BENEATH HILL 60 - a detailed review
April 13th 2010 18:42
Trench war fare.
Production Photo by Wendy McDougall
Every now and then, a film surfaces that projects beyond mere entertainment and shows the potential to stimulate the hearts and imaginations of a nation, Beneath Hill 60 has that potential.
Produced by Bill Leimbach (Gallipoli: The Untold Stories), directed by Jeremy Hartley Sims (Last Train to Freo), written and co-produced by David Roach (Young Einstein, Reckless Kelly), it tells the (up to now) unheard of true story of a group of Australian miners, who were asked to join the WW1 war effort, utilizing their skills at the terrible Western Front.
They ended up at Messines Ridge, Belgium. Their target was an unremarkable mound of earth, known as Hill 60.
Drawing by Will Dyson. Battery Commander’s Dugout, Hill 60. 1917
PHOTO 1: (description, copyright and permissions at end document)
Australian 4th Division field artillery brigade, at Chateau Wood, Ypres
PHOTO 2: (description, copyright and permissions at end document)
However, in one area, Messines Ridge, the British, with the help of Canadian forces, had come up with a cunning plan; tunnel under the enemy lines and set massive amounts of explosives. The tunnels were built, but, constant delays in realising the plan saw the tunnel system begin to collapse, with constant water seepage causing flooding and the sandy soil causing cave-ins. If the explosives were wet, nothing would detonate, and the explosives were already in place.
Alan Dukes, as Jim Sneddon, Alex Thompson as Jim’s father, Walter Sneddon, in attempted rescue
Production Photo by Wendy McDougall
They needed to find tunnelling experts, and fast. The upper class infected British High Command had to temporarily overcome its snobbery towards Australians and their ‘coarse and irreverent convict forces’, the Australian Imperial Force; as they looked to Australia for better miners and mining engineers, who hopefully would succeed where the British and Canadians had failed.
Officers of 1st Australian Tunnelling Company (Capt. Oliver Holmes Woodward front row left)
PHOTO 3: (description, copyright and permissions at end document)
A fellow is found, Oliver Woodward, (played by Brendan Cowell) who, as a mining engineer boss, would fill the role of planner and leader of the tunnel system redesign, but not without struggle and argument with the usual uppity, and near clueless, British generals; and on top of that, he had to win over the men under his command, while trying to survive in the most hostile place on Earth.
Brendon Cowell as Captain Oliver Woodward. For identification, Aussies named tunnels after familiar places from home
Production Photo by Wendy McDougall
Cowell’s performance captures the spirit of the masculine Aussie gentleman of the era, a strong and slightly reserved personality, with a touch of self-doubt, but a good sense of humour. The script does not allow for a more developed relationship between the Aussie tunnellers, which is a pity.
Production Photo by Wendy McDougall
The famous Aussie larrikinism, their irreverent humour against pomposity, their mateship and their ability to find something to laugh about in the face of difficulty, appears in small doses throughout the film; in one scene, a football match is organized, above ground of course, in the thick mud.
The military tunnelling task itself, and the very existence of the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company, was a closely guarded secret. For over 90 years, their contribution and sacrifice has been largely ignored, until now!
Thanks must go to Executive Producer Ross J. Thomas, who discovered a copy of Woodward’s personal diary, gained the trust of Woodward’s family, and with Bill Leimbach and Hartley-Sims, brought this incredible story to the screen.
3rd Australian Tunnelling Company (1917); note the Aboriginal soldier, centre front row, the only known (and still unidentified) Aboriginal member, out of 4850 Australian miners.
PHOTO 4: (description, copyright and permissions at end document)
The producer tried in vain to get the Aboriginal soldier (in the above photo) identified. Many Aboriginals, who served in WW1, were not recognized for their efforts; neither by well deserved medals, nor public recognition; also, they were not allowed to proudly march with their Army regiments, through Australian city streets, when they got home.
Just as shamefully, even Australian Army records and histories ignore their contribution.
Mark Coles-Smith as the compassionate Billy Bacon
Production Photo by Wendy McDougall.
