Backbencher

BREAKER MORNAT

This film was quite different from the other that I have watched for this class. Again, I had the agravating pleasure of not having subtitles available, so I had to rewind this movie quite a bit to catch everything. When will people just catch on?

This film is set after the Boer war in Africa, and three men are on trial for avenging their superior and also the disappearance of Germany missionary. Their defense is a small town lawyer with little to no experience. What follows is a great trial that has the verdict going back and forth the whole time, and you really enver know what is going to happen until the end.

This film, like both covers state, won Australian Academy Awards and an award at Cannes and even an Oscar nod. It lived up to the hype. It was quite raw and gave a great view of these men. The actors did an amazing job. The man who played Morant really made things come alive, and he was only out-done my their defense lawyer. For me, his character held the most chance for surprise. I was surprised to see that one of the soldiers was the same actor that was in Dead Heart as the english teacher. It makes sense that Australian native actors star in Australian films.

I really enjoyed this film. It was shot in a semi-flashback format, with the audience getting to see multiple viewpoints and events from the past. This film really captured the human spirit at war. This was a huge factor for the men, as it was being redefined what the rules of war were at the time. This was the most interesting part of the movie. We get to see the older men struggling to cope with the nature of the war they are in. It was great.

This is a military movie so if you are in to those, I would recommend this one. I thought it was pretty interesting because the court case revolved around the rules of Australian soldiers, which is something different than here, I believe. I will say that it doesn't end how I expected, but then again, unless a movie is based on a book, I like a little surprise at the end, unless it's for the worse. Fortunately in this case, it's for the better.