Breaker Morant (1980) or An Australian Look at the Second Boer War
The Australian movie Breaker Morant is one of those movies that leave you thoughtful and pensive for quite a long time. It leaves you feeling helpless and infuriated as well by unmasking the hypocrisy of those in charge. It brilliantly illustrates the absurdity of war and deserves to be named together with the most important anti-war films ever done.
The movie is based on the true story of the court-martial of three Australian officers Lt Harry “Breaker” Morant, Peter Handcock and George Witton by a British court. They were accused of having shot first one, then six POWs and subsequently a German missionary. Their defense attorney Jack Thompson who was inexperienced and soon tried to accuse those in charge of the trial as well.
The movie tells the storiy alternating court-room scenes with flashbacks.
The second Boer war (1899-1902) was by far worse than the first. The Dutch started to fight a guerilla war against the British who then fought back and organized a special troop, The Bushveldt Carabineers, for wich they appointed Australian soldiers. The idea was to fight the Boer with their own means.
Harry Morant volunteered to go to South Africa because he believed in the British Empire. How utterly tragic. In Australia he was famous as a breaker of horses and poet. Edward Woodward plays this proud, upright and poised character with an excellence I have rarely seen. This is such a brilliant actor I wonder why he never made it to more fame.
The longer we watch the trial the more we realise that it is a sham. The British need scape goats to save their reputation. What those officers are ultimately accused of is what they were told to do. Only now no one wants to take responsibility for it. Of course this is also a meditation on what is good or bad during war.
Breaker Morant is interesting for cinema historic reasons as well since it is part of the so-called Australian New Wave, of which Gallipoli and The Lighthorsemen are other great examples.
This is without any doubt a 5 star movie.
Breaker Morant (1980) or An Australian Look at the Second Boer War | Australia featured blogs said,
August 25, 2010 at 8:18 pm
[...] Author:http://allaboutwarmovies.com/2010/08/25/breaker-morant-1980-or-an-australian-look-at-the-second-boer… [...]
Aiden R. said,
September 15, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Well said, man. I keep getting confused as to whether this was set in Australia or South Africa. Care to clear that up for me?
allaboutwarmovies said,
September 15, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Well, thanks. It was shot in South Australia but the story took place in South Africa.
allaboutwarmovies said,
September 15, 2010 at 9:11 pm
I just realised I was confused. I wrote Australia instead of South Africa in my review. Corrected it immediately. I read it before posting but sort of didn’t see it.
warmoviebuff said,
September 21, 2010 at 3:52 am
I agree with you. A great movie and thought-provoking. Unfortunately, I wonder if the audience understands that Morant is not necessarily a wronged-hero. You could argue that he was a war criminal. Although personally I sympathize with him and feel he was railroaded. You might want to check out my review at “//warmoviebuff.blogspot.com”
allaboutwarmovies said,
September 21, 2010 at 6:39 am
You are right, still he served orders. I think it is quite tragic. The whole thing is such a sham. I will have to read what you think about it.
Eliseo said,
September 24, 2010 at 11:19 pm
Great post!
Eliseo
allaboutwarmovies said,
September 25, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Thanks, Eliseo.
Australian War Movies: A List « All About War Movies said,
December 21, 2010 at 7:07 pm
[...] Breaker Morant (1980): Second Boer War. True story. The court-martial of Breaker Morant. Three officers are accused of a war crime. Outstanding legal drama and a truly tragic story (see my post on Breaker Morant). [...]
Literature and War Readalong February Wrap up « Beauty is a Sleeping Cat said,
February 28, 2011 at 5:40 pm
[...] realized that from the start, I was totally fixed on his going to be executed. I saw him like some Breaker Morant character (which he isn’t) and thinking he did something that would have this consequence set [...]