Synopsis: A dramatization of the real life story of a small company of Australian miners who were sent to the Western Front in 1916 to dig tunnels deep under German lines, their biggest mission being under the command of Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell) – the destruction of Hill 60.
It would be un-Australian not to like this story of ordinary WWI diggers (literally) and their dogged self-sacrifice but the good news is that there is no reason to do so. Quite the contrary in fact. Beneath Hill 60 is an extraordinary film. It doesn’t have the blue and gold pictorialism of Peter Weir’s Gallipoli (1981), let alone Mel Gibson’s smile, but as a trenchant depiction of the realities of the so-called Great War it is most reminiscent of Lewis Milestone’s 1930 classic All Quiet On The Western Front, a film with which no doubt director Jeremy Sims is familiar. Shot in and around Townsville, there is never a moment when it looks less than entirely convincing, at least to anyone who is not a specialist in militaria of the period and even then I would expect a high level of satisfaction would be expressed. The various production departments have all done a remarkable job in recreating a far off time and place.
A good deal of the action takes places under ground in the damp, often dripping confines of the tunnels, in many ways more congenial surroundings than the cold, boggy barb-wired wasteland above. Toby Oliver’s cinematography captures both worlds powerfully, bringing home the appalling conditions which the soldiers had to endure whilst Cezary Skubiszewski's empathetic score adds another layer of resonance to the proceedings.
David Roach's script, based upon the diaries of Captain Oliver Woodward, switches between the battlefront and Woodward’s memories of his hometown in Queensland and his burgeoning romance with a curds-and-whey maiden (Bella Heathcote). Recreated in high-toned, almost washed out colour, these sequences serve well both to contrast with the horrors of the battlefield and to break up the main narrative thread. In bringing it to life Brendan Cowell heads up a strong cast that includes Anthony Hayes, Steve Le Marquand, Gyton Grantley and Aden Young as well as a couple of veterans of Australian film, John Stanton and Chris Haywood.
Director Jeremy Sims, well-known as an actor of considerable experience, whose previous directorial credit was the (also somewhat claustrophobic) Steve Le Marquand-starring Last Train To Freo in 2006, has laid down the gauntlet (in recognition of which the end titles credit him as Jeremy Hartley Sims) with this his second film. No, he didn’t have the financial resources of a Spielberg and this limits the film from the point of view of an action-oriented audience but Beneath Hill 60 is a major achievement.
Although the editing is a tad over-emphatic in places, Beneath Hill 60 is a work of commitment with all concerned, both in front of and behind the camera, going above and beyond the call of duty. Don’t let these brave troops make their sacrifice for nothing. Give them your support, you’ll be well rewarded, and not just in heaven.