So glad Breaker Morant is finally coming back into print, and as part of the Criterion Collection where it will get the release it deserves. Bruce Beresford's powerful courtroom drama is one of the finest examples of Australian cinema, and stands right alongside 12 Angry Men, Paths of Glory, Anatomy of a Murder (all from Criterion), and a few others at the top of the genre. I would encourage every film fan to seek it out if they have never seen it.
Breaker Morant is unique among courtroom dramas because it takes place in a military court/tribunal set during the Boer War (1899-1902). Based on true events, the stakes are high as three Australian officers of an elite anti-guerilla cavalry force are placed on trial for murder and other crimes during the waning days of the conflict, a messy colonial war that the British want ended as quickly as possible and as a consequence are willing to sacrifice a few of their own to demonstrate to the Boers their commitment to fairness and justice. The film touches on themes of the brutality of fighting irregular Boer commandos on the veldt, subduing a hostile population of mainly women and children whose men are all off in commandos, and the British Empire's attempts to confederate all of South Africa amid hopes for reconciliation with their Boer opponents. By the time of the events in the film, the Boers have, for all intents and purposes, lost the war, yet they refuse to yield. Instead, they have broken up into guerilla bands that have for nearly two years dragged the conflict on and on in the hope that the British will tire and negotiate in their favor and the German Empire will intercede on their behalf. In their desperation to bring the Boer commandos to surrender, the British have moved the Boer women and children off their farms into overcrowded camps (so that they can no longer provide succor to the guerillas), cordoned off the veldt into sections using barbed wire and blockhouses within which they then conduct clearing operations, and formed anti-guerilla cavalry units designed to hunt down the die-hards among the Boers. These tactics, while slowly proving successful, are ugly and costing the British dearly in the court of world opinion.
It is against this background that the events in the film take place. As a prelude to World War I, the Boer War had witnessed shocking losses for a British and Commonwealth public coming face to face with the reality of the killing power of Maxim guns, high-explosive shells, and smokeless powder that did not give away a shooter's location. Through this runs a thread of Australia rising above its penal colony roots and coming into its own as a nation and contributing member of the empire. In exploring what would cause ordinary men to violate the accepted rules of war, Beresford gives us a drama that poses questions to its audience for which there are no easy answers. What would cause a disciplined battle hardened unit of basically descent men to suddenly cross the line of acceptable behavior? What is acceptable behavior in a new kind of war for a new century that has devolved to where bushwhacking and murder have become the norm? Are the Australians on trial truly guilty of war crimes or are they being made examples of in the interest of higher politics?
What makes Breaker Morant such a riveting film is the quality of its script and its fully developed characters. The acting is superb, with memorable performances from Edward Woodward as Harry "Breaker" Morant (an English-born Australian nicknamed for his skill at breaking horses before joining the army); Bryan Brown as one of Morant's officers also on trial with him, and especially Jack Thompson as the defense attorney. Special mention goes to Lewis Fitz-Gerald as the third officer on trial, a young and idealistic Australian who only wants to do his best and cannot fathom how events have led him to his present circumstances. This is a great film, Beresford's masterpiece in my opinion, and one of the highlight announcements from Criterion this year.
Last edited by oildude; 06-17-2015 at 03:06 PM.
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Breaker Morant (1980)
. I regret having sold my Blu years ago, not even sure why I did it. Now I get to own a Criterion version of this great film 
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