Mark Coles-Smith, who plays the Aboriginal soldier Billy “Streaky” Bacon, so named by his mates for his lightening speed and agility, (but is it also a pun on his name, ‘streaky bacon’?), is an arresting and striking presence in the film. Coles-Smith manages to engender more emotion and empathy, than the other characters, so I wanted to see more of his character in the story. What little screen time Coles-Smith has, he utilizes his talents to the full; even a look, without uttering a word, gets ones attention. I look forward to seeing a lot more of Coles-Smith in future projects.
Father and son extending a tunnel
Production Photo by Wendy McDougall.
Generally, the relationships between the Aussie miners are not explored enough, the effect being, the audience fails to get more emotionally involved with their particular fates. An example of this is, when we learn that Jim Sneddon (Alan Dukes) enlisted without first informing his parents, so his father, Walter Sneddon (Alex Thompson) joins up too, because he had looked after his son all his young life, so far. It is a touching moment, but I felt the father and son relationship deserved more time to be explored.
Memories of home and loved ones, primarily for Brendan Cowell’s character of Woodward, appear as overt attempts to evoke some empathy and to illuminate the inner emotional world of the character, but the scenes, at times, unintentionally defused the main thrust of the story, at the Western Front, of its urgency and dramatic tension. Possibly, with re-editingof the film, changing postion of some of Woodward's memories, might help.
Steve Le Marquand as Sergeant Bill Fraser
Production Photo by Wendy McDougall.
Some Australian miners, who were also soldiers, had already been put to service in the tunnels, months before Woodward arrived; like Sergeant Bill Fraser (played by Steve Le Marquand) who is battle wise but also resentful of his new boss, Captain Woodward, who has had only two weeks army training before his arrival. Fraser believes he deserves the higher rank.
Anthony Hayes, as Captain William McBride, at his desk inside a dugout.
Production Photo by Wendy McDougall.
Then there is William McBride (played by Anthony Hayes) who arrived at the front three months before Woodward. Both of them knew each other, having trained together at the Queensland School of Mines; and at their first glimpse of each other, as shells whistled overhead and bloodied body parts rained down, we see a typically laid back, laconic Aussie greeting from McBride, which tells so much about the Australian persona.
McBride was in charge of a tunnel section under “The Caterpillar” (a position near Hill 60), a sequence of smaller mines that would detonate before the two biggest mines, which were under the direct control of Woodward. I liked Hayes’ work and wished there had been more time given to his character too. However, probably due to screen time and budgetary restraints, imposed on most films, the McBride character takes a second fiddle role, to Woodward in the film.
But, do not be fooled, this isn’t the usual vastly under budgeted Aussie flick, trying to tell a big story on a small budget, with lacklustre results. This is a brilliantly designed, art directed and shot film that makes it of international standard, it is a true war movie, seemingly without artistic compromise.
Toby Oliver’s photography is impressive, particularly considering he and the crew spent a great deal of time shooting inside the tunnels, largely without cut-away set sections, in order to bring realism to the cramped environments the soldiers worked in. Oliver also handled the technical difficulties of shooting with candle light extremely well, it was atmospherically impressive without breaking the spell, meaning, not once was I made aware of camera and lighting techniques. The editor Danny Cooper should be commended too.
Harrison Gilbertson as the nervy Frank Tiffin.
Production Photo by Wendy McDougall
Another character of particular note is the young Frank Tiffin, played sensitively by Harrison Gilbertson, who, at sixteen years of age, is showing signs of shell shock; shaking, curling up in a ball on the bunk, as yet another huge shell hits above and being constantly on edge as he goes about his job, listening for Germans through the tunnel walls. Gilbertson does not overplay his character; he delivers the inner conflict of his mental state with subtlety and realism. Like Mark Coles-Smith, this young actor is one to watch in the future.
The terrible conditions at the Western Front are deftly captured; the terrifying, bone numbing explosions, the gore splattered ‘no man’s land’ moonscape of death, the suffocating, drowning sea of mud and human remains, it is all there, but then, we go underneath the surface; to enter the candle lit whispered war of nightmare proportions, where Australian forces try to outwit the equally stealthy Germans desperately trying to find them. The Aussies use tactics like fake digging noises, luring the listening Germans away from the important areas, but it does not always work, and they are often surprised, with deadly consequences.
