Backbencher

I have just finished watching the movie Gallipoli, and all I can say is WOW. Before this movie, all I have been exposed to is extremely introductory information on Australian culture, but this movie changes everything, as far as I am concerned.

The movie is about several young men who run sprint races in Western Australia. They live to run, and it is what they do. It is their cultural identity. At one time, they challenge a horseman that one of them running barefoot could outrun the horseman riding bareback. The horseman is restricted to the dirt road, while the runner takes the most direct path home. The runner wins, despite his almost endangering himself. This is his identity – the runner, the athlete.

Unfortunately, these young men are alive in Australia in 1915, at the time the English army is heavily recruiting for the Great War. They needs troops to attack Turkey, so that Turkey may be forced out of the war and the Triple Entente may win the war. Traditional of the time, mass cultural beliefs of the glory and romanticism of war run rampant, and the runners wish to remain together so that they may enjoy themselves together, joining in Australia’s attempt to find a sense of nationalism and cultural identity.

The film shows the original landing, in which the Australian Imperial Force establishes a beachhead at Gallipoli, and they begin receiving shellfire from the entrenched Turks. The men do not know what to make of this, as they are simply not used to the European ideal of war. They turn to drinking, having fun, and splashing in the water on the beach while getting shelled. This is amazing, the shells are creating a national identity, so they need to enjoy it! They are war heroes! Even as one man is shot in the water, men are cheering as they carry him to an aid station. He is the first to take a bullet for his country, the first Australian hero.

Warning: I am about to spoil the ending.

Ultimately, the film reaches a climax when the men are split up, and one is a runner while the other is a front-line attacker. The attackers are mowed down by the Turks, and the runner has to carry the message to the front that the attack is to stop, as no more bloodshed is needed. The young men hang their personal possessions in the trench, so that they will not get lost in the gunfire. This is to prove that these men are battle heroes, and they want that piece of Turkish land to remain Australian to prove it. It could not be done in Australia, after all.

I apologize if this review ran a bit long, but I feel that this is a very important phase in Australian Cultural Identity. Cheers!

p.s. I am amazed at how young Mel Gibson once was...be prepared for this as well.