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fnord

fnord

Lifer
Dec 28, 2011
2,746
8
Topeka, KS
Anybody seen this? I believe it's just now showing up on HBO.
Saw it last night and found it very moving.
I'm doubly grateful that some countries have memories longer than the collective U.S. johnson and dare to make a commercial film set in the aftermath of the Great War. That it also acknowledged the Turkish War of Independence just knocked my history geek socks off.
Synopsis: an Australian farmer travels to Gallipoli in 1920 to find and bring home the bodies of his three sons killed on the same day of battle. (The ending is pure cheese, but I'm sure it what's the test audiences wanted.) However, up to that point, you had a man on a mission desperately looking to reunite his family. The dialogue is crisp, the outback breathtaking, and the father's grief is overwhelming.
There's also a swell cameo by Damon Herriman as a by the book Roman Catholic priest. Herriman lit up every six years of FX's "Justified" playing red-necked, Florida peckerwood, Dewey Crowe and I had no idea he was an Aussie.
Stars Russell Crowe. Directed by Russell Crowe. Well done, Crowe.
Happy New Year, folks.
Fnord

 
deathmetal

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
I'm doubly grateful that some countries have memories longer than the collective U.S. johnson and dare to make a commercial film set in the aftermath of the Great War.
Click to expand...
I agree. In this country, you can no longer tell the truth.

 
misterlowercase

misterlowercase

Lifer
May 31, 2012
4,295
34
Thanks for sharing the info and your review,

sounds like a winner.
Would like to check it out.
Digger tobacco was named after the Aussie soldiers, it was WW1 slang...

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/a-very-short-history-of-players-digger-tobacco-gtimage-heavy
And,

lest we forget:
:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxA-bgg3vGY​

 
tbradsim1

tbradsim1

Lifer
Jan 14, 2012
9,104
11,063
Southwest Louisiana
Jim it was a stirring movie, made me tear up a couple times, especially when Brothers were wounded, I"ll leave it at that and highly recommend the Movie.

 
mso489

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
Gallipoli -- wasn't Winston Churchill a key player in planning that fiasco? How he outlived that immense mistake and became an anchor to the Brits in WWII is a study. I believe he also was a key party in drawing the national borders of Iraq which brought together as a nation a number of warring sects. Sir Winston was a larger than life figure, for sure, but in no way unflawed.

 
conlejm

conlejm

Lifer
Mar 22, 2014
1,433
8
I watched the movie the other evening and enjoyed it very much. Another movie about Gallipoli and WWI you _might_ enjoy is "Gallipoli" and stars a very young Mel Gibson; I believe it was made in 1980 or so and I thought is was also very good.

 
warren

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,729
16,325
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
Churchill certainly shares some of the blame. To get to the root cause one should study the campaign. An incompetent commanding general was another problem. The plan was good, the execution certainly left a bit to be desired. I do not believe Churchill planned the invasion, he called for it and ordered it. CIGS bears the brunt of the blame for that fiasco. On scene, inert commanders did not improve things.
The post-WWI country creating in the middle-east are not the result of one person or even two or three.
History needs study to be understood decision making the highest levels. Movies are good and entertaining at the warrior and squad level. If one gleaned an impression of Patton only from the movie they would have a very limited picture of the man.
The movie "Gallipoli" is, I think, one of the best movie treatments of men at war I've ever scene. It rates up there with "We Were Soldiers Once" and "The Red Badge of Courage." I will order up "The Water Diviner" from Amazon in the near future and watch it.

 
fnord

fnord

Lifer
Dec 28, 2011
2,746
8
Topeka, KS
Warren:
Please don't whistle up "The Water Diviner" with the expectations of watching a film comparable to "Gallipoli" or "We Were Soldiers." It's good, but it certainly doesn't attain that level of "good" in your favorites - especially "The Red Badge of Courage."
Crowe is a wonderful actor and he learned well from a master like Ridley Scott on how to move a story along. (He's also perfectly adept at light comedic roles - re "A Good Year" - and selling a laugh is one of the toughest accomplishments an actor can achieve.) For his directorial debut I'd give him a strong "B" for playing to his strengths as an actor plus selecting a topic very dear to every Australian and New Zealander I've ever met.
Fnord

 
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