The Aussies must re-engineer this labyrinthine underworld, so that the biggest, single explosion in the history of mankind will achieve its intended result, the total destruction of the German positions on Hill 60. The simultaneous explosion of 19 mines, a massive 883,700 pounds of explosives, will remain the largest explosion until the atomic blasts on Japan, in WW2, thirty years later.
After the detonation, the German stronghold shattered
PHOTO 5: (description, copyright and permissions at end document)
The set dressing, the props, costumes and the special effects, in this amazingly well crafted film, all add significantly to the experience, creating a reality that is, at times, confronting and uneasily claustrophobic. Hand to hand fighting, with special cut down guns and implements and unexpected detonations smashing through walls of tunnels, meant this theatre of war was regarded, by both sides, as one of the most horrific of World War 1.
Certainly the Australian casualty rate proves the horror they experienced at the Western Front;
Battle Deaths: 20,036.
Non-Battle Deaths: 399.
Wounded in Action: 49,148.
Gassed: 4,462.
Prisoners of War: 2,295.
Non-Battle Deaths: 399.
Wounded in Action: 49,148.
Gassed: 4,462.
Prisoners of War: 2,295.
And those figures are just for the Western Front!
Aussies take cover before a German position is destroyed
Production Photo by Wendy McDougall
If this film does not win awards for; the DOP (director of photography) Toby Oliver, Production Designer Clayton Jauncey, Art Director Sam Hobbs, the Costume Designer Ian Sparke and Special Effects Supervisor Dan Oliver, then we might as well stop the AFI Awards altogether, not that too many would notice if we did, sad to say.
The technical brilliance of this film, particularly considering the limited budget, makes the film an impressive experience, and as close as I would ever want to get to a war.
The writer, David Roach, didn’t want to write an “overtly jingoistic or nationalistic” film, with “a simplistic anti-war or pro-war message.” Roach also wanted to avoid the usual ‘evil enemies’ presentation of the war experience; he wanted to explore the humanistic side of individuals, on both sides of the trench.
I admit, there were moments when we got an understanding, of aspects of the characters, but there just wasn’t enough time spent on the inter-relationships of the miners themselves, we got more of a veneer, than a depth of understanding, which is a great shame, for that fact alone, will prevent this film being hailed as a great cinematic work; in that area, it misses, where the film Gallipoli succeeded.
However, it is still a terrific film; it will appeal to the general audience on a number of levels, particularly Australian audiences, who have too long suffered, watching films not acknowledging their country’s important contributions, in international conflicts. (I wait with interest to see how we are portrayed in the upcoming 7-TV American series, The Pacific).
Other nations, we call our allies, will continue to ignore Australia and its place in history; we cannot wait for them to develop a fairer, more inclusive view, they are telling their own stories, so we must seize the mantle and write about our own victories and sacrifices. It has been far too long since our last major war film, Gallipoli.
Lastly, the director Jeremy Hartley-Sims must be highly commended, if not awarded, for martialling all those talents to deliver a world class production. Hartley-Sims just may have created a new era in technical excellence in Australian film making.
Beneath Hill 60 is an unflinching look at the brutality, futility and insanity of war, while also revealing the ingenuity of brave and unsung Australian heroes. I am sure this film will instil some pride and awe in all Australians who see it, and maybe, some well overdue acknowledgement from our old Allies.
Yesterday we had Gallipoli. Today we have Beneath Hill 60!
GO SEE THIS GREAT AUSTRALIAN FILM!
