What is the film Gallipoli about?
Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian war drama directed by Peter Weir. It follows two young sprinters from Western Australia, played by Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, who enlist and fight in the Gallipoli campaign of 1915.
Archy Hamilton, played by Mark Lee, is an idealistic young runner, and Frank Dunne, played by Mel Gibson, is a cynical railway worker. They meet at an athletics carnival and travel together to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force.
The film moves from the outback and Perth to training camps in Egypt and finally to the trenches at Gallipoli in Turkey. It ends at the Battle of the Nek on 7 August 1915, when waves of Australian Light Horsemen were ordered to charge Turkish trenches and were cut down.
Shaping the Anzac legend
The screenplay was written by David Williamson, based on a story by Weir. The film portrays British officers as careless with Australian lives, a view that historians have since debated.
Gallipoli won many Australian Film Institute awards, including Best Film, and helped make Mel Gibson an international star.
It remains one of the most influential Australian films about war and national identity, and it is often shown around Anzac Day. Its haunting final freeze-frame image is famous.
Did You Know?
The film's soundtrack includes Albinoni's Adagio in G minor and electronic music by Jean-Michel Jarre.