tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post2027499751605622263..comments2024-03-28T10:44:41.756-05:00Comments on The War Movie Buff: #91 - Breaker MorantWar Movie Buffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-77201506650333173422023-08-04T20:52:45.026-05:002023-08-04T20:52:45.026-05:00Cool. Thanks for sharing.Cool. Thanks for sharing.War Movie Buffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-89037499159777880112023-01-28T08:03:18.008-06:002023-01-28T08:03:18.008-06:00In the summer of 1988 during new cadet training th...In the summer of 1988 during new cadet training the entire plebe class sat in an auditorium at west point and watched this movie together. We then had to complete a questionnaire about following orders. Very intense. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-48801249873708552182021-09-05T12:40:27.449-05:002021-09-05T12:40:27.449-05:00The Boer War would also see the first implementati...The Boer War would also see the first implementation of & use of the term "Concentration Camp". Although nowhere approaching the severity of the later Nazi German ran camps, they were bad enough. Many non combatant Boers, in particular, women & children died due to the negligence & inability of the British to sustain the internees. This is still a very sore point with Afrikkaner's in South Africa today. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-354527307036449892020-04-19T10:29:51.713-05:002020-04-19T10:29:51.713-05:00Well put. You make some good points about insurge...Well put. You make some good points about insurgents not being held to the same standards. However, I would argue that if you are going to claim to be the good guys (like we did in Vietnam), you have tacitly agreed to accept a higher standard of behavior.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11169012097762455094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-32575139830758509842020-04-08T16:16:31.896-05:002020-04-08T16:16:31.896-05:00I appreciate your engagement with the movie and al...I appreciate your engagement with the movie and also appreciate the important information in the comments. If the movie does whitewash Morant to portray him as a victim of politically-motivated judicial murder it does a grave disservice to us all. A slur of that kind, if untrue, is comparable to blood libel in its power to stir up bad feelings and have lasting effects. If you want to portray a miscarriage of justice but the facts aren't on your side create a completely fictional setting to tell your story.<br /><br />And it is an important story, as you have very ably explained. What kind of standard are men under arms to be held to for actions in conflict? We want to take into account the stressful circumstances and uncertainty that soldiers deal with, but also want to assure the civilians who are under the soldiers' guns that there is some recourse to justice. It's harder when there are also insurgents who hide among those civilians, and I often feel that in these discussions the insurgents often seem to escape their share of responsibility for the circumstances giving rise to these war crimes - just as they seem to escape responsibility in popular opinion or in fact for the more numerous war crimes they themselves commit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-72748554252178791992017-05-17T22:16:13.401-05:002017-05-17T22:16:13.401-05:00Not a bad movie to have as your favorite.Not a bad movie to have as your favorite.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-88615830874302832212017-05-17T19:09:37.057-05:002017-05-17T19:09:37.057-05:00Historical accuracy aside....
