Gallipoli

1981 Drama

The first of two consecutive films to see director Peter Weir team with Mel Gibson (the other being The Year of Living Dangerously), Gallipoli follows two idealistic young friends, Frank (Gibson) and Archy (Mark Lee), who join the Australian army during World War I and fight the doomed Battle of Gallipoli in Turkey. The first half of the film documents the lives of the young men in Australia, detailing their personalities and beliefs. The second half of the movie chronicles the ill-fated and ill-planned battle, where the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps is hopelessly outmatched by the enemy forces. Gallipoli was the recipient of eight prizes at the 1981 Australian Film Institute Awards.

Director: Peter Weir

Starring: Mark Lee,Mel Gibson, Bill Kerr, Ron Graham, Harold Hopkins

 9 Reviews  5 Awards

Reviews

  • Director Weir and cinematographer Russell Boyd's re-creation of the invasion and battle action is stunning, but what makes Gallipoli such an affecting film is its intimate presentation of the friendship between Archy and Frank (wonderfully essayed by Lee and Gibson).

    - TV Guide

    26 April 2013

  • A haunting and moving tribute to the Australians who sacrificed their lives in WWI against not the Germans but the Turks at the lesser sung battle of Gallipoli from the assured hand of Peter Weir.

    - Empire

    26 April 2013

  • Mr. Weir's work has a delicacy, gentleness, even wispiness that would seem not well suited to the subject. And yet his film has an uncommon beauty, warmth and immediacy, and a touch of the mysterious, too.

    Janet Maslin - The New York Times

    26 April 2013

  • Peter Weir's Gallipoli tackles a legend in human terms and emerges as a highly entertaining drama on a number of levels, none of them inaccessible to anyone unfamiliar with the actual events.

    - Variety

    26 April 2013

  • Well acted and, within its limited terms, well made, Gallipoli represents a failure of nerve as well as design.

    Richard Schickel - Time

    26 April 2013

Awards

  • Russell Boyd

    Australian Cinematographers Society (1982)

  • Best Achievement in Cinematography

    Australian Film Institute (1981)

  • Feature Film - Original

    Australian Writers' Guild (1981)

  • Best Foreign Film

    Golden Globes (1982)

     

  • Top Ten Films

    National Board of Review (1981)

Lists

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