Con’s Score: 3 Angry Shots
Unlike the Americans, Australians aren’t as pre-occupied by the Vietnam war. Apart from the comical Odd Angry Shot, we’ve been more focused on honourable losses such as Gallipoli, WWI or in Breaker Morant. It’s strange when heroic efforts like those in Beneath Hill 60, The Rats of Tobruk, or here in the battle of Long Tan.
This is story has shades of the 300 Spartans of Thermopylae. Three platoons totalling 100 Australian soldiers took on a battalion of 2,000 North Vietnamese. (I won’t give away too many spoilers, but they fared a lot better than the Greeks.)
Australian war films haven’t dared to go where the Americans have. Theirs have gone from realistic, to symbolic to surrealism. We still have so much ground to cover, such as awareness.
Stuart Beattie’s script has tried to recreate it realistically and honour these troops. This means a multitude of characters who aren’t too developed, and talk in that typically dry Aussie digger lingo. Major Harry Smith (Travis Fimmel) is the typical gritty war rat, Lt Colonel Colin Townsend (Anthony Hayes) is the buffoon who does grow, and Commander Brigadier David Jackson (Richard Roxborough) is the General who makes bad calls. Privates Paul Large (Daniel Webber) and Noel Grimes (Nicolas Hamilton) are the two troops we get close to.
On August 18, 1966, the day after a North Korean mortar and rocket attack, Col Joye and Little Pattie (Emile Dougall) fly in, but they soon fly out, when the action starts. And doesn’t Stenders amp it up! It suddenly slips two gears into fifth.
The fight scenes dominate the rest of the film. Kiv Stenders (Red Dog) puts us in the front line, gives the bullets a golden glow, and spares no one, particularly the audience. It’s nerve shreddingly real. I found myself crouching in my seat, trying to dodge bullets. A fellow reviewer yelled at one point. I wanted to tell her to lie low.
It is meticulous in detail and follows every manoeuvre and artillery raid. There are some slow-motion stylistic shots, and they’re a relief from the bloodied reality we’re put through. The conflict has everything – useless US support, bravery against orders, pouring rain to add to the mayhem, and a thundering conclusion. The brutality is laid bare and I was as relieved as the troops were when it ended.
Through this, some of the characters grow, and it becomes more human and inhuman at the same time. We see the whites of the enemies eyes and how close a conflict like this is.
You’ll need to wait for the credits to realise how closely the script has kept to the truth. Pictures of the real troops are shown. The oldest casualty is 22 and the youngest is 19. What a god-damned awful waste of youth wars are.
There are too many actors to single out any, although Travis Fimmel and Daniel Webber stand out, but they’re the only ones given the time to develop. There aren’t any weak links. It’s a deeply moving and confronting film, and a story not given its due by ponderous Australian governments who took 45 years to give them a commendation. The South Korean and US President gave citations for bravery straight away.
It shows the horrors of war, while also giving us an insight into what these troops endure. Their trauma isn’t spared, and neither is the audience. It does feel more like a recreation than a dramatic insight, which works on one level. However, films like Gallipoli are classics because they found a way to work on at least two.
This story won’t travel well when other Vietnam films show the psychological effects on survivors or the absurdity of it all. This film’s focus is showing us “war is Hell” by taking us into the oven. It’s a visceral experience and an important story to tell.
Con Nats, On The Screen
