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ABSTRACT
Breaker Morant dramatizes the historical trial of a trio of Australian lieutenants who were court-martialed for executing unarmed prisoners during the Second Boer War. The midpoint turned culmination of New Australian Cinema, this film serves as an instructive case study in how soldiers justify harsh acts of violence to themselves and others. The primary mouthpieces for such explanations are the title character and the defense attorney, Major Thomas. This article argues that these justifications are rooted in factors that both men cite repeatedly – the conduct of the enemy, the chain of command, and the nature of the conflict itself.
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This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Notes
1. See Craig Wilcox, Australia’s Boer War: The War in South Africa, 1899–1902 (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2002), 276–296.
2. Richard Mendelsohn, “Breaker Morant: an African war through an Australian lens,” in Black and White in Colour: African History on Screen, eds. Vivian Bickford-Smith and Richard Mendelsohn (Oxford: James Currey, 2007), 121.
3. Ibid., 135.
4. Cinema of the World, “Bruce Beresford – ‘Breaker’ Morant [+Extras] (1980),” Accessed April 16, 2022, https://worldscinema.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Breaker-Morant-1980-e1548688550388.jpg.
5. Frank Henderson Stewart, Honor (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 145.
6. Nicholas W. Mull, “The Honor of War: Core Value of the Warrior Ethos and Principle of the Law of War,” Chicago-Kent Journal of International and Comparative Law 18, no. 1 (2018): 7.
7. British War Office, Manual of Military Law (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1899), 292.
8. Ibid., 296.
9. Keith Surridge, “An example to be followed or a warning to be avoided? The British, Boers, and guerrilla warfare, 1900–1902,” Small Wars & Insurgencies 23, no. 4–5 (2012): 617.
10. Wilcox, Australia’s Boer War, 293.
11. Ibid., 289.
12. Bruce Beresford, dir., Breaker Morant (South Australian Film Corporation, Citation1980), 53:54–53:56.
13. Ibid, 53:57–54:04.
14. Ibid, 54:13–54:16. See also British War Office, Manual of Military Law, 43, 294, 302, 321, 611.
15. See note 10 above, 294.
16. Beresford, Breaker Morant, 1:21:33–1:21:42.
17. Ibid., 1:21:49–1:21:54.
18. Ibid., 3:09–3:22.
19. Ibid., 7:05–7:06.
20. Ibid., 30:59–31:01.
21. Ibid., 32:57–32:58, 37:46–37:48.
22. Ibid., 38:00–38:03.
23. Ibid., 38:17–38:24.
24. Ibid., 38:32–38:34.
25. Ibid., 14:59–15:02. See also Ibid, 40:15–40:48.
26. Ibid., 1:27:27–1:28:01. Byron wrote the poem, entitled ‘Stanzas,’ in November of 1820. See George Gordon Byron, The Poetical Works of Lord Byron (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1847), 583.
27. Beresford, Breaker Morant, 49:28–50:16.
28. Ibid., 15:17–15:18.
29. Ibid., 44:28–44:29.
30. Ibid., 44:30–44:38.
31. Ibid., 55:06–55:09.
32. Ibid., 55:58–56:08.
33. Ibid., 56:10–56:15.
34. Ibid., 56:36–56:40.
35. Ibid., 57:59–58:03.
36. Ibid., 58:07–58:12.
37. Ibid., 1:19:30–1:19:34.
38. Ibid., 1:19:05–1:19:26.
39. Ibid, 23:16, 23:24, 24:16–24:17.
40. Ibid., 22:26–22:28.
41. Ibid., 46:04–46:06.
42. Ibid., 46:47–46:53.
43. Ibid., 1:06:18–1:06:24.
44. Ibid., 1:06:30–1:06:41.
45. See note 17 above, 58.
46. Ibid., 1:22:05–1:22:07.
47. Ibid., 1:22:09–1:22:14.
48. Ibid., 1:22:22–1:22:35.
49. Ibid., 1:24:20–1:24:24, 1:24:37–1:24:43.
50. Ibid., 1:25:01–1:25:07.
51. Ibid., 1:26:09–1:26:12.
52. Paul B. Rich, “Introduction, in Cinema and Insurgencies,” ed. Paul B. Rich, special issue, Small Wars & Insurgencies 26, no. 4 (2015): 576.
53. Marina Heung, “‘Breaker Morant’ and the Melodramatic Treatment of History,” Film Criticism 8, no. 2 (Winter 1984): 6.
54. See Beresford, Breaker Morant, 1:22:40, 1:24:40, 1:25:00.
55. See George Witton, Scapegoats of the Empire: The Story of the Bushveldt Carbineers (Melbourne: D.W. Paterson Co., 1907).
56. See Nick Bleszynski, Shoot Straight, You Bastards! The Truth Behind the Killing of ‘Breaker’ Morant (Milsons Point, New South Wales: Random House Australia, 2002).
57. Tim Fischer, foreword to Shoot Straight, You Bastards! The Truth Behind the Killing of ‘Breaker’ Morant, by Nick Bleszynski (Milsons Point, New South Wales: Random House Australia, 2002), xii.
58. Ibid.
59. Ibid, xiii. Fischer also appears in Bleszynski’s 2013 biopic Breaker Morant: The Retrial, a documentary that blends dramatic reenactments with critical commentary from the descendants of the convicted lieutenants. See Nick Bleszynski, dir., Breaker Morant: The Retrial (Film Projects Pty Ltd, Citation2013).
60. Kenneth G. Ross, “The Truth About Harry,” The Age, February 26, 2002, https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-truth-about-harry-20020226-gdu02m.html.
61. Ibid.
62. Charles Leach, The Legend of Breaker Morant is Dead and Buried: A South African Version of the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Zoutpansberg, May 1901 – April 1902 (Louis Trichardt, Limpopo: Charles Leach, 2012).
63. Robert Sklar, “Breaker Morant,” Cinéaste 11, no. 4 (1982): 43–44.
64. Michael Walsh, “Building a New Wave: Australian Films and the American Market,” Film Criticism 25, no. 2 (Winter 2000–2001): 23.
65. Ibid., 39.
66. Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, “Australia and the United Kingdom 1960–1975,” accessed April 16, 2022, https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/Pages/australia-and-the-united-kingdom-1960-1975.
67. Beresford, Breaker Morant, 1:36:47.
68. Ibid., 1:39:19–1:39:20.
69. Ibid., 1:39:15–1:39:18.
70. Ibid., 1:43:47–1:43:49.
71. Susan Gardner, ‘“Can you imagine anything more Australian?’: Bruce Beresford’s ‘Breaker Morant’” Kunapipi 3, no. 1 (1981): 36.
72. Beresford, Breaker Morant, 1:36:07–1:36:12.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
J.B. Potter
J.B. Potter is Ph.D. Candidate in German at Georgetown University in Washington DC.