Peter Weir
Gallipoli

Italians in Australia might only be familiar with kangaroos and koalas, and for many, the greatest representative of that nation is Christian Vieri. Perhaps that's why, when we heard that Peter Weir was Australian, it was a bit hard to swallow. The Old Continent (and Italy in particular) has never managed to understand how a guy born and raised in the land of kangaroos and koalas could make it to Hollywood and direct a handful of beautiful films that have become cult classics over the years (the tremendous success of "Dead Poets Society," for many, remains a mystery).

Mel Gibson is also Australian. I could write a thousand words about Gibson, but the gist is simple: a prophet in his homeland, a nonentity abroad. He is very talented in acting within Australian borders but incapable in Hollywood, where, however, he is celebrated as a star. From the wooden trouble-making cop in "Lethal Weapon" to the sadistic barbarities of "Apocalypto," Gibson has garnered an array of huge commercial successes (good for him) that, from a strictly artistic point of view, prove to be poor works (some have already shown their weaknesses). The glory and success obtained from a film brimming with clichés and rhetoric like "Braveheart" still cry out for revenge.

It must be due to the natural randomness of fate that Peter Weir (Australian) was the only director capable of fully showcasing that piece of wood that is Mel Gibson (Australian). According to authoritative critics and specialized magazines, their best film would be "The Year of Living Dangerously." A nice film, but I disagree. Their best film (personal opinion) is "Gallipoli" (1981), an interesting movie shot entirely in the USA (but market logic was still a long way off).

This little film hardly ever airs on television, I don't know if it exists on VHS or DVD, so it's up to you to find a way to watch it (but it's obvious you can find it on the Internet). It is a delightful war film with psychological implications tending toward straightforward philosophy. In essence, two friends, involved in amateur athletics, are sent to fight in Gallipoli during World War I without much ceremony. One will survive, and one will die after taking part in a futile act of war.

I understand that the plot, explained like that, doesn't seem very original (if there's one flaw, it's the script. David Williamson didn't do an excellent job, but it doesn't matter), yet there are at least five reasons to seek out this little gem. One: more than focusing on the war, the film centers on the friendship of the two young, handsome, athletic, smiling men, photographed just seconds before entering the adult world (a sort of "American Graffiti" without beautiful girls and luxury cars); Two: Mel Gibson will never again be so expressive, able to shift from joy to despair with a naturalness unusual for him; Three: Peter Weir's direction seems more like the clean, clear, and relaxed style of "Picnic at Hanging Rock" than the somewhat more cunning and moralizing one of "Dead Poets Society"; Four: it also talks a bit about us, our history, the city of Gallipoli, and how life was at that time—not a historical essay, of course, but a beautiful snapshot of European history seen through the eyes of an Australian just arrived in America (quite something, if we want to say so!); Five: the final sequence. Just that would be enough to sing the praises of the entire film. The death of the Australian soldier is anthological: a rapid sequence of images edited at supersonic speed, concluding with a still frame complete with a citation (the citation is from a famous photograph by Robert Capa).

The characters' psychologies are outlined excellently, with brief hints of philosophy appearing here and there, especially in the way Weir uses space and time (the Aristotelian three unities). Not everything goes smoothly; sometimes it gets a bit tangled, but in the end, you are more than satisfied. Weir would repeat himself at these levels, Gibson never again. The reason is very simple: one was talented, the other only a lucky actor seeking glory. Guess which one was the talented one?