Gallipoli: Film and the Traditions of Australian History

32Roffrnan, Purdy, The Hollywood Social Problem Film, p. 305; Robert Sklar, review of Roffrnan and Purdy in Cinéaste, XII 2, 1982, pp. 52-53. 33See Jim Cook and Alan Lovell, eds., Corning to Terms With Hollywood, British Film Institute Dossier No. 1 1 (London. 1981); the dossier contains material on the political and aesthetic assumptions shared by Edward Dmytryk, John Garfield, Lillian Hellman, Elia Kazan, Joseph Losey, Clifford Odets, Abraham Polonsky, Nicholas Ray, Robert Rossen, and Orson Welles. 34For the idea of Warner Brothers in the thirties as an artistic factory, see Roddick, A New Deal in Entertainment, pp. 25-28. 35Roffrnan, Purdy, The Hollywood Social Problem Film, Ch. 21, especially p. 293. GALLIPOLI: FILM AND THE TRADITIONS OF AUSTRALIAN HISTORY By T.H.E. Travers T.H.E. Travers is Associate Professor and Head ofthe Histoiy Department at the University ofCalgary, Alberta, Canada. "One light horse regiment indeed there was, the 10th, to which the sons of almost every well known pasturalist or farmer in Western Australia came bringing their own horses and their own saddles. Just a year later half of that regiment was wiped out within a few seconds in one of the bravest charges ever made." C.E.W. Bean, The Story ofAnzac, from the Outbreak ofWar to the End of the First Phase of the Gallipoli Campaign. May 4, 1915, 2 vole., 3rd edition, Sydney, 1934, Vol. I, p. 45. Peter Weir's film Gallipoli (1981) creates a traditional and somewhat romantic view of the Australian background to, and history of, the Gallipoli campaign of 1915. The vehicle for the film is the story of one young Western Australian from the outback who meets a townbred rival in a foot race, and together they join up, go overseas, and fight in Gallipoli. The film concludes with the legendary Australian attack on the Nek in the early morning of August 7, 1915, in which one ofthe young men dies. The film actually falls into three geographical sections: first, the beautifully filmed Western Australian country and the means by which the two young men meet and decide tojoin up in early 1915; second, their arrival in Cairo in July 1915, their experiences and training in Egypt; and third, their arrival at Suvla Bay, their preparation for combat, and the death ofone ofthe two protagonists in the futile and bloody assault at the Nek. 11 Peter Weir's direction is strongest in the first section where images ofthe Australian outback, the isolated farm, sport, and British traditions (the grandfather reads Mowgli to the children) combine to suggest reasons for the young hero to join up as a light-hearted but committed venture. He later persuades his opponent (and loser) in a West Australian athletic meeting to join him. Together they first hitch a long rail ride and then foolishly struggle on foot across a shimmering desert to join up, hopefully in the 10th Light Horse. Thus far the film follows themes that are traditional, at least in the Australian Official History ofthe Gallipoli Campaign, namely the romantic view ofthe bush-hardened volunteers who required little or no training or discipline except that imposed by their rigorous lives; the strong bond between friends (mates), the first law of Australia being "stand by your mate," and the fact that many Australians, especially Western Australians, traveled very long distances to join up. (1) The film's story line is also apparently based, at least in part, on Roger McDonald's 1 979 novel 1915. which follows the fortunes oftwo young Western Australians, Billy and Walter, who join the Light Horse and who fight in Gallipoli. Both survive the campaign, although one is wounded and the other driven insane. McDonald's sources included interviews and primary records, although he too seems indebted to the Official History, and likewise follows the established line, especially in regard to the Australian attitude toward Egypt. (2) The historical advisor to the film was Bill Gammage, whose work on Gallipoli and specialized knowledge evidently contributed greatly to the general feel and 'attitude' of the film. (3) Once in Egypt, the film continues to largely follow the traditional view as espoused by the official historian, C.E...