War drama Gallipoli is one of Australia’s most iconic movies, a film that had such an effect on local audiences in the early 1980s that it managed to shift how the country viewed itself and its history.
In the above Mike Walsh interview, director Perter Weir describes how he and writer David Williamson decided to tell the story of the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign that was meant to knock the Ottoman Empire out of World War I. As Weir describes, he and Williamson told the story through the friendship of two young Australians who initially shared a bond through running.
So, press the top left play button on the above feature image so the video can pop up for you to watch.
The two actors who played these roles were Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, and they became household names after the film’s release. Lee played a young innocent country bloke while Gibson played a savvier city fella with little interest in putting his life on the line for the British empire.
Gallipoli was shot mostly in Australia bar for a couple of weeks in Cairo, Egypt.
Weir went on to make several international films in the U.S. such as Dead Poets Society, Witness, Green Card and The Truman Show. The last feature he directed was The Way Back in 2010.
See more of the interview with Weir below which includes Gibson and fellow actor David Argue who played the character Snowy.