The decline of the British Empire took place as the imperialism of the west came under closer scrutiny, leading to the withdrawal of the European powers from a variety of venues around the world. Some Britons saw the decline in the force of the empire as evidence of a decline in British civilization and culture, when in fact this is not necessarily the case at all. The fact that Britain no longer has outposts around the world does not mean a lessening in British culture or in a prominent place for Britain in the political, cultural, social, and economic life of the West and the world at large. What it did mean was a shift in the way Britain used her power, a shift that can be seen as a maturing of international relations rather than a loss. The film Gallipoli captures some of the tensions between colonials and the British. However, an examination of some of the cultural issues prevalent at the time of the real Gallipoli shows how complex the time was and how difficult it is to decide whether the loss of empire was a boon or curse for Britain.
The film Gallipoli (1981) tells the story of an Australian regiment that was sacrificed in World War I in an attack on the Turks. The story has particular resonance in Australia first because it tells of Australian heroes and second because it reminds Australia of some of the problems of being part of a worldwide empire:
While Gallipoli is explicable as an example of a limited but familiar Hollywood formula, the "buddy" film, for Australian audiences it has far greater resonances. Gallipoli tells in almost pure form one of the dominant organizing myths of Australian national identity. Its historical accuracy is apparent through writer David Williamson's use of the published documentation of Anzac historian Bill Gammage. The mythical accuracy is determined by the film's central thematic cores of mateship, competition, and innocence explored through the construction of the film's two...