You will be glad you did
Opens nationwide April 15 2010
Official poster copyright All Rights Reserved; Paramount Pictures and/or Production Company
HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS & IMAGES GENERAL PERMISSIONS:
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IMAGE CREDITS
PHOTO 1:
Image copyright: © Australian War Memorial ID number ART02299.002. Title: Battery Commander's dug-out, Hill 60. Artist: Dyson, Will. Object type: Print. Place made United Kingdom: England, Greater London, London. 1917. lithograph on paper. Overall: 52 cm x 78 cm. Art. Permalink: Really Long Link Really Long Link
Description Depicts two soldiers in uniform, seated in the interior of a dug-out. The one sitting on the right is probably Major R F Manton, DSO, Commanding of 15 Bty, AFA. A lit candle , tins of food and small shelves can be seen in the interior of the dug out. Hill 60 was visited by Dyson, with Charles Bean , and the location was near Ypres, where the First Australian Tunnelling Company had operated for seven months prior to Messines. At Hill 60 there had been extensive German mining activity for the Australian tunnellers to counter. The Australian activity was involved at Third Ypres. When in France, the photographer Frank Hurley noted of Hill 60; '[It] is the most awful and appalling sight I have ever seen. The exaggerated machinations of hell are here typified. Everywhere the ground is littered with bits of guns, bayonets, shells and men. Way down in one of these mine craters was an awful sight...Oh, the frightfulness of it all...'. Will Dyson was the first Australian artist to visit the front during the first World War, travelling to France in December 1916, remaining there until May 1917, making records of the Australian involvement in the war. He was appointed an Official War Artist, attached to the AIF , in May 1917, working in France and London throughout the war. His commission was terminated in March 1920.
PHOTO 2:
Australian Battery Soldiers of an Australian 4th Division field artillery brigade on a duckboard track passing through Chateau Wood, near Hooge in the Ypres salient, 29 October 1917. The leading soldier is Gunner James Fulton and the second soldier is Lieutenant Anthony Devine. The men belong to a battery of the 10th Field Artillery Brigade. Australian War Memorial collection number E01220. (Author Frank Hurley)[/CENTER][/SIZE][/B]This image is of Australian origin and is now in the public domain because its term of copyright has expired. According to the Australian Copyright Council (ACC), ACC Information Sheet G23 (Duration of copyright) (Feb 2008).
PHOTO 3:
First Australian Tunnelling Company (WW1) (rear left to right): Lieutenant (Lt) John MacDiarmid Royle; Lt James Bowry; Lt Hubert Henry Carroll, MC. Front row: Captain (Capt) Oliver Holmes Woodward, MC and two bars; Major James Douglas Henry, CO, OBE, DSO; Capt Robert Adam Clinton, MC. ID number P02333.002 Belgium Date made 23 June 1917 (copyright expired) Permalink: Really Long Link
PHOTO 4:
Image copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
ID numberP02360.001. Object type: Black & white. Physical descriptionBlack & white. CollectionPhotograph
DescriptionFrance. c. 1917. Formal group portrait of seven members of the 3rd Tunnelling Company, AIF. One of these men is 5777 Sapper Herbert Mason whose message on the reverse of the postcard refers to the group as "ear wiggers", a nickname given to tunnellers. Note the unidentified Aboriginal front row centre. (Donor: J. West). Permalink: Really Long Link
PHOTO 5:
Battle at Messines; German trench destroyed by explosion
Original inscription reads: 'OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON THE BRITISH WESTERN FRONT. Smashed up German trench on Messines Ridge with dead. Photographs from the Haig "Official Photographs" series Date 1917(1917) Source National Library of ScotlandSequence #: D.1520http://digital.nls.uk/7 4547058 Author Brooke, John Warwick.
This artistic work created by the United Kingdom Government is in the public domain.
This is because it is one of the following:
1: It is a photograph created by the United Kingdom Government and taken prior to 1 June 1957; or
2: It is a photograph or an engraving created by the United Kingdom Government and commercially published prior to 1960; or
3: It is an artistic work other than a photograph or engraving (e.g. a painting) which was created by the United Kingdom Government prior to 1960.
HMSO has declared that the expiry of Crown Copyrights applies worldwide (ref: HMSO Email Reply).
More information. See also Copyright and Crown copyright artistic works.
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Mountain Fog
Comment by Matt Shea
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
yes, I actually held off being too hard on the writer, and it did make me wonder, how he got the gig, with the Yahoo Serious connections!
anyhoo, I am posting a couple of interviews over the next couple of days, and, will also post something back on your site too.
cheers
fog
Comment by Matt Shea
I know - very odd, and some bizarre moments in the pic. Look forward to the interviews!