Beneath Hill 60

With ANZAC Day just around the corner it's time to reflect on the men and women who fought in countless wars, struggling to keep what we hold most dear; our culture, our freedoms, our way of life.
Beneath Hill 60 transports us back in time to 1916, deep under in the trenches of World War I. After successfully blowing up a German outpost called the Red House at Armentires in France, the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company are shipped off to the Messines Ridge in Belgium to set off another explosion right under the German's feet. The company is made up of miners from around the country; Woolloongong, Broken Hill, Townsville; none of the men are soldiers.
The tunnels underground are dank and the threat of flooding is constant. It takes sixty men working around the clock just to bucket the water out of the shafts so the men can keep on digging. They need to stop the tunnels from flooding so they can detonate the thousands of pounds of explosives.
It becomes a race against time as the Aussies discover the Germans are busy digging their own tunnels.
Adapted from the diaries of Captain Oliver Woodward (played by Brendan Cowell - Three Blind Mice), screenwriter David Roach (Young Einstein) and director Jeremy Sims (Last Train To Freo) give us a chilling look into the lives of a few brave men and the sacrifices they made in order to do their part in the war.
The hopelessness of war is juxtaposed by Woodward's life before he signs up for the army. He is smitten with the young and beautiful Marjorie Waddell (Bella Heathcoate) and promises to write to her when he is away and hopefully marry her if he gets back.
Back in the trenches, this extraordinary group of men are bombarded with shells and gunfire from the enemy. Friendships are formed, lives are inevitably lost but the war stops for nothing.
Filmed near Townsville, Queensland, Sims has masterfully recreated the appalling living conditions that one wouldn't dare to dream of. The atmosphere hangs thick and heavy with rain, mud and death. Beneath Hill 60 has a brilliant ensemble cast, the only problem with that being I didn't get to know everyone as much as I'd liked to. Cowell's performance is superb, also worth noting is Harrison Gilbertson who plays Frank Tiffin. At just sixteen, Tiffin is thrust into the war as many young men were. Always afraid, he dreams of going back home to start an apprenticeship with his father.
One thing stood out in this film, as with many Australian war films; that laid back attitude shines through, that iconic sense of humour; no matter how bad things get you can always count on your mates for a good laugh to get you through the tough times.
Beneath Hill 60 has certainly earned its place alongside the likes of Gallipoli and The Light Horsemen as a reminder to all Australians of where we came from and what many had to do in order for us to get here.
A must see.
Nine out of ten.