Well, they say a slice off a cut loaf’s never missed.
Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. As a technical note, references and citations are listed for each show on the site at classicmovierev.com. Today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on Breaker Morant (1980).
Breaker Morant (1980) was one of many very good or funny Australian films that were hitting the U.S. market in the 1980s. There was something good going on over there at the time, and we could use some more of it. Some of these films are Gallipoli (1981), Mad Max 2 (1981), The Man from Snowy River (1982), Fortress (1985), Crocodile Dundee (1986), For Love Alone (1986), The Lighthorsemen (1987), The Year My Voice Broke (1987), and Dead Calm (1989).
I especially like Breaker Morant (1980) because it is a military trial movie. I have a list of the 10 Greatest Military Trial Movies of All Time. The events depicted in the movie took place during the Second Boer War 1899-1902[1]. It is based on the actual events detailed in Scapegoats of the Empire 1907, authored by George R. Witton.
This movie has been compared favorably with The Caine Mutiny (1954), 12 Angry Men (1957), Paths of Glory (1957), and Judgement at Nuremburg (1961).
This movie was nominated for a Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium Oscar[2]. This film is rated 7.9 on iMDB.com[3]. On Rottentomatoes.com, the film has 100 percent on the TomatoMeter and 91 percent audience score[4].
New York Times film critic Janet Maslin said in a Dec. 22, 1980 review:
The action is confined almost exclusively to a trial, the outcome of which is a fait accompli. The mood of it recalls military drama of the 1950’s, like Terence Rattigan’s ‘Ross.’ In this case, the gears move almost automatically. There’s nothing unexpected here, but neither are there omissions of anything an audience might anticipate. As based on Kenneth Ross’s play, ‘Breaker Morant’ is a shapely and orderly kind of drama. Its greatest strength is that it delivers what it promises.[5]
Actors – Breaker Morant (1980)
Returning
Jack Thompson was pretty amazing as the backwoods layer Major J.F. Thomas. Thompson was first covered in the fantastic Australian film The Man from Snowy River (1982).
New
Edward Woodward played the titled character Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant. Woodward was born in England in 1930. Woodward attended Commercial College before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He became a professional stage actor in 1946.
His first film was Where There’s a Will (1955). He continued to act and work in movies. In 1963, he made his Broadway debut. Woodward had an uncredited role in Becket (1964) and was in Young Winston (1972), a movie that in part dramatized Winston Churchill’s work as a correspondent during the Second Boer War.
Woodward was in the British television series “Callan” 1967-1972 as a spy. He reprised this role in a few films. Woodward became well known after he appeared in The Wicker Man (1973). Of course, Breaker Morant (1980) made him an international star. Woodward was in the terrorist suspense film The Final Option (1982).
Woodward was in the American television series “The Equalizer” 1985-1989. In the series, he had a particular set of skills and went around setting wrongs to right. I enjoyed the show by my father always thought Woodward’s chin was too weak for the role.
Woodward’s later film work included In Suspicious Circumstances (1991), Deadly Advice (1994), Hot Fuzz (2007), and A Congregation of Ghosts (2009). Woodward died in 2009.
Bryan Brown was the rough and tumble Lt. Peter Handcock. Brown was born in Australia in 1947. Brown worked as an insurance salesman until beginning theater work. Brown began working in film in 1975. He received a lot of attention following The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978).
Some of Brown’s better-known films are Breaker Morant (1980), F/X (1986), which is one of Brown’s more significant roles, Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Cocktail (1988), which Brian the dog loves, Two Hands (1999), and Gods of Egypt (2016). He has worked extensively in television mini-series, including “Against the Wind” 1978, “A Town Like Alice” 1981, “The Thorn Birds” 1983, and “The Shiralee” 1987.
Brown is married to Australian actress Rachel Ward and is still living.
Story – Breaker Morant (1980)
The movie begins will a crawl explaining that the British Empire was at war with the Boers, who were primarily Dutch. The Boers were using asymmetric warfare, and the British Army was trying to deal with their hit and run tactics.
A British Army band is playing in the town center of Pietersburg in 1901. A military camp is located in the town, complete with a prison. A military court of inquiry is completing a hearing for three Australian soldiers.
