I watched Peter Weir's 1981 war movie Gallipoli today. Calling it a "war movie" does it a big mighty injustice though as it's barely ABOUT the war but is instead about two men, one who fights because he wants to and another because everybody else is. The only war sequences are in the final 20 minutes and while landmark, they're very PG-13 compared to something like Saving Private Ryan which was made some 17 years later. The final shot is one of those famous shots though that sort of lives throughout cinema. If you've seen the movie you know the one I'm talking about.
The movie was pretty good. I've always liked Weir as a film-maker, here he does great early work. It was interesting seeing Russell Boyd's name in the credits (as cinematographer) and John Seale as "camera assistant #2" or something like that. John Seale and Russell Boyd are now big time Hollywood lens men, with Boyd winning for Weir's Master & Commander just a few years ago. The performances are also great - Mel Gibson proving that he was once one of the most good looking and handsome men of his generation... now he seems like a kook.
BUT... there was one movie that I just kept thinking about whilest watching Gallipoli. I could not help it. I feel bad considering the fact that if you said something like this to an actualy ANZAC veteran they'd put a curse on you (not that many ANZACs are down with voodoo, but u know). But the movie I kept thinking about was:
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
I'm sorry, but watching this movie (made in 1981, set in 1915) in today's climate (particularly after having watched a movie like Brokeback) just rang bells - this movie is about homosexual love. Okay, not overt - but it's there. Mel Gibson and Mark Lee are like a WW1 version of Ennis and Jack. Like, you know how movies such as Red River and Sparticus have gay undertones - this is another one. Startlingly so.
The Mark Lee character is made fun off by the much more masculine macho blokes for being a runner when all the real men play football.
At the sports meet in the early stages of the movie when Mel and Mark's characters are taking their places at the starting line they glance at each other and it is filmed so delicately.
They form a bond that is much like Ennis and Jack before all the sex. I wouldn't have been surprised if during the scene where they're sleeping in the desert (and are very cold) that one of them leaned over and told the other to scooch on over to get warm.
Both of them look hopelessly sad when they seperated by different army regimends. And when they meet up with each other again they give each other a large warm embrace. When told they must pretend to be dead (in an army training exercise) Mark Lee's character is lying down and tells Mel to lie down with him.
They ask Mark Lee's general if Mel can join the other group so that can be together. Their uniform? Apart from standard duds, they must wear a buckaneer hat with a big feather attached. I know that's probably historically accurate, but 'tev
One scene that has an Egyptian man selling photos of naked women, Mel's character looks at them and is disgusted.
There is a scene where we are lead to believe that Mel and two of his friends sleep with a prostitute, but the three men all go in together with only two women. mmhmmm.
They sleep together. One scene has Mel waking up and seeing Mark and replying "The thing I hate about you is you're always so god damned happy" (paraphrase) - he says this as Mark stands over him smiling. They leave the tent and cook breakfast for each other.
They go skinny dipping! After seeing these two men run off into the water from behind (in turn, we see their behinds) they join a watershed orgy of naked men filmed underwater. All 20 or so men who are in the water are told to dive below so they don't get him by debris from an explosion, so they all dive under. The camera shows up all these naked men including Mel and Mark swimming right next to each other. Mel finds a rusted old gun and holds it up.
(the following is a spoiler so if you intend to see it, skip past)
During the fight sequence Mel's character is a runner for the general and as he's about to pass on the message to not go out of the bunker the whistle blows and everyone jumps out (to almost certain death). Mel's tortured scream rings out as we cut to Mark running across the beach and then getting shot multiple times.
(end of spoiler)
I feel there is absolutely no denying that this movie has quite obvious homosexual overtones. These two men are like a WW1 Ennis and Jack, I am positive. First there these two men who didn't have any idea about homosexuality (not like Ennis who had been told about it, they probably had no idea so no idea if it was right or wrong or what they should do about it) and then the men evolved into Ennis and Jack who did know what it was and one of them new it was wrong but the other thought it was right. And nowadays... well, you have plenty of queer themed films that know it's alright. So...
yeah! I just couldn't escape these thoughts while watching it. I wonder if it was intentional. I mean, I know the movie is about the bond and the mateship and these two men share but to eyes these days it looks like more than mateship. B
Gay orgy?
2 comments:
Wow, that's an interesting take on the film. I haven't seen Gallipoli since we studied it back in Media Studies at school but it rings true. I want to see it again now from that perspective, my ability to read queer undertones in movies hadn't developed back in year ten.
Philip Adams (an Australian pundit and columnist) wrote a similar analysis of 'Gallipoli' back in the 1980's, which I'd completely forgotten about until reading this post.
He even pinpointed the moment where the boys' man-love crossed the line from crush to sex: the night they jump on a train only to exit the next morning in the middle of the desert.
When they emerge from the goods vam they've hidden in, they're sullen and nervous around each other: just like two 'straight' guys who've just crossed the line.
You can almost hear them saying:
'I ain't queer.'
'Hell, I ain't neither.'
Post a Comment