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#642 - Breaker Morant
Bruce Beresford, 1980
During the Boer War, a group of Australian army officers are put on trial for war crimes.
Breaker Morant has a reputation for being one of the classics of Australian cinema and not without obvious reason. Based on actual events, it follows the titular Morant (Edward Woodward), an officer in the Australian army who leads a regiment during the Boer War, a war that broke out in South Africa between the British Empire and the Dutch-origin occupants of the region. The film sees Morant and his fellow officers being put on trial for war crimes involving the unlawful execution of enemies in the line of duty. As such, much of the film's events are told in flashback as they are recounted by various witnesses during the trial. Though the case against Morant is strong, this does nothing to deter his defence attorney (Jack Thompson) from giving a spirited counter-argument. In addition to Woodward and Thompson, the film assembles a fairly talented and recognisable collection of Australian actors to deliver this tale that includes Bryan Brown, Charles "Bud" Tingwell, John Waters, and Ray Meagher.
The courtroom setting does mean that actors frequently get to deliver impassioned performances full of grand-standing monologues and intense cross-examining dialogues. The scenes that actually take place out on the battlefield do tend to capture the visceral nature of war, not just through riflemen shooting it out but also through scenes such as Morant's attempts to deal with the prisoners in ways that he knows are justifiable under the established codes of wartime conduct (even as they still result in him being put on trial). In addition to juggling its displaced narratives with competence, the film also bears things out with some crisp photography that is admittedly rather utilitarian in its depiction of military garrisons or drab-looking wilderness, though one wonders if that is by design. While Breaker Morant definitely has enough of the hallmarks of a compelling wartime legal drama, that's not enough to really make it stand out as an immediately classic film to me. It definitely has some indelible scenes (that ending, which I knew about ahead of time, is very well-done) and some good performances that give its characters enough depth, but I can't help but feel like it doesn't really click with me. I'll undoubtedly give it another chance at some point but right now it just feels...okay to me.
Bruce Beresford, 1980
During the Boer War, a group of Australian army officers are put on trial for war crimes.
Breaker Morant has a reputation for being one of the classics of Australian cinema and not without obvious reason. Based on actual events, it follows the titular Morant (Edward Woodward), an officer in the Australian army who leads a regiment during the Boer War, a war that broke out in South Africa between the British Empire and the Dutch-origin occupants of the region. The film sees Morant and his fellow officers being put on trial for war crimes involving the unlawful execution of enemies in the line of duty. As such, much of the film's events are told in flashback as they are recounted by various witnesses during the trial. Though the case against Morant is strong, this does nothing to deter his defence attorney (Jack Thompson) from giving a spirited counter-argument. In addition to Woodward and Thompson, the film assembles a fairly talented and recognisable collection of Australian actors to deliver this tale that includes Bryan Brown, Charles "Bud" Tingwell, John Waters, and Ray Meagher.
The courtroom setting does mean that actors frequently get to deliver impassioned performances full of grand-standing monologues and intense cross-examining dialogues. The scenes that actually take place out on the battlefield do tend to capture the visceral nature of war, not just through riflemen shooting it out but also through scenes such as Morant's attempts to deal with the prisoners in ways that he knows are justifiable under the established codes of wartime conduct (even as they still result in him being put on trial). In addition to juggling its displaced narratives with competence, the film also bears things out with some crisp photography that is admittedly rather utilitarian in its depiction of military garrisons or drab-looking wilderness, though one wonders if that is by design. While Breaker Morant definitely has enough of the hallmarks of a compelling wartime legal drama, that's not enough to really make it stand out as an immediately classic film to me. It definitely has some indelible scenes (that ending, which I knew about ahead of time, is very well-done) and some good performances that give its characters enough depth, but I can't help but feel like it doesn't really click with me. I'll undoubtedly give it another chance at some point but right now it just feels...okay to me.