Saw Breaker Morant, an Australian military courtroom drama set during the Boer War. The film follows a trio of Australian soldiers who are fighting on behalf of Britain and who are on trial for the murder of some Boer prisoners. From the beginning, it's clear that the deck is stacked against these soldiers and that this is part of some political theater the Brits are trying to play. The film follows the typical beats of a crooked courtroom drama from there, the soldiers are assigned an inexperienced lawyer who arrives with a messy sheaf of wrinkled papers, asking questions of the soldiers and then miraculously becoming competent in court, cross-examining the first witness to within an inch of his life. You know.
the film is interestingly political. The Boer war was a guerrilla war, fought by locals against colonial invaders. Likewise the drama of the courtroom mirrors the conflict, with one side virtuously playing fair and the other side breaking some rules and making up new ones. Also this is a film told from an Australian perspective. At this point Australia had just recently become an independent nation, eager to make allies and to be taken seriously. The stuffy Brits ruling the courtroom sneer at the soldiers but, later of course, must begrudgingly take them seriously. So, in this way, the courtroom reflects the outside world as well.
The film is interesting and well shot. It's not the most engaging film, preferring still shots of talking heads to dramatic reenactment but it held my attention anyway. It's very dramatic and frustrating, rewarding and then punishing. A film about soldiers caught up in a game they don't understand or that, perhaps, they understand only too well.
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