This has been my #1...Historical accuracy aside....<br /><br />This has been my #1 favorite film -- period! -- ever since I saw it back in the fall of 1981. In fact, I was so impressed by my first viewing of the film, that I welcomed my date, Shelly B., to stay with me at the collegiate film society cinema, and watch it again (which was exactly what I was going to do). She declined. I have watched it at least once per year ever since. That makes over 35 viewings -- and I still do not tire of it. I think what makes it my favorite movie of all time is that there is not one line of dialogue delivered even by the most minor role SOUNDS like a memorized line. It's all completely authentic! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12253153850867412746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-11363036182631833652014-02-28T21:44:39.663-06:002014-02-28T21:44:39.663-06:00I probably could have been clearer on that. I did...I probably could have been clearer on that. I did not mean to say that I condoned either My Lai or what Morant did and of course they are not equivalent in scale. I was trying to make the point that the movie could be used by some as a statement about Vietnam and some of the things American soldiers did. As stated, I feel Morant was guilty of war crimes and I certainly feel Calley should have gotten life imprisonment for ordering the atrocity. I am less sure about whether his men deserved the same. I do feel the parallels are eerie, but not in scale.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-49620179845341558822014-02-25T22:54:09.964-06:002014-02-25T22:54:09.964-06:00I cannot believe your comparison to the Mai Lai ma...I cannot believe your comparison to the Mai Lai massacre. American servicemen raped, murdered and mutilated hundreds of women and children. They deserved to be sent to prison for life and some. You really hit an emotional nerve with that one.André7https://www.blogger.com/profile/04529840090218454738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-75540466264797816252010-12-04T18:59:19.387-06:002010-12-04T18:59:19.387-06:00Thanks for the information. I agree that the movi...Thanks for the information. I agree that the movie makes the trio into martyrs and positive characters, but as I point out in my review you can read between the lines that Morant committed war crimes.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-5282195095059975232010-12-03T03:50:35.811-06:002010-12-03T03:50:35.811-06:00This film may be a very good courtroom drama, but ...This film may be a very good courtroom drama, but , historically, it is rubbish. Only one of the Boers shot by Morant and Handcock was actually a prisoner of war - the rest, apart from Van Buren and the missionary, Heese, were what the Boers contemptuously called "handsuppers" - they were coming in to surrender any weapons they had, take the oath of allegance to the British Crown and give a parole that they would take no further part in the fighting. Eight of them were too ill from malaria to even walk - they had no weapons and one was dragged from a wagon and shot by the side of the road. Three of the Boers had taken no part in the war - father, brother and the fourteen year old son of the Van Staden family had been hunting in what was then Rhodesia and were returning to Fort Edward to take the oath of allegance, when they were shot. (The scene where the Boer Visser was found to be wearing Captain Hunts uniform is pure fiction - Morant's own orderly gave evidence that Morant himself was wearing Hunt's uniform.) It was complaints made by there own men which led to the investigations and courts martial. (By the way, an Australian Army slouch hat is worn turned up on the left side and not the right - I wore one for a few years.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-73941619013750429602010-09-22T17:37:31.854-05:002010-09-22T17:37:31.854-05:00I see where you are going there, but remember the ...I see where you are going there, but remember the really damning charge was the assassination of the German missionary because he was collaborating with the enemy and was likely to report the killing of the prisoners. That is a little unique.War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-31228023867380517872010-09-21T23:57:59.743-05:002010-09-21T23:57:59.743-05:00The shooting of prisoners of war is quite a common...The shooting of prisoners of war is quite a common topic in many WWI (and some WWII) movies. Company K, which I found horrible by the way, depicts it as does All the King's Men. I am sure there are other examples. The Geneva convention was not really followed at the time yet.allaboutwarmovieshttp://allaboutwarmovies.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-70138140286875553502010-09-21T21:16:12.070-05:002010-09-21T21:16:12.070-05:00Thanks for the comment. Australia really had a st...Thanks for the comment. Australia really had a streak going with those two movies plus "The Light Horsemen" (which I need to see again). I fear you and I are in the minority of viewers who catch the moral dilemma addressed in the film. I wonder how many watchers consider the fact that Morant could be considered a war criminal. Woodward (who I love as an actor) makes it hard to view him as a villian. I do not think Australians should feel disturbed. England is the obvious villain. <br /> By the way, the movie makes me wonder about parallels to Australia's involvement in Vietnam. I guess we would be playing the role of England as the evil colonial power. I also recall that the Aussie troops had a reputation for things like collecting V.C. ears. Another parallel? What do you think?War Movie Buffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05999735218343872013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7201660899514011402.post-6603358010964518082010-09-19T06:27:29.255-05:002010-09-19T06:27:29.255-05:00Cool! I'm glad you liked this movie, one of th...Cool! I'm glad you liked this movie, one of the early ones from a fledgling Australian film industry. I remember I saw it when it first came out all those years back and remember feeling disturbed by the issues it addressed, but at the same time feeling proud that Australia had produced such a fine product....."Gallipoli" was another one of the same ilk. Thank you for your review.doughnutshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05472920458570372225noreply@blogger.com