Gelibolu (2005)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Tolga Örnek

Writer:

Tolga Örnek (story)

Release Date:

18 March 2005 (Turkey)

Genre:

Documentary | War

Tagline:

A film of spectacular visual sweep and great emotional power (DVD)

Plot Keywords:

Canakkale | Turkey | Gelibolu | Gallipoli

Cast

Sam Neill	...	Narrator (voice)
Zafer Ergin	...	Himself (narrator, Turkish version)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Demetri Goritsas	...	Narrator (voice)
Jeremy Irons	...	Narrator

Also Known As:

Gallipoli (International: English title)
Gallipoli: The Frontline Experience (Australia) (DVD box title)

Runtime:

114 min | Turkey:90 min (original release) | Australia:119 min

Country:

Turkey

Language:

English | Turkish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Turkey

Company:

Ekip Film

It was a Top Film

In my opinion, the movie is an excellent example of the realities of war and a tribute to the soldiers of all nations who fought and bled into the soil Gallipoli. The lack of violence in no way detracted from the magnitude of the tale in hand. It is honest, true and brave, just like the men that fought and died at the Hellespont. The lack of brutal depictions of violence are just and proper. Those men suffered enough for freedom, liberty and the right to self determination in a free and better world. They never wished to ever see such scene's again.That is the legacy of the event of Gallipoli. To suffer scene's of gratuitous pyro-technics and blood and gore is best not shown for the maintenance of proper respect for the combatants of this crucible of nationhood.

This film glories in the magnificence of men fighting for their lives,with honour, courage, dignity and irrepressible spirit and humour in the face of appalling adversity. This film is not interested in making a spectacle for fools to cheer over. The brutal outcomes that occoured from these personal combats of these men is not a thing that those that survived ever wished to see on a screen for entertainment. They saw enough of that at the time, and would much rather have never seen it at first, and never wished to review such scenes again on a screen in the name of "entertainment". The brutal horrors of the actualities of the vicious combat fought at Gallipoli were scenes that haunted their waking and sleeping hours for the rest of their natural days. It was the painful internal scars they, the men of all those nations who fought, carried inside to their graves. They all fought,and many died in the face of it all and somehow they, those mighty hearted men, managed to laugh in the teeth of constant dread death because they would'nt insult their mates by not being prepared to die game beside them. That's Australasian for brave, game is, but it applied to all combatants to a greater or lesser degree, but word from the boy's that fought was that Johhny Turk was as game, that is as brave, as you would ever wish for a soldier to be.

ANZAC's and Turks were fighting to establish their place on the world stage, and from 25/04/15 onwards, their respective claims for equality in Nationhood were made known and undeniable to that world. The director has made a masterpiece that truly honours the spirit and memory of those soldiers and serves as a reminder to future generations of all ages, for children can be taken without fear of frightening them for the sake of visual "horror" and it's morbid and pointless appeal. And children should attend this movie so as to learn what happened at that sacred shore before they were born. So that they can remember. For it is the nature of men, that they soon forget.