I recently watched Peter Weir's 'Gallipoli' starring Mel Gibson, and I thought I might be in for a slow and dull ride, I was wrong. Peter Weir is the one who shines in this piece, without a doubt. He took what would probably be a really lame story in the hands of the average director and turned this into something memorable. The styles that were present in the film were absolutely amazing, some scenes were just jaw dropping. While I rave about all of his style used in the film, there was a single large flaw. The flaw would and should be visible to almost anyone's, ears? Yes, ears. There are 2 sections of the film which plays an 80's style tune which really does date the film, where if that had not happened, would have possibly been a nearly perfect film for what he sought out to do. The rest of the film however, has a great score to it and combined with the imagery, its stellar.I never knew or seemed to care about life in the outback, especially life in the outback during the early 1900's. Peter Weir however, changed that, even though we spend a significant amount of time away from the outback. We see what Australian personalities look like all throughout the film, in times of fun and times of war, and it is interesting. The film doesn't force anything, but accomplishes in making you believe this was a true story by true Australians, making me think Australia was truly depicted correctly.
My film viewing history is very short of World War I films, and it is something I am not excited about, but from what I have seen, very different than an American style and American filled war film which sings of American pride throughout most war films, this film was a genuine and powerful World War I film. This should easily be held as one of the better Australian films ever made, as I have only even heard of a handful. The film also introduced what will become a great American actor in Mel Gibson.
The film is nearly abscent of cliche story telling, its just executed so good. Peter Weir has given us 'Truman Show', which I thought was a good film, but nothing more. He also gave us 'The Mosquito Coast' which starred Harrison Ford in one of his best roles, in my opinion this character portrayal contends with my most cherished of roles in Han Solo in the Star Wars saga. 'The Mosquito Coast' however is definitely a film up for interpretation and is probably a film either loved or hated, depending on your style preference. If you see Gallipoli and liked it, you should see 'The Mosquito Coast' to fulfill a Peter Weir void that may be in your film viewing history.
The imagery will at times astound you, the acting is as as good as many of the greats, and shouldn't fail in delivering you a great 2 hours.
"Gallipoli"
8 /10