As the soldiers make their final statements, Harry’ Breaker’ Morant (Edward Woodward) said he is English and engaged to his former superior sister. He tells of how after a distinguished combat record, he joined a new unit, the Bushveld Carbineers. He takes full responsibility for what happened, but he says he was following orders. He also states he was deeply disturbed by what happened to Cpt. Simon Hunt (Terence Donovan), who was to be, his future brother-in-law.
The events are told in flashback. Cpt. Hunt leads a group of Bushveld Carbineers and their Boer translator Christiaan Boton (Russell Kiefel) on a night raid of a suspected Boer hideout. Boton warns the captain but after leaving Sar. Maj. Drummond (Ray Meagher) and a few men behind, the captain, and the other men advance to the house.
When they are in the kill zone, they are attacked by a large contingent of Boer fighters. Cpt. Hunt is wounded but calls for a retreat. Sar. Maj. Drummond calls for a retreat, leaving the wounded Cpt. Hunt on the field. Boton asks the Sar. Maj. if he will attack to save Cpt. Hunt but the Sar. Maj. refuses.
Sometime after sunrise, the attacked patrol returns to the field camp. Lt. George Witton (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) and Lt. Peter Handcock (Bryan Brown) sees that the patrol has been hit. Handcock rides out to meet them. Breaker finds out that Hunt has been shot along with five troopers. He orders a patrol to prepare to depart. Handcock accuses Boton of betraying Hunt. Breaker chews out the intelligence officer Cpt. Alfred Taylor (John Waters). Cpt. Taylor says to avenge Cpt. Hunt.
Returning to the current timeline, the three prisoners, Breaker, Handcock, and Witton, are told that they will receive a military court-martial and be held in prison.
At Army headquarter, prosecutor Major Charles Bolton (Rod Mullinar) is meeting with Col. Ian Hamilton (Vincent Ball) and Lord Kitchener (Alan Cassell). Bolton is familiar with the Bushveld Carbineers as Lord Kitchener created the unit himself. The three prisoners are charged with executing Boer prisoners and a missionary. The German government has protested the killings. Bolton is told the late English Queens grandson, the German Kaiser, is looking for an excuse to help the Boer and get a hold of South African mineral wealth. No historical evidence of German interest has been uncovered[6]. Bolton is told the evidence is overwhelming.
Breaker, Handcock, and Witton are getting dressed and talking about why they joined the fighting. Witton is the most naive and patriot of the three. Australian Major J.F. Thomas (Jack Thompson) arrives and says he has been assigned to the defense. Thomas has only received the preliminary report the day before, and the next day will be the trial. Thomas has never handled any type of trial. He tells the three prisoners that they are facing murder charges.
That night Thomas joins the other officers and their wives for dinner. The British think the Australians are all savages. Thomas explains that the name Breaker comes because he was a horse breaker. A Boer singer entertains the dinners.
In the morning, Thomas and the three prisoners are taken to a room for the court-martial. Breaker, Handcock, and Witton don’t know who filed the charges against them. As soon as the trial starts, Thomas begins making motions. The officers deny all of his motions. The prisoners are charged with the murder of seven Boers. Breaker and Handcock are also charged with the murder of the missionary.
Bolton calls Cpt. Robertson (Rob Steele) as his first witness. Robertson says the Australian’s were very undisciplined and generally bad soldiers. He says Handcock placed prisoners in open wagons in front of trains. On cross-examination, Thomas draws out that the Bushveld Carbineers were established to fight commandos, which is a Boer word. He also establishes that placing prisoners in wagons stopped the train attacks. When Robertson was in charge, only 29 prisoners arrived at HQ. Thomas asks if there was a policy of shooting Boer prisoners.
Sar. Maj. Drummond is called to tell of Breaker’s revenge patrol. He tells that they found the mutilated body of Hunt. They followed the trail for two more days. The Bushveld Carbineers attack the camp and kill a lot of the Boers. They find one Boer hiding in a wagon who is wearing Hunt’s uniform jacket. Breaker orders the man executed. Sar. Maj. Drummond says that he tried to stop the execution.
