Mark Lee

In the early running scenes of Gallipoli (1981), Mark Lee makes Archy Hamilton’s enjoyment of his own strength matter as much as his wish to win. Mel Gibson’s Frank Dunne gives him someone to compete with, and their friendship grows out of that shared appetite. We felt protective of them because being young and running together seemed quite enough to be getting on with. The prospect of army life interrupted something we already cared about. Lee makes Archy’s enthusiasm easy to understand without asking us to approve of where it takes him.

Peter Weir’s patience is crucial to this performance, as is David Williamson’s screenplay, which lets companionship develop before enlistment. Lee and Gibson have competition to play rather than declarations of affection. The attractions of joining up are ordinary ones: competition, travel and companionship. The music, credited to Brian May, Jean-Michel Jarre and Tommaso Albinoni, sometimes adds more solemnity than these performances need. That is a small irritation when the actors have already given us enough to care about.

Lee has often been cast as idealistic or innocent young men, and Gallipoli explains why that could work. The danger with such parts is that innocence can leave an actor with little to play; Archy’s competitiveness gives Lee something more particular. After that breakthrough came Vietnam (1987) and The Everlasting Secret Family (1988), alongside a continuing career across film, television and theatre. Directing the feature The Bet (2006) marked another turn, while La Brea (2021) belongs to his later television work. His subsequent work has received less international attention, but the young runner should not be mistaken for the extent of his acting life.

The training scenes in Gallipoli linger, and the comedy can outstay its welcome. Those are frustrations with Weir’s pacing, not reasons to overlook what Lee and Gibson have built together. Their ease gives the film enough warmth to make its young men’s choices understandable, even when we would rather they chose differently. Start with Gallipoli, and resist the urge to hurry it along.