THE LIGHTHORSEMEN Movie Review
1987 Simon Wincer
Simon Wincer's companion piece to Peter Wier's Gallipoli may not be as successful and as moving, but it is still an entertaining film marked by some absolutely spectacular riding sequences. Structurally, the two are almost identical. Both are about young Australian troops fighting in World War I and receiving their baptism of fire. Both begin in the Australian countryside and then move to the Middle East. Their conclusions and their larger view of war are polar opposites.
By the time Dave Mitchell (Peter Phelps) joins the 4th Regiment of the Light Horse reinforcements in April 1917, the unit has already fought in Gallipoli and other battles. The Light Horse is “mounted infantry” as opposed to cavalry, though the details of that distinction—beyond the troopers’ use of rifles and bayonets—are not too important. The regiment is involved in a stalemated attack on the Turco-German army fortress at Gaza and the town of Beersheba, Palestine. It's a desert war where the availability of water is always the critical factor.
Dave arrives and becomes a D'Artagnan figure to three unlikely Musketeers—Tas Pool (John Walton), Chiller Diggs (Tim McKenzie), and Scotty Bolton (Jon Blake)—when their friend Frank (Gary Sweet) is wounded. Dave goes through an extremely mild version of the “new guy” treatment and fits right in until the regiment sees its first real action. In that engagement, the Turks immediately retreat and Dave finds that he cannot shoot at an enemy's back. Is it a question of conscience, buck fever, or cowardice? The other two central characters are Meinertzhagen (Anthony Andrews), an eccentric bird-loving intelligence officer, and Anne (Sigrid Thornton), a nurse.
The cast is certainly attractive and capable enough, though all of the characters—many of them based on real individuals—have a sketched-in lack of depth. That's the film's central problem. It isn't able to generate the emotional intensity that makes Gallipoli so memorable. Australian audiences might disagree with that assessment, but the film has never been the international favorite that Wier's work is. That said, the riding scenes are magnificent.
Where Wier's central image is the runner moving across a vast landscape, Wincer focuses on horses and riders, often in massed ranks sweeping across the screen. Making full use of that strong light that Australian films of the 1980s are so famous for, Wincer and cinematographer Dean Semler create striking exterior action shots. They also do their best to flatter the equine stars, and the closing credits claim that none were injured. That's astonishing, given some of the rough falls that the horses take in the final charge on Beersheba. It's a fine scene, easily the equal of the conclusion of the 1936 Charge of the Light Brigade.And like that film, The Lighthorsemen ends on a simple heroic note when it could have been much more complex.
Cast: Jon Blake (Scotty), Peter Phelps (Dave), Tony Bonner (Bourchier), Bill Kerr (Chauvel), Nick Waters (Lighthorse Sergeant), John Walton (Tas), Tim McKenzie (Chiller), Sigrid Thornton (Anne), Anthony Andrews (Meinertzhagen), Shane Briant (Reichert), Gary Sweet (Frank), Gerard Kennedy (Ismet Bey); Written by: Ian Jones; Cinematography by: Dean Semler; Music by: Mario Millo. Producer: Simon Wincer, Ian Jones. Australian. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running Time: 110 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta, Closed Caption.