The men get ready for the firing squad, and Boton joins them. Sar. Maj. Drummond makes himself the good guy. Thomas asks about an order from Lord Kitchener about executing Boers wearing khaki. Drummond is forced to admit that things got better when Breaker and Handcock arrived.
Boton is called to testify. Boton makes himself seem innocent. He denies that he volunteered to shoot the prisoner.
Bolton questions Breaker about the death of Hunt. Breaker loses his cool and says he killed the man under rule 303 or 0.303 caliber.
Thomas meets with the three prisoners that night. He admonishes Breaker and Handcock for speaking out. He says he will call witnesses in the morning. Hancock says that most of their witnesses have been sent to India to fight.
The next day Boton is shot down in the central part of town.
Thomas calls Cpt. Taylor to the stand. Taylor says Breaker was a good soldier, but he was rash. Taylor says the killing of prisoners was standard practice. Thomas says that once Breaker brought in six prisoners and Hunt ordered them executed. Hunt said the killing order came from Lord Kitchener. The court rules that this information is irrelevant. Taylor confirms that Boers have been shot for wearing khaki. The defense introduces that Taylor is pending trial for murdering prisoners.
The next night Witton dreams about his family honor. Handcock thinks about the wife and child he has left behind. Breaker dreams of his time in England with his fiancé and the Hunt family.
In the morning, the military camp is attacked while the guard is being distracted by a Boer woman. The Boer commandos do a lot of damage as the sleeping English awake and try to defend themselves. Breaker, Handcock, and Witton are given rifles. They fight against the attack bravely. Breaker and Handcock fire a machine gun, weakening the attack. The remaining Boers flee.
Thomas reads precedence from the Duke of Wellington that says prisoners who redeem themselves in combat should be pardoned. The officers reject his plea.
In flashback, Breaker, Handcock, Taylor, and some others are sitting in the field camp. They get word that a group of Boers are coming in with white flags. The prisoners are put in a barbed-wire compound. Breaker says that they are part of the group that killed Hunt. Taylor says to kill them. Witton is against the killing, but Handcock says he is just following orders.
A German missionary, Reverend Daniel Heese (Bruno Knez), rides his buggy into camp. Breaker tells Hesse not to talk to the prisoners. Breaker sees Hesse talking to the prisoners. Breaker is unhappy about the conversation.
After Hesse leaves for Boer country, the prisoners are taken out to be executed. One of the prisoners attacks Witton. Witton has to shoot the man to save his own life. The others are killed by firing squad.
Back in court, Thomas request that Lord Kitchener be brought to testify. Thomas tells about the things he has done under orders. The officers deny the request, but Thomas shows that any witness can be called.
Bolton joins Thomas for an evening conversation. Bolton says the Australian government wants the men convicted. He then asks Thomas to withdraw the request for Kitchener. He refuses.
In a conversation, Col. Hamilton and Lord Kitchener reveal that they are working with Taylor on getting the conviction. Kitchener admits that he has been transferring friendly witnesses to India. He says the three Australians must be sacrificed in the name of peace. Kitchener sends Hamilton to testify and lie about the order.
Thomas will not give up and says Hunt told Breaker and so he was only following orders. You know how that worked out for the Nazis.
On a Sunday, the three men are hanging around the prison. Thomas shows up. The only issue left is the killing of the missionary Hesse. Handcock will not change his story that he went hunting.
On the next trial day, Thomas is given some information from a guard. Cpl. Sharp (Chris Haywood) was on guard when Hesse left. He tells that about a half-hour later, Handcock spoke to Breaker and then left the camp. It is clear that Bolton has prepped the witness.
Thomas asks about Sharp being dismissed from the Bushveld Carbineers after Handcock caught his stealing. Thomas asks Sharp about his bragging in bars about wanted to help with the execution of Handcock.
Breaker is questioned about why he wanted Hesse to stay away from the prisoners. Breaker says it was for security. Handcock is called to testify next. Thomas gets an adjournment until the next day. Thomas works with Handcock on the true story. Handcock says he met and slept with two different Boer women, both of whom had husbands in the Boer military. In flashback, Handcock is seen being very welcomed by the two women. Thomas submits written statements from the women.
