Favorite Movie Scenes, #3 - Breaker Morant

in #movie6 years ago

Today's scene is from the 1980 Breaker Morant, a film about the execution of the historical Harry "Breaker" Morant for war crimes committed during the Second Anglo-Boer War. The Boer wars in general can be looked at in terms of being the first modern guerilla warfare. Edward Wood (of The Equalizer) is a superb actor and plays the title role. The dialogue in the movie is often word for word what I have seen in accounts of the incidents of the real situation.

So we'll start with the film background to this scene and then move into some issues that the movie refers to.

Morant is on trial for the killing of unarmed prisoners. Up to this point, the movie has referenced both that the Boers were not fighting by the "rules of war" (not that they ever signed off on that...but we'll get into that shortly), and that a close friend of Morant's had been killed by the Boers shortly before the incident in question.

The scene

Some real life issues

The first thing that needs to be recognized is that the issues we'll discuss come from WIDELY disparate sources that do not agree on a common interpretation. Even today, South Africans feel that justice was not completely meted out while Australians feel that the British hung the Australians out to dry...and don't forget that Morant considered himself an Englishman, to boot!

  • There is contention that an order was given by the British to kill prisoners in some circumstances, an order the British deny giving.
  • The likelihood that Morant was operating in revenge mode for the death of his friend, Capt, Hunt cannot be discounted.
  • The main purpose of the rules of war is to prevent civilian casualties; when franc tireurs, AKA "illegal combatants", do not abide by those rules, retaliation against civilians becomes higher, and the incidence of accidental civilian death also becomes higher.
  • Let us also not forget that the Boer were fighting to defend their homes.
  • The charges against Morant were initiated by a letter written by members of his unit.
  • There were additional charges in real life not discussed in the movie version
  • Morant supposedly wrote a confession to intentional murder, but if you dig it up (through the above links), the words in the note are the opposite of tone of his last poem, written at the same time (see end).
  • The part that social conditioning plays in how soldiers see their own participation in moral war; the actions the Australian troops were undertaking to extend the British Empire
  • The possibility that these charges were brought by the British on political, and not on legal or moral grounds
  • How do you effectively, if not morally, fight guerilla war?

The director...

had intended the film to explore how wartime atrocities can be "committed by people who appear to be quite normal." Beresford concluded that he was "amazed" that so many people see his film as being about "poor Australians who were framed by the Brits.
Wiki

The director didn't watch the same movie I did ;> because it seemed very clear that the British did hang these officers out to dry in the movie...

My own view

I am biased in two things. I have been primarily shaped by the movie itself, which was based on the memoirs of a third officer who was charged in the war crimes but avoided execution, Lt. Witton, who wrote his version of the events, Scapegoats of the Empire.

Secondly, I am all too aware of the massive dagger that political hacks with military or police rank repeatedly plunge into the backs of line troops, all too often. Haditha and Officer Wilson being just two of a multitude of such incidents. These backstabbings are conducted for party or personal gain.

I really despise officers who scapegoat line troops; while it is the duty of a line trooper to face the risk of his life, it is the duty of an officer not only to risk his life, but to risk his career as well in the defense of doing right

Because of these biases, I tend to believe that Morant did kill some of the prisoners based on orders, although his decision was also likely influenced by vengeance. Then the Brits wanted a peace...which demanded a political sacrifice.

The End

You get a two-fer today, as the end of this movie is pretty good as well.

The poem which was actually written by Breaker Morant while waiting his execution...

BUTCHERED TO MAKE A DUTCHMAN'S HOLIDAY by Harry ("Breaker") Morant

In prison cell I sadly sit,
A d__d crest-fallen chappie!
And own to you I feel a bit-
A little bit - unhappy!

It really ain't the place nor time
To reel off rhyming diction -
But yet we'll write a final rhyme
Whilst waiting cru-ci-fixion!

No matter what "end" they decide -
Quick-lime or "b'iling ile," sir?
We'll do our best when crucified
To finish off in style, sir!

But we bequeath a parting tip
For sound advice of such men,
Who come across in transport ship
To polish off the Dutchmen!

If you encounter any Boers
You really must not loot 'em!
And if you wish to leave these shores,
For pity's sake, DON'T SHOOT 'EM!!

And if you'd earn a D.S.O.,
Why every British sinner
Should know the proper way to go
Is: "ASK THE BOER TO DINNER!"

Let's toss a bumper down our throat, -
Before we pass to Heaven,
And toast: "The trim-set petticoat
We leave behind in Devon."

Originally posted two years ago; also, I will likely change up the order by adding a new post on a similar scene from "Paths of Glory", which has a similar theme


Follow my curation trail, More Info



My Books


Join our @informationwar Curation Trail

  • Our purpose is to encourage posts discussing Information War, Propaganda, Disinformation and other false narratives. We currently have over 7,500 Steem Power and 20+ people following the curation trail to support our mission
  • Join our discord and chat with 250+ fellow Informationwar Activists
  • Tutorials on all ways to support us and useful resources here
  • My INDEX of informationwar writing

Sort:  

Def a classic

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.36
TRX 0.12
JST 0.039
BTC 70181.59
ETH 3549.53
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.74