Film Critique - Ned Kelly Gallipoli Essay - 995 Words

Many Australian films explore the concept of ‘overcoming adversity’, common to films from many countries but they explore it in a manner unique to Australia and embrace the ‘Aussie Battler’ or ‘Aussie Hero’ icon. The films Gallipoli (Directed by Peter Weir - 1981) and Ned Kelly (Directed by Gregor Jordan - 2003) are two good examples of this. Both films show evidence of characters overcoming adversities throughout their stories. The following will analyse each film and explore the concept by looking at themes and film techniques. The characters in the film Gallipoli, Frank and Archie, develop a very close friendship throughout their tough journey together. This special bond they have helps them to overcome the terrible adversity of†¦show more content†¦It was a common belief that all young men should represent and fight for their country in the war, or be judged and named selfish etcetera; therefore, Archie and Frank felt they had to be a part of it and signed up. An adversity justly overcome by both characters. They also had to overcome the terrifying adversity of fear to prove to themselves, and others, that they were able to deal with the hardship of warfare and suffering. Likewise in Ned Kelly, the characters overcame the adversity of judgment from others by doing what they thought was the right thing to do - battling for their rights, which in turn earned the respect of friends, some citizens and family. They attempted to overcome the adversity of discrimination against the Irish held at the time by the majority of other Australians. Police treated them unfairly because of where they were from. Discrimination causes a lot of tension between characters in the film. The outcome of this tension proves the main character, Ned Kelly, to be a true Aussie battler. The most powerful scene of the film Gallipoli is the final scene. The musical score intensifies the struggle, despair and hopelessness of the situation. It helps the audience to relate and feel sympathy towards the character. This scene is depicts the character overcoming his adversity of fear and becoming and ‘Aussie hero’ as he runs into battle however, even though he has overcome his fear, it does not end well. The music