• Archie Hamilton
• Frank Dunne

Plot: 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.

Taken from http://www.spout.com/films/Gallipoli/12904/default.aspx

Context: The Gallipoli Campaign took place at Gallopoli peninsula in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916, during the First Wold War. A joint British Empire and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul, and secure a sea route to Russia. The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides. In France it is called Les Dardanelles. In Australia, New Zealand and New found land, it is known as the Gallipoli Campaign or simply as Gallipoli. It is also known as the Battle of Gallipoli. The struggle laid the grounds for the Turkish War of Independence and the foundation of the Turkish Republic eight years later under Atatürk, himself a commander at Gallipoli.

In Australia and New Zealand, the campaign was the first major battle undertaken by a joint military formation, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and is often considered to mark the birth of national consciousness in both of these countries. Anzac Day (25 April) remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in Australia and New Zealand, surpassing Armistice Day/Remembrance Day.

Powerful ideas and Values:

· Friendship

· Patriotism

· Bravery

· Perseverance

· Loyalty

· Fear

· Effort

Personal opinion:

Love, illusion, war and death

A beautiful story inside a terrible background like was the First World War, where the two main characters who went to the war with happiness and ingenuity realized the cruelty of a word when they took part of it.

Gallipoli, with more than twenty years since its premiere, shows us naivety of the world at the beginning of the 20th century. And within the film, the naivety of a youth educated with principles and values in which the war does not fit.

From this perspective, the movie is perhaps one of the best examples of the anti-war gender.

No less significant are the political points that reveal how Empires use “the cannon fodder”.

The major theme of the film is loss of innocence and the coming of age of the Australian soldiers and of their country.