Breaker Morant (1980) on Netflix
Lieutenants Harry "Breaker" Morant, Peter Handcock and George Witton are court-martialed for the killing of Boer prisoners and a German missionary. Their counsel has one day to prepare.
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Plot summary
In 1902, during the Second Boer War, a British court martial in South Africa tries three Australian officers of the Bushveldt Carbineers. Harry "Breaker" Morant, Peter Handcock and George Witton are accused of murdering captured Boer fighters, and Morant and Handcock of the death of a German missionary, Reverend Daniel Heese. Morant says the killings followed orders passed to him by his friend and commanding officer, Captain Simon Hunt, who has since been killed. Lord Kitchener ordered the trial and wants a guilty verdict, to show that Britain holds its own soldiers to the rules of war. Major J.F. Thomas leads the defense with a single day to prepare, no court martial experience and no written orders to produce.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Breaker Morant (1980)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Australian historians Margaret Carnegie and Frank Shields say Morant and Handcock rejected an offer of immunity from prosecution in exchange for turning king's evidence; prosecutors allegedly wanted them as witnesses against BVC Major Robert Lenehan, believed to have ordered that no prisoners be taken.
- Under international law the German government had no grounds to protest the killing of the missionary Hesse: though he was attached to the Berlin Missionary Society, he had been born in Cape Colony and was "was, technically speaking, a British subject, and not a German citizen".
- Jack Thompson was originally to play Lt Hancock, with John Hargreaves cast as the defending lawyer until Hargreaves had to drop out.
- After Breaker Morant's success, Bruce Beresford was offered dozens of Hollywood scripts, including Tender Mercies, which he went on to direct.
