Gallipoli was one of the most ambitious and tragic events and outcomes that ultimately shaped WW1 as a whole, and shaped the whole Australian nation forever. Gallipoli the miniseries follows four young men: Thomas 'Tolly' Johnson (Kodi Smit-Mcphee), Bevan Johnson (Harry Greenwood), Cliff Sutton (Tom Budge) and Dave Klein (Sam Parsonson) as they are sent off to war to fight in the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915.
Being an avid WW1 enthusiast myself, this show brings in everything right about what you should expect from a WW1 portrayal. You live through the entire campaign throughout the seven episodes, and follow the characters through the eyes of Tolly Johnson, the youngest out of the group. Before I delve into what's right about the series, let's just brush off some negatives.
First of all, Tolly's background story. So at particular points throughout an episode the scene may flash-back to Tolly's home life, which usually involves Bevan's girlfriend, Celia. This has to be the worst part of the series, as the whole series of sequences in total feel out of place and unneeded. I'm guessing the short plot goes that Celia is starting to feel affection for Tolly while dating Bevan, but is trying to hide it from him. These 5 minute sequences don't amount to anything or build up to anything, they are just there, to create some sort of mood, but It takes away from the experience of the rest of the part of the episode.
A very minor point are some little historical inaccuracies that are picky, but to save time, I'll only go through one. The first episode, 'The First Day', recites the infamous landings on ANZAC Cove, to which literally only several boats with a few dozen soldiers land, with more coming at sunrise. In reality, thousands of soldiers would of landed at the same beach that night.
Ok done with the negatives. It's not just the four main characters that are centre point, you also follow the story of two more characters; Sir Ian Hamilton (John Bach) and Charles Bartlett (James Callis). Ian Hamilton was a senior British army officer who was in placed in charge as a general of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force during the campaign. During the show, the struggles and turmoil of the ANZAC Headquarters develop rapidly, and really capture what Gallipoli was really like, false and lack of communication, heated debate, and Hamilton's personal struggles as well. Charles Bartlett, a well known journalist during the campaign, has a very strong presence all throughout the show, sort of acting as a slight comic relief, but not overdone or placed in the wrong time. The show even manages to recite famous quotes from the actual time period from characters.
Episode 5, 'The Breakout', is by far the best episode of the series, retelling the horrific events at The Nek, a narrow stretch of ridge among the peninsula. The 8th, 9th, and 10th Light Horse regiments were set up among the ridge, expecting to take and hold the strip of land. This is truly saddening, as the failed bombardments among with the massacre of hundreds of soldiers in the span of 5 minutes as they are forced over the top really gives a sense of hopelessness and intense fear, as you can see the soldiers' faces as they witness men being mowed down, wave after wave.
This aspect of showing war is what it is always should be like. There are no heroic moments, no honourable and brave sacrifices, no incredible fantasy breakthroughs, it's gritty and horrifying, and it's not boring in any sense, it just shows it how the Great War was: hell.
Review of Gallipoli
