Movie Review: Breaker Morant

Breaker Morant, 1979, Australia. Directed by Bruce Beresford. Based upon a true story and adapted from the play of the same name by Kenneth G. Ross.

The film takes place in 1901 in Pietersburg, Transvaal, South Africa during the Boer War. Three men, Australians under British command, are court-martialed under the charges of killing Boer prisoners and a German missionary. The British army arranged a trail intended to be little more than a mock trial by assigning the defendants an inexperienced lawyer and transferring any individuals who might be of use to the defendants' cause to India. Although the actions that the Australians are charged for, killing the enemy, was proven to be common practice, the British planed to sentence the defendants to death as a showing of their impartial justice which would encourage a peace conference that would hopefully lead to the end of the war. The main setting of the movie is the courtroom where the memories/flashbacks of the accused and of the witnesses relay the truth behind the charges. Unjustly, two of the three defendants are sentenced to death.

There are four main characters. The Australian lawyer, Major J. F. Thomas (Jack Thompson) is the voice and confidant of the accused. His role is that of the unexpected hero who is thrown unprepared into the role of defending lawyer and, while earning the trust and respect of his clients, presents the court with an outstanding, if not brilliant, defense. Lt. George Witton (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) is a Jr. Officer who is among the three men charged with murder. He is the youngest and the functional patriot who believes in the Empire. At the end of the movie he is alive but, needless to say, changed. This character is based on the real Lt. George Witton who went on to write a book entitled Scapegoats of the Empire . Lt. Peter Handcock (Bryan Bron) is a wild and simple fellow who follows the orders given to him. He adds a touch of romance and humor to the extremely intense courtroom scenes. Breaker Morant (Edward Woodward) is a good fellow and a good soldier described as almost impossible not to like. He is a poet and a seasoned horse breaker who is engaged loyally to a comrade's sister. The mutilation of this comrade (Captain Simon Hunt played by Terence Donovan) by the Boers changes Morant. It is stated in the movie that before Hunt's death Morant had never shot a prisoner and that after, he noticeably became more stern. In a sense, he was the wise "all-American" Australian. Morant, perhaps, shows the most character development in the movie and this development reinforces the fact that war changes people's natures. In the end, he and Lt. Peter Handcock are executed.
The purpose of this film was clearly to bring the sacrifices and exploitation of the Australians to the public's attention. The convicted men were innocent of malicious intent, loyal to the British cause, and devoted to following the maneuvers necessary for a new kind of war in a new century. The men were, in fact, scapegoats for the British army.

The movie begins with the main character, Breaker, giving his credentials and back story before the court. Here, he sets the stage for the audience to believe in him. In contrast, the first witness called by the prosecution is a long time soldier of the British army who was over Lt. Handcock prior to replacement by Lt. Morant. In his short testimony, he saturates the courtroom with stereotypes of Australians. He says they are unruly, lazy, and hard to command. His stereotypes set the audience up to see the three alleged murders as scapegoats. The tone of the movie is thick with disaster right down to the intermission-like shots of a British brass band that resemble the chorus of Greek tragedy.

Truly, there is nothing short of tragedy in this movie. The death of two men and the ruin of another are regarded as merely a side show of the war by the British army. Breaker, perhaps knowing the effect his execution will have on the bigger picture of the war, explains to his comrades that their sentences are a part of what comes with Empire building. His last words, aimed at the firing squad, "shoot straight you bastards, don't make a mess of it!" encourage the audience to believe that, even faced with death, Morant wanted the British, with all his angry heart, to deliver him a quick and simple death as the least of their moral responsibilities.