Michelle EGallipoli- A truly Australian film?
March 17th 2009 13:12
So here it is, Instalment Number Two in my studious pile of MEFT2201 Concept notes! Yay!
This one dwells on how Peter Weir's 1981 film Gallipoli manages to be so unerringly Aussie, and considers what makes a film truly "Australian"...
When one labels a film ‘Australian’, they must take into account the many and varied interpretations of the term, and the flippant manner with which it is often applied to any and every film made in the country. What makes a film intrinsically Australian? Is it the crew? Perhaps the subject matter? In the writer’s opinion it is these things and more that can help to qualify a film as ‘Australian’, as illustrated by the film ‘Gallipoli’ (Weir, 1981).
For one, the subject matter of ‘Gallipoli’ is possibly among the most patriotic of any Australian film. Portraying the spirit of Australia through the lives of two typical Aussie larrikins, Archy and Frank, the film presents two of the more dominant national cinematic images- the bushman (Archy), and the urban larrikin (Frank), with excellent use of characterisation. Furthermore, the very events of ‘Gallipoli’ are enshrined with the halls of Australian folklore, and so, such a detailed and expositional telling (the point of view is very much that of the ANZACS, as seen by the very little amount of information given to us about the British perspective) makes it a thoroughly Australian story. Additionally, the crucially Australian concepts of loyalty and mateship are explored through the powerful relationship between Archy and Frank.
Next in line is the crew of ‘Gallipoli’. Directed by long time Australian filmmaker Peter Weir, written by famous Australian playwright David Williamson, and with original music by Australian composer Brian May, the hands that formed ‘Gallipoli’ are unmistakeably Australian, and it could be postulated that this high majority of Australian artists gives it a certain national integrity.
On a more mundane level, the funding of ‘Gallipoli’ also finds its origins in an Australian source- R & R Productions, a company partially owned by Rupert Murdoch, the Australian media mogul. Murdoch’s own father served as a journalist in WWI and actively campaigned against the actions of the British at ‘Gallipoli’, giving even the financial side of things a patriotic twist.
So, though many more qualifying features could be discussed, one could state confidently that from head to toe, ‘Gallipoli’ is as Australian a film as perhaps it is possible to be, from fade in to fade out.
This one dwells on how Peter Weir's 1981 film Gallipoli manages to be so unerringly Aussie, and considers what makes a film truly "Australian"...
When one labels a film ‘Australian’, they must take into account the many and varied interpretations of the term, and the flippant manner with which it is often applied to any and every film made in the country. What makes a film intrinsically Australian? Is it the crew? Perhaps the subject matter? In the writer’s opinion it is these things and more that can help to qualify a film as ‘Australian’, as illustrated by the film ‘Gallipoli’ (Weir, 1981).
For one, the subject matter of ‘Gallipoli’ is possibly among the most patriotic of any Australian film. Portraying the spirit of Australia through the lives of two typical Aussie larrikins, Archy and Frank, the film presents two of the more dominant national cinematic images- the bushman (Archy), and the urban larrikin (Frank), with excellent use of characterisation. Furthermore, the very events of ‘Gallipoli’ are enshrined with the halls of Australian folklore, and so, such a detailed and expositional telling (the point of view is very much that of the ANZACS, as seen by the very little amount of information given to us about the British perspective) makes it a thoroughly Australian story. Additionally, the crucially Australian concepts of loyalty and mateship are explored through the powerful relationship between Archy and Frank.
Next in line is the crew of ‘Gallipoli’. Directed by long time Australian filmmaker Peter Weir, written by famous Australian playwright David Williamson, and with original music by Australian composer Brian May, the hands that formed ‘Gallipoli’ are unmistakeably Australian, and it could be postulated that this high majority of Australian artists gives it a certain national integrity.
On a more mundane level, the funding of ‘Gallipoli’ also finds its origins in an Australian source- R & R Productions, a company partially owned by Rupert Murdoch, the Australian media mogul. Murdoch’s own father served as a journalist in WWI and actively campaigned against the actions of the British at ‘Gallipoli’, giving even the financial side of things a patriotic twist.
So, though many more qualifying features could be discussed, one could state confidently that from head to toe, ‘Gallipoli’ is as Australian a film as perhaps it is possible to be, from fade in to fade out.
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