Gallipoli

Wow. This just got better and better. It must have been hard to have re-created such a difficult story of the Gallipoli battlefields. I have to say I was extremely impressed. The young actors were wonderful and very true to what I am sure a lot of these characters were like. I knew some of them as old men.

You really felt like you were there. To see what these poor buggers went through really went right to the heart. The director and scriptwriter managed to tell the whole story as it truthfully happened and apparently it was approved by the Australian War Memorial for being factual. I did not fully understand till now just how it all unfolded, but to see this series made it all very simple to understand just what happened. I think this should be shown in all Australian High Schools. I had always heard about the Battle of Lone Pine but when I saw this portrayal I was so shocked. Also what happened to the New Zealanders should never have happened. I think the English people should see it also as it showed a loyal bunch of Australians and New Zealanders giving their lives and losing them so a stuck up English General could add another medal on his chest.

I could not believe that this was being lied about to the Australian Prime Minister. And I was very surprised when the Aussie journalist Murdoch and his British counterpart decided to write and inform their leaders of the truth. Upon reading the letter which was circulated far and wide, the troops were finally withdrawn. Amazing story and very well told with this brilliant mini series.

Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives! You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country to of ours.

You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

One powerful memory I have of growing up was a photograph on the mantelpiece in my Grandmother's house of her brother who was killed on the second day at Gallipoli. He was a signaller; it would have been hard to get insurance for a man whose job was to stand up in full view and wave a couple of brightly coloured flags. Inevitably his luck ran out - he was 21 years old.

Even without that family connection, I have always found the Gallipoli campaign fascinating, not just for the battle, but for what it means to Australians, and how our collective memory about it has changed over the decades. Each generation reinterprets it to fit the times we live in.

And that is the big problem for any filmmaker: which Gallipoli do you make? The one with the Anzacs as exceptional warriors who showed the British, Turks, and the world a thing or two - more or less the memory that existed between the two world wars and into the 1950's - or do you go for the Anzacs as tragic victims, sacrificial lambs to the incompetence of senior officers and politicians; the image that has been finely-honed over the last couple of decades.

The filmmakers have gone for something between the two. Getting the tone right was the critical thing. There is no glorification of war here. The series is built around pale-looking Thomas 'Tolly' Johnson played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, although hardly the epitome of the Bronzed Anzac, he nonetheless demonstrates inner strength as the campaign progresses.

And as for the first day of battle, which occupies the whole of the first episode, I think the filmmakers caught a feeling for the event as described in the many histories, however there are two things worth pointing out.

The first could be put down to artistic licence. Although real shots of the terrain are married with recreations shot in Australia, the hills beyond Anzac Cove were actually more densely covered in underbrush in the beginning of the campaign than shown in this depiction. Of course it would have been just as hard to film in dense brush as it was to fight a battle in it.

My other point is more critical. What about the Kiwis? New Zealanders have often felt that Australians have hi-jacked the whole of the Anzac story - not so if you read C.E.W. Bean - but they may have a point here. Although the filmmakers have gone for an impression of the landing, with an amalgam of actions fought by various units, it seems to take place mainly on the left of Anzac. New Zealanders do appear in later episodes, but the scriptwriters could easily have included them on the day of the landing because in reality they arrived with fresh troops in the afternoon to reinforce the exhausted Australians on the left - it was a decisive moment.

That aside, this is a brave attempt to tell a complex story. Although some budget limitations do show - the big Turkish counter-attack needed a bigger canvas - the aftermath with the armistice and the burial of the bodies really hits home.

It's more polished than the "Anzacs" mini-series, but does not eclipse Weir's "Gallipoli" that 'buddy movie' par excellence set against one momentous event in a big campaign. Instead, this "Gallipoli" covers that big campaign including the Diggers on the beach, the Turks in the hills facing them, the High Command at sea sipping scotch and sodas, the journalists trying to expose the whole mess, and even a few flashbacks showing happier times before the war. It was a lot to cram in, but it all works once you get a feel for it, and there are touches of brilliance; John Bach's General Hamilton in particular.

There are more episodes to come, but the tone has been set. On one level, the filmmakers have made an affecting drama, while on the other, they have given those who know little of the story a better understanding about what happened in that terrible place one hundred years ago.

I, honestly, have never heard of this show. I even spent 6 months in Australia, and this never came up in passing. The only reason this show was given a watch by me is because of boredom, which always tends to lead me to war shows. Anyways, this show is so darn good! I definitely would say this belongs in the same breath as Band of Brothers. IMO, nothing will ever top Band of Brothers for me, but Gallipoli was certainly very well made like it. What raises this show up on top of it just being good is the fact that Gallipoli is not well known. Anything to do with the battles here, all the Churchill stuff being hugely unknown where he failed badly at this time (everyone knows him when he took over as PM in WW2, but don't realize the failure beforehand), and the story of the ANZACS. ANZAC day is obviously very big in Australia and NZ, even having a day for it, but as Americans we know NOTHING about it. I learned while I was studying there, and I love history!

So in a nutshell this show should certainly be given a watch when you have the time to pay attention. The second episode especially was such a great window into what war is like. It's hard to imagine these days where it's a different world, but the World Wars were largely made up of just regular people. The wars before now were a lot less personal due to technology, and fighting tactics....but reality sank in hard when they learned their hated foes were just men fighting with wives, childeren and families (A "we aren't so different you and I" type thing).

As a devoted history reader, I also try to follow such shows, films, and series because I just wanna feel that "connection".

This production is far from the best historical adaptation but as a great-grandson of a Turkish martyr that fell on Gallipoli, I must admit I felt more than just a simple "connection". It honestly brought tears to my eyes at a certain point.

True, the character development is a little off. True, many moments from the show might seem cliché. Also, I don't know about all the actors but the Turkish speakers had to work on their pronunciations a little bit more.

But to see an Australian production that shows the Turks the respect that we have shown to them is just a sign of a beautiful thing in my opinion. Sure, some moments felt off, definitely. All things considered, I find this show beautiful, touching, brutally honest about some aspects of the war.

For the people who think about watching the show, I can only say that if you're looking for "Saving Private Ryan: WWI Version", you won't find it in this show. This is different. Really different. It definitely is worth a shot.