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Editor's Note
One of a crop of impressive films to arrive from Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s, BREAKER MORANT marked Bruce Beresford as a director to watch. Based on a play by Kenneth G. Ross, the film is a tersely dramatic account of the true story of the court-martial of three soldiers attached to the Bushveld Carbineers, a guerrilla warfare unit of the British army that operated during the Boer War (1899-1902). Edward Woodward stars as Lt. Harry "Breaker" Morant, the primus inter pares of this trio that includes Lt. Peter Handcock (Bryan Brown) and Lt. George Witton (Lewis Fitzgerald). Attorney Major J.F. Thomas (Jack Thompson) is given only one day to mount a defense of the officers, who have been charged with the death of Boer prisoners and a German minister. Weaving flashbacks into the trial proceedings, Beresford tells the story of the controversial killing, an act of revenge against the Boers for having killed and mutilated a close friend of Morant's. While the young Witton fears for his life, Morant and Handcock display only a caustically witty stoicism as they await the trial's outcome. Superbly executed in every area, the film is a memorable evocation of the hypocrisy of empire.
Plot Summary
Three Australian soldiers, devastated by the death of a friend in battle, strike out against one of the enemy. Because of this act, they become prime suspects when a German missionary mysteriously vanishes.
| Features | Based on a true story, Edward Woodward (TV's The Equalizer) unforgettably stars as the controversial folk hero and Renaissance man Lt. Harry "Breaker" Morant. As South Africa's controversial Boer War draws to a close, Morant and two fellow Australian soldiers (Bryan Brown, Lewis Fitzgerald) are court-martialed for murder. Their only hope lies in a small-town lawyer who fights passionately for their lives. |
| Source: Image Entertainment Inc. |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
|  | Studio: Image Entertainment |
| Release Date: 1/15/2008 |
| Running Time: 107 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1980 | | Catalog ID: 4735 | | UPC: 00014381473520 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Available Subtitles: Spanish | | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...Genuinely, surprisingly affecting..." 12/21/1980 p.II:19 |
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