Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian war drama film directed by Peter Weir and produced by Patricia Lovell and Robert Stigwood, starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee. The film revolves around several young men from Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War. They are sent to the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire (in modern-day Turkey), 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 battlefield at Gallipoli, depicting the futile attack at the Battle of the Nek on 7 August 1915. It modifies events for dramatic purpose and contains a number of significant historical inaccuracies.
Gallipoli 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 has been criticised as inaccurate. It followed the Australian New Wave war film Breaker Morant (1980) and preceded the 5-part TV series ANZACs (1985), and The Lighthorsemen (1987). Recurring themes of these films include the Australian identity, such as mateship and larrikinism, 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 film received critical acclaim upon release, being considered one of the greatest war films ever made.
Cast[]
- Mark Lee as Archy Hamilton
- Mel Gibson as Frank Dunne
- Bill Kerr as Jack
- Harold Hopkins as Les McCann
- Charles Yunupingu as Zac
- Ron Graham as Wallace Hamilton
- Gerda Nicolson as Rose Hamilton
- Robert Grubb as Billy (Lewis)
- Tim McKenzie as Barney (Wilson)
- David Argue as Snowy (G. S. Wilkes)
- Steve Dodd 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
David Williamson made a cameo as an Australian soldier playing a game of Australian rules football in Egypt.