Backbencher

The movie Breaker Morant, directed by Bruce Beresford, is not only an interesting war movie, but a look into the tensions between Australia and Britain at the time the movie was made (1980). The movie was set during the Boer War in the early twentieth century. The Boer War was a battle for South Africa between the British Empire and the Boers (mainly Dutch settlers). The plot of the movie takes over after three Australians get court martialed for executing prisoners that participated in the massacre of a British officer, despite these being direct orders from the British superiors. The movie is composed of the biased court proceedings accompanied with sporadic flashbacks to the war and prisoner executions. The three prisoners are portrayed as very likeable, noble Australians who have done nothing wrong. They are being court martialed to detract attention from the inhumane orders passed down from the British superiors. These prisoners are shrugged off by these superiors as sacrifices of war. The British are portrayed as arrogant, heartless snobs that will do anything to save their name.

This movie was almost painful to watch, being as these Australians were getting completely stabbed in the back by the country they were risking their lives for. The writers did an excellent job of creating hatred for the British authorities. Being as this movie was made not-so-coincidentally close to the time the British Empire joined the European trading market and economically stabbed Australia in the back. This movie is just translating the backstabbing into a more Hollywoodesque script. Breaker Morant was a very powerful look at wartime injustices, but the anti-Brit attitude of the 1980's makes you wonder if your getting an accurate portrayal of events or just a pissed off writer's rants.