12-volume ...
, and more recent ones such as Carlyon, as well as by the oral tradition of survivors.


See also

*
Cinema of Australia The cinema of Australia began with the 1906 production of ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received international recogni ...
*
World War I in popular culture The First World War, which was fought between 1914 and 1918, had an immediate impact on popular culture. In the over a hundred years since the war ended, the war has resulted in many artistic and cultural works from all sides and nations that pa ...
*
Landing at Anzac Cove The landing at Anzac Cove on Sunday, 25 April 1915, also known as the landing at Gaba Tepe and, to the Turks, as the Arıburnu Battle, was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by the forces of the British Empire, which ...
*
Battle of the Nek The Battle of the Nek () was a minor battle that took place on 7 August 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign of World War I. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The name derives from the Afrikaans word for a "mount ...
*
Battle of Lone Pine The Battle of Lone Pine (also known as the Battle of Bloody Ridge (Kanlı Sırt Muharebesi) was fought between Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) and Ottoman Empire forces during the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War, between ...
* ''Gallipoli'' (2005 film) - a documentary *
Chunuk Bair The Battle of Chunuk Bair () was a World War I battle fought between the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman defenders and troops of the British Empire over control of the peak in August 1915. The capture of Chunuk Bair, ( Basin Slope, now ''Conk Bayırı'' ...


Notes


References


External links

* * *
''Gallipoli''
at Oz Movies
Gallipoli
at the
National Film & Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

Peter Weir, Gallipoli (1981)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallipoli (1981 Film) 1981 films 1980s war drama films Australian adventure drama films Australian war drama films 1980s English-language films War epic films Anti-war films about World War I Australian epic films Films directed by Peter Weir Paramount Pictures films Films about the Gallipoli campaign Running films Films shot in Adelaide Films shot in Egypt Films set in Western Australia Films set in Egypt Films set in 20th-century Ottoman Empire Films shot in Turkey Films shot in Flinders Ranges ANZAC (Australia) Films produced by Robert Stigwood Films scored by Brian May (composer) 1981 drama films Australian World War I films English-language war drama films