Gallipoli
Peter Weir's "Gallipoli" is a very moving anti-war film that, though it sometimes shows scenes of an epic proportion, is a personal, engaging portrait of two young Australians. Archy (played by Mark Lee) and Frank (played by Mel Gibson) come from opposite ends of the social scale. But, like thousands of other Australians, these two young men find themselves as mates in their willingness to seek out adventure and competition in a foreign land."Gallipoli" is not only a "war film," but rather, it is rather "a film about war." Peter Weir has obviously been careful to avoid showing the tale of Australia's disastrous attempt to gain control of the Gallipoli peninsula as a pure action film. Instead, he highlights the physical and mental journeys of the two main characters. Through this journey motif, a number of events arise that help to explain Australia's involvement in the First World War. The first of these is the feeling of loyalty towards the Empire.Australia in 1915 was a country that felt compelling links towards its mother country. The mixed attitudes that Australians felt regarding the British are contrasted well in the film. The most obvious of these contrasts comes from Archy's misdirected patriotism and Frank's cynic
The section of film that deals with Gallipoli is perhaps the shortest section of the film, having spent a lengthy amount of time in Egypt and Australia but although the section of the film that depicts Gallipoli as it was may feel the most important, the journey and transformation of the young men is by far the most important aspect of the film. If Frank had not been able to run almost or perhaps as fast as Archy then Archy would have been forced to accept the role of runner for his commander. "Gallipoli" has been 'constructed' in such a way as to enable its audience to become emotionally attached to Archy and Frank. Its recurring themes tries to make its audience think and the film is a very good reminder of the disaster that was Gallipoli. One of the most important motifs in "Gallipoli" however, was man's dependence on time. The motif of transformation is continued when Archy's uncle reads about Mowgli's transformation into a man in Kipling's 'The Jungle Book'. This motif of transformation forms a theme throughout the film and is most clearly seen when Frank attempts to give Archy a fake beard. As long as humanity has existed, they have relied on time. Whether it be minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, seasons, years, decades, centuries or millennia, the very fact that we count and record time is a factor upon our reliance upon it. The Australian 'sporting spirit' is shown in "Gallipoli" on many occasions. Their spirited youthfulness, enthusiasm, joy of living, competitive nature and the mateship that they share is used to great effect in highlighting the awful effects of war. It is shown most obviously through the running motif, the anti-British sentiment and the gambling. The running motif is shown at many points during the movie, but the most noticeable races are those that the film starts and ends with. Archy's death was a direct reaction to both his and Frank's ability to run 100 yards in under 10 seconds. Sport, an integral part of the Australian persona, is effectively linked to war the film, showing that our soldiers are merely playing a game - but this time, there will be no winners.
Common topics in this essay:
Archy Frank,
Competition Australian,
Jungle Book',
Egypt Australia,
Empire Australia,
Peter Weir,
Mel Gibson,
Nek Archy's,
Weir's Gallipoli,
Archy Archy,
section film,
running motif,
shown gallipoli,
war film,
archy frank,
motif transformation,
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Acceptance Essays
