Classic Movie Monday: Gallipoli

Welcome to Classic Movie Monday. Every Monday, I watch a film at least 25 years old that I have never seen before. I will then write my comments on the film, telling you what I thought of it. This is an attempt to beef up my classic film knowledge as well as highlight some forgotten gems of Hollywood's heyday. So without further ado...

Gallipoli
Released: August 13, 1981
Directed by: Peter Weir
Starring: Mel Gibson & Mark Lee

Plot in a Nutshell:
Two naive young Australian men decide to leave Australia and go to fight in the Great War. After being sent to Gallipoli in Turkey, they face the grim reality of battle.

What I thought:
Gallipoli is war film not centered on battles, tactics, victories, or defeats. It is at its center, about the loss of innocence. It seems a lot of war films try to explore this change of boy to man through warfare, Gallipoli pulls it off very well.


Told in several distinct acts, the film builds from one to the next very easily. It begins very intimately, focusing on a runner named Archy (Lee), training for cross country glory. He ends up meeting with Frank (Gibson) and they both join the Australian Army. Once they get into the War theater, they sit around and participate in training exercises, until at last they are sent to the trenches on the shores of Gallipoli. It is here that a tragedy in combat occurs, changing their lives.

The thing that is done so well is the buildup of these two fellas. How they are both eager to a degree, and wanting to go off and have an adventure. It is the same in a lot of films about the young getting old. Naive as they are, they make the transition into men very quickly when confronted with war.

This is a great story of coming of age for both the characters in the film, but also for the young nation of Australia. It had only been a mere decade and a half since they had become a country, before they were asked to send troops to a war n the other side of the globe. You get the sense that the Australians were very different than that of their British brethren.

I enjoyed this film. I kind of wish the score weren't dated 80s electric music. It does kind of pull me out of the film for the few scenes it is in. The film looks great. The scenes in the outback are incredibly harsh and well shot. The action towards the end is very light. Several sequences you only hear the explosions and charging. And while I enjoyed the flick, I have to say that it doesn't stray too far from being a simple loss-of-innocence story. That said, it is still a good one to watch. And you get to see Mel in his young, young days when he still spoke like an Australian.

Bottom Line:
A good coming-of-age tale, like almost every other that you've seen, told with interesting characters and featuring a little known point in history in WWI.

B

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