Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee) and Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson) walking across the desert on their way to enlist to fight in the First World War. They disagree about motives for joining up and Archy, who is more patriotic, calls Frank a coward. Continuing, they become lost, with Archy’s attempts at navigation failing. The clip finishes with a shot of the two figures in the distance, a great arc of footprints behind them.

Educational value points

• The clip exemplifies director Peter Weir’s poetic use of film language. Although there is little dialogue, the action, framing, depth of shots, focus and sound eloquently create the Australian landscape and the characters’ isolation. Archy and Frank often occupy opposite sides of the frame, reinforcing their philosophical distance from each other. The wind and amplification of footsteps emphasise the vast emptiness of the desert and Frank’s blurred figure following Archy evokes the shimmering heat.

• When war broke out in 1914, approximately 40 per cent of adult Australian men aged 18–45 enlisted voluntarily to serve in the Australian Imperial Forces, reflecting the prevailing mood of patriotic affection for the British Empire. This figure dropped sharply after the defeat at Gallipoli and once the enormous number of casualties on the Western Front and the increasing cost of the war on the home front became known.

• The situation in the clip recreates a national debate, both historical and current, about Australia’s involvement in foreign wars. Australian soldiers have been deployed to fight in many wars abroad despite the opposition expressed at home. During the First World War the nation was divided politically, socially and religiously, and this debate reached a climax in the conscription referendums of 1916 and 1917, both of which were narrowly defeated. Religious opposition was significant as many Australians of Irish Catholic descent resented the call to fight for Britain following the British suppression of the 1916 Easter Uprising in Ireland.

• The landscape was used in Australian films of the 1970s and 1980s to underscore themes of white Australian national identity. The characters struggle with the emptiness and harshness of the landscape, while the camera also appreciates its beauty. There is an irony in the vulnerability of the white characters and their fear of perishing in a hostile environment that has supported Australian Indigenous people for thousands of years.

• The clip illustrates the developing filmic iconography of the Australian male hero, the digger, and his relationship with his mates. Depending on each other in the desert, the two men show characteristics of the stoic, laconic soldiers they will become later in the film, using humour to overcome adversity and berating each other while their affection for each other grows. In the film, survival in battle, as in the bush, depends on mutual loyalty, initiative and endurance. Weir thereby places mateship at the heart of the male heroes’ relationship.

• Mel Gibson (1956–) is shown in a role that contributed to his rise to fame. Gibson became known for his portrayal of ordinary reckless young men who become reluctant heroes struggling against adversity, in some ways similar to the role he played in the Mad Max series (1979, 1981, 1985). He won an Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role (1981) for playing Frank in Gallipoli. This early success has culminated in his status as one of the world’s most well-known actors. He is also an acclaimed director, having won an Academy Award for Braveheart (1995). The humour in this clip also hints at his comedic skills, further demonstrated in a string of comedy hits.

Two men stride through the desert, engaged in strident discussion.
Archy You of all people should be going.
Frank Why me of all people?
Archy Because you’re an athlete.
Frank Haha! What’s that got to do with it?
Archy I’ve got mates who’d be lucky to run the 100 in 12, and they’re gonna do their bit. So why shouldn’t you?
Frank Because it’s not our bloody war!
Archy What do you mean, not our war?
Frank It’s an English war. It’s got nothing to do with us.
Archy You know what you are? You’re a bloody coward.
Frank There’s only one reason why I haven’t knocked you down, mate.
Archy What?
Frank Because I don’t feel like carrying you to the next bloody waterhole. Now shut up, and don’t open your yap about the war again.

They walk on. Frank stops for a drink. They seem to be lost.
Frank Where’s your sun now?
They keep walking.