Life of a frog
...lso believes that attrition is the way to win wars. 5. The major themes of this film are: The futility of war, growing up, Mateship, How Australian soldiers were portrayed, the role of women in the war effort, attitudes to authority, attitudes to war, what it means to be an Australian. The futility of war This film shows the futility of war constantly. It would even be possible to say that this film is based on the idea of the futility of war. The whole story is about war and on one hand it promotes the Anzac’s, and on the other the futility of war. Throughout the film it constantly refers to the massive casualties without gaining any ground. In effect it’s saying that the only cause of war is death and there is no real resolution formed. For example when the Australian representative is talking to General Haig, the General states that the Australians are doing well against their enemy and holding their ground. He also states the reason that their doing ‘well’ is because they are able to hold the ground with so many casualties on their side. They also used the strategy of attrition in this war, which only leads to more death on both sides. This just shows the futility of war, as there were no gains in this battle, only loss of life. Mateship If the futility of war were the main theme then mateship would have to be next. Mateship is what the Anzac’s are famous for and what was promoted very strongly in this film. This film was promoting the theme of mateship through the Anzac’s. They were showing how the Anzac’s stuck together and were they best of friends no matter what the situation. They showed this as the main personality trait of the Anzac’s. As this film was Australian it promoted Australian values, such as mateship, which is a very high value in Australian culture. In this film they were showing mateship by focusing on a platoon of Australian soldiers who all held a strong bond. They showed mateship especially when one of the soldiers saved another’s life. Growing Up This film showed the theme of growing up quite a bit as well. It wasn’t really obvious but the characters were changing ever so slightly. Throughout the film they were maturing and growing up. At the start of the film they were all full of fun and laughter. As it progressed it showed the characters becoming more serious as the war had changed them as it would in real life. At the very end to finish off on a light tone the film directors purposely reversed the characters changes and they became the same people at the start of the movie. This however wasn’t very realistic. 6. This film reveals numerous facts about Australian history. In this particular episode it gives you a bit of detail on some of the technology used on the battlefield. Throughout the film they show and sometimes describe the weaponry. They show the weapons in their uses. These weapons consist of bayonets and machine guns. They give you an image of the battlefield with trenches and constant gunfire and also a realistic atmosphere. They give you a view of the kind of life the women at home would live. Also a lot of the other information is correct like the battle, dates, settings and tactics. This film also shows the views of many different groups such as: the Australian politicians, the families back home, the soldiers and the British generals. The politicians were the group that wanted the Australian troops to have their own command. Whereas the British generals were irritated at the Australian troops as they were too relaxed and playful for their taste. They wanted to teach the Australians a lesson for their la...