Response to the Movie Gallipoli

One of the interesting things about Australia’s history is that the nation was originally a colony of Great Britain. Over time they slowly acquired their independence without war or any kind of revolution, which is rare when looking through the past of many countries like the United States, Brazil and many other places. Although this might be seen as a good thing, the lack of a battle caused the nation’s identity to be pretty much nonexistent the following years after they were already considered their own nation. The movie Gallipoli illustrates how the World War I was important in helping Australia find their identity and create a sense of patriotism.
Australian moviemaking had its highs and lows through the Twentieth Century. After the 1970’s, a new age of Australian films started to flow from the country and “historical films became the most visible internationally” (Bordwell 628). Gallipoli was a film made in 1981 by Peter Weir. The movie not only tells the story of two young men from Australia going to the war, but at also attempts to portray the Australian identity that many Australians had sought for many years.
One of these identities is the mateship where today Australia is known. We can see that in the movie just by following the two main characters through their journey. Frank and Archy meet and suddenly they are best friends. Together, they move forward in the story and help each other to achieve common goals. When Frank joins the light horse because he finally reunites with Archy, his other “mates” get upset and do not approve of the fact that they are losing a friend. When they are reunited in the war zone, they are happy that they are together again. This goes on to display the whole idea of war and patriotism. The movie is also very clear when trying to show the several landscapes that Australia has to offer. We see the city, where the shots are not so wide so all the buildings are closer together giving an overcrowded feeling while in

Cited: Gallipoli. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Mark Lee, Mel Gibson. Paramount Pictures, 1981. Film. Thompson, Kristin, and David Bordwell. Film History: An Introduction. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.