Gallipoli (Special Edition)
by Peter Weir
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Actor: Bill Kerr, Charles Lathalu Yunipingu, Harold Hopkins, Mark Lee, Mel GibsonDirector: Peter Weir
Writer: Peter Weir
Producer: Ben Gannon
Producer: Francis O'Brien
Producer: Martin Cooper
Producer: Patricia Lovell
Writer: David Williamson
Writer: Ernest Raymond
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Dolby, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-13
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount Pictures
DVD Reviews of Gallipoli (Special Edition)
DVD Review: About mates, patriotic naivete and one of the most senseless battles in a war made up of senseless battles
Summary: 5 Stars
When two coalitions of nations are at war against each other, there are two fundamentally different tactics for victory that are proposed. The first is to go all out against the strongest of the enemy coalition, the idea being that if you defeat that nation, the lesser partners will automatically surrender. This has the potential problem that you can be soundly defeated, further strengthening the resolve of the weaker nations.
The second strategy is to hold against the strong and concentrate your strength against the weaker. By defeating one of the nations in the coalition, you can raise doubts about the ultimate victory in the minds of your enemy and raise morale at home. The problem with this strategy is that the weaker nation may be a liability to the stronger one, defeating it may not weaken the stronger nation and force you to support a nation on the verge of chaos.
Winston Churchill was a strong proponent of the second strategy, in both the first and second world wars. In the Second World War, he advocated attacking the European Axis powers "soft underbelly", which he described as Italy. While Italy surrendered and switched sides shortly after being invaded, the battle for Italy was anything but soft and was probably more costly than effective.
In the First World War, Churchill was the main proponent of forcing an opening of the straights of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. Controlled by Turkey, an ally of Germany, if the Allies could seize them, it would probably have knocked Turkey out of the war and allowed a free flow of men and materials between the Russian Empire and the Mediterranean Sea. It was a good idea poorly thought through and poorly executed. It was a classic case of a desk bound politician/military leader looking at a map, seeing a short distance and thinking that if their armies are only determined and brave, they will be able to win. There was also the arrogance in believing that the Turkish soldiers were a weaker class of soldiers that those of the British Empire.
This movie is an excellent demonstration of the patriotic naiveté of the masses of people in the early years of the First World War. The young Australian men depicted in this film had everything to look forward to and no real reason to risk their lives for British interests. The grandfather of the Mel Gibson character was murdered by the British, yet after some initial hesitation, he eventually volunteers to fight. Most of the movie is devoted to providing the background of the lives of these young men, how they reacted to the patriotic calls to action and how they interacted. They were comrades, both on and off the battlefield, standing together as mates.
All of this builds to the climax of what happened so many times in the First World War. The men were relatively safe in the trenches, yet were ordered to rise up and charge prepared and fortified Turkish positions on higher ground of the Gallipoli peninsula. Even after the first attack led to a slaughter, the commander, off somewhere out of sight of the killing area, ignored the statements of his field commander and ordered a second and third attack. The men knew that they were going to their deaths, yet, like good soldiers, they wrote notes to their loved ones and charged the Turks. When we were watching this action, my wife asked me, "Did this really happen?" My response was, yes, these were the standard tactics all along the Western front as well.
This is a powerful movie about war and the stupid political and military decisions that make it possible and lead to it being poorly executed. It was historically accurate, from the terrain and the action; you get a very realistic appraisal of one of the most pointless battles of the First World War. The British eventually withdrew from Gallipoli and abandoned the idea of seizing the straights, having accomplished nothing other than the senseless deaths of thousands of brave young men. Winston Churchill was forced to leave the British government, taking the blame for the entire operation.
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