What is Breaker Morant about?
Breaker Morant is a 1980 Australian courtroom war drama directed by Bruce Beresford. It tells the story of three Australian soldiers court-martialled for killing Boer prisoners during the Second Boer War in South Africa.
The film is based on the real case of Lieutenant Harry Morant, known as the Breaker, Peter Handcock and George Witton, members of the Bushveldt Carbineers. In 1902 they were tried by the British Army for executing prisoners and a missionary.
Edward Woodward played Morant, and Bryan Brown played Handcock. Jack Thompson played their defence lawyer, Major J. F. Thomas, who had little time to prepare.
Outcome and debate
Morant and Handcock were executed by firing squad in February 1902. Witton was sentenced to life imprisonment but released in 1904.
The film suggests the soldiers were scapegoats for an unofficial British policy of taking no prisoners. Historians still debate how much they were following orders and how much they were responsible for their actions, and campaigns for posthumous pardons have been unsuccessful.
Breaker Morant received an Academy Award nomination for its screenplay and won ten Australian Film Institute awards. Filmed in South Australia, which stood in for the South African veld, it is regarded as one of the classics of the Australian New Wave.
Did You Know?
Morant was also a well-known bush poet who wrote for The Bulletin magazine.