Film Review of Gallipoli

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Film Review of Gallipoli

Peter Weir's Gallipoli follows two idealistic young friends, Frank

(Mel Gibson) and Archy (Mark Lee), who join the Australian army during

the First World War to fight in the ill-fated Battle of Gallipoli in

Turkey. Through the first half of the film you are introduced to the

main characters. You learn of their personalities and beliefs as the

film follows their lives leading up to their deployment. The second

half of the film chronicles life, and death, in Gallipoli as the two

young men adapt to life in the trenches on the Turkish peninsular.

Here they find nothing was as they anticipated it to be.

Strong imagery and the stirring sense of adventure in Gallipoli assist

in expressing the main themes of the film. One of the themes is

heroism tied in with courage which is seen in the actions of the

Australian soldiers. Not obliged to enlist these men did so to fight

in a war which was in no way their own. When there they continued to

display persistence and courage in the face of sure and imminent

death. Another theme is the film is the comradeship between the

soldiers. Although this theme is not limited to the pair, in the film

this is best expressed through the friendship between Frank and Archy.

Remaining the best of friends to the very end the pair were constantly

looking out for each other. This was the nature of comradeship. Also

expressed through the film is the nature of war. Weir has created a

reconstruction of the front lines of Gallipoli. Through this we can

learn what life involved in the trenches of the war front. The lively

setting of the films battles makes the spectre of death even more

surreal and terrible. All the mentioned themes are expressed

successfully.

The main strength of the film is that although the story of Frank and

Archy is not true it easily could be. The film stresses authenticity

while at the same time telling a good story. This is important to

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