Back in prison, Handcock admits that he killed Hesse before seeing the ladies. Handcock and Breaker have agreed to keep the information about the murder from Thomas. In the flashback, it is revealed that Breaker thinks Hesse is the one that led Hunt into the ambush.
In the courtroom, Thomas gives a stunning summation. He says Witton should not have been charged. Thomas says the Boer commandos are outlaws. He says they are in no position to judge unless they have had the same experiences as the accused.
The three prisoners get drunk with some contraband whiskey they obtained. Breaker quotes Byron and Handcock gives bawdy poems. Thomas and Taylor come in with champagne and tells that they have been acquitted for the Hesse killing.
Taylor tells Breaker that he should not count on an acquittal. He offers to help Breaker escape. Breaker refuses to run.
The men are taken one by one for sentencing. Witton is taken first. He has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Lord Kitchener has commuted his sentence to life. Breaker is taken next and found guilty. He is sentenced to death. Finally, Handcock is taken in and gets the same sentence as Breaker. Witton is shocked by the verdict for the other men.
Thomas does everything he can to save the men from execution, but he cannot get to Kitchener. Although two of the officers voted for mercy, the head officer overruled them. Col. Hamilton says there will soon be a peace conference.
At the prison, carpenters are building coffins for the two condemned men. Handcock writes a tearful letter to his wife. Breaker writes a few letters and a poem. One stanza states, “If you encounter any Boers, you really must not loot ‘em and if you wish to leave these shores, for pity’s sake don’t shoot ‘em.”
Witton is taken away as Breaker screams that they are scapegoats of the bloody empire. Thomas comes to see Breaker. Breaker says he has had a good run and is finished as a horse-breaker because he has to drink before getting on.
Breaker and Handcock are taken outside. Breaker is offered a padre but says he is a pagan. Then Handcock is offered one as well. He asks Breaker what a pagan is. Breaker replies, someone who doesn’t believe that a god is dispensing justice. Handcock says I’m a pagan too. Breaker asks for an epithet of Matthew 10:36 – And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household[7].
Handcock and Breaker are taken to the execution site. On the way, they hold hands showing their brotherhood. The hand holding was improvised by the two actors but was later found to have actually taken place. They are placed in chairs and refuse to take blindfolds. The firing squad, on orders, shoots them. The two dead men are loaded into their coffins. A crawl on the screen shows that Thomas returned to his home in Australia and died in 1945. Taylor remained in Africa and received a good government job. Witton served three years in an English prison. He returned to Australia, where he wrote the book Scapegoats of the Empire in 1907. Witton died in 1943.
I’ll be back with the conclusions and World-Famous Short Summary.
Conclusions – Breaker Morant (1980)
Director Bruce Beresford has stated that the movie is often understood as the story of soldiers railroaded by the British in a sham trial. However, he stated in a phone interview:
“But that’s not what it’s about at all. The film never pretended for a moment that they weren’t guilty. It said they were guilty. But what was interesting about it was that it analysed why men in this situation would behave as they had never behaved before in their lives. It’s the pressures that are put to bear on people in war time… Look at all the things that happen in these countries committed by people who appear to be quite normal. That was what I was interested in examining. I always get amazed when people say to me that this is a film about poor Australians who were framed by the Brits.”[8]
Including Taylor, three other men were tried and found not guilty. Hoping to implicate higher ranking targets, Breaker and Handcock were offered and refused a chance to turn King’s Evidence.[9] [10]
Perhaps the most amazing thing about this movie is that you root for the condemned men regardless of the reality that they did commit the war crime for which they were charged. It is very similar to how Coppola made Don Corleone sympathetic in The Godfather (1972) because killing and robbery were okay, but heroin was too much.
World-Famous Short Summary – No good deed goes unpunished.
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Beware the moors.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War
[2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080310/awards/
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War
[4] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/breaker_morant
[5] https://www.nytimes.com/1980/12/22/arts/breaker-morant-on-the-morality-of-war.html
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaker_Morant_(film)
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_10:36
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaker_Morant_(film)
[9] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080310/trivia/?ref_=tt_ql_trv#spoilers
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaker_Morant_(film)
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