by Sarah Clinton

Created on: May 01, 2008   Last Updated: May 02, 2008

Breaker Morant is the story of three Australian soldiers, including the film's namesake Harry "Breaker" Morant. While the nickname first seemed an oddity, it continuously took on new significance throughout the viewing of the movie. The Australian film was not a huge hit in the US, though it was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay in 1980, when it was released. However, Breaker Morant did have ten wins at the Australian Film Institute.

This movie actually had a surprisingly simple plotline. The three soldiers that were on trial (Harry Morant, Peter Handcock, and George Witton) attempted to prove their case continuously, with the help of their defense counsel Major Thomas, who had only one day to prepare his defense. As more witnesses are brought to the stand, more legitimate defendant objections are overruled, and the more obvious the British anxiety to end the war, the more it is apparent that these three men were being used as scapegoats, instruments to help end the war. Though each of the men is acquitted, they are told the next morning that they have been found guilty. Junior officer George Witton was sentenced to life in prison, while the other two men were put to death at sunrise by a firing squad.

This film was based upon the real-life case of "Breaker" Morant and two other soldiers who fought with him against the Boers. Morant was an officer in the British army during the Second Boer war, which the movie is also based upon. Just like in the movie, the Boers really were just Africans fighting to keep their land. They were neither militia nor trained army; for the most part, they were actually farmers and common men fighting to keep their independence. It is also factual that Lord Kitchener both dispatched irregular units to control the Boer commando units, and that he sent the order to shoot any Boers in khaki. He also ordered that Boer civilians be placed on the front of British trains in order to foil the Boer practice of blowing up trains. The movie includes this, with only a small deviation: in Breaker Morant, the trains were actually wagons.

This movie was set in early twentieth century Africa, in various Boer war-fronts and in a British jail/holding unit for the officers. Many of the features presented in this film were done so accurately: the Boers were what the British considered "backwards," as they were an underdeveloped people. They were not industrialized, and they fought guerrilla-style warfare. The Boers dressed in tattered clothing, while the British wore their odd mustard-yellow uniforms that they actually thought were attractive. The weaponry of the Boer war was also depicted accurately; there were no tanks, and only a sparse smattering of machine guns. The majority of the guns depicted were muskets, true to form.

Although this movie was enlightening, I am not quite sure that I would recommend it to another student. It was not exactly the most entertaining film ever, because the blatant injustice involved made me more angry than anything. I also felt that it was a bit slow near the end of the film. However, it did seem to be a pretty accurate depiction of the British military practices during this period of war. I would tentatively recommend this movie to another student, with the added stipulation that they should not watch it when sleep-deprived.

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