GALLIPOLI- (GELIBOLU) The front line experience

I do not command you to fight, I command you to die. 
In the time it will take us to die we can be replenished by new forces.
Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk)

GELIBOLU is the Turkish documentary on Gallipoli, by director Tolga Örnek.

Having seen several times Peter Weir’s film “Gallipoli”, I was interested in watching the Turkish counterpart, especially knowing that it is almost entirely based on surviving diaries, letters and photographs from both sides of the war.

Gelibolu surpassed all my expectations. It is an objective account of what happened at Gallipoli, in which director Tolga Örnek presents war itself as the sole enemy in an absolute unbiased and profoundly humane and heartfelt portrayal of events.

The film recounts the events as they unfolded chronologically, always coming back to the actual diaries and letters of two British, three New Zealand, three Australian and two Turkish soldiers, beautifully read by Jeremy irons and Sam Neil.

Against the backdrop of the war, we witness the path of these soldiers on both sides of the war, their thoughts, their wishes, their fears, their innocence laid bare though their letters, existing photographs and even films of the actual training camps in Egypt as well as battle scene locations and re-enactments.

There are also interviews with several experts, newspaper headlines and areal maps, all of it thoughtfully and meticulously assembled. Tolga Örnek’s documentary actually pierces through the story with a fierce realism that is perhaps only equaled by Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah.

There is, aside from the realism of the portrayal, a splendid and unique sense of intimacy in hearing these letters that make up the texture of the film. We feel that we know these men. Their words echo with tremendous accuracy the realities of war. The music of Demir Demirkan is simply beyond words. 

The pictures that follow are all taken from the film and portray real soldiers in the field and with their families.

On an inscription overlooking Anzac cove (Where the allied troops landed), one can read the following quote from Mustafa Kemal (Who went on to lead Turkey out of the Ottoman era as Atatürk):

Those heroes that shed their blood 

and lost their lives… 

You are now living in the soil of a friendly country. 

Therefore rest in peace. 

There is no difference between the Johnnies

and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side 

here in this country of ours… 

You, the mothers, 

who sent their sons from faraway countries 

wipe away your tears; 

your sons are now lying in our bosom 

and are in peace, 

after having lost their lives on this land they have 

become our sons as well.

From Wikipedia:

Mustafa Kemal exceeding his authority and contravening orders in so doing. His speech "I do not command you to fight, I command you to die. In the time it will take us to die we can be replenished by new forces" ( Turkish: "Ben size taaruzu değil, ölmeyi emrediyorum. Biz ölünceye kadar geçecek zaman zarfında yerimize başka kuvvetler ve kumandanlar geçebilir") has entered history.

The 57th Regiment, led by Lieutenant Colonel Huseyin Avni, fulfilled the order precisely. 

The entire regiment fell in battle.

Total Allied deaths were 43,000 British, 15,000 French, 8,700 Australians, 2,700 New Zealanders and 1,370 Indians. Total Turkish deaths were around 60,000. New Zealanders suffered the highest percentage of Allied deaths when compared with population size, but the percentage of Turkish deaths was almost twice theirs.

2015 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing.

The documentary ends with the narration of the longest Turkish letter to survive the battle, written by a young Turkish captain on May the 31^st 1915:

Monday, may 31 1915

Ariburnu

To my beloved father and mother,

Dear father, beloved mother,

During the first terrible battle I fought at Ariburnu, a bullet grazed my right side and passed through my trousers. God be praised. I was spared, but, I do not hope to survive future battles in which I will fight.

I am writing these lines so you have something to remember me by.

I thank God that he enabled me to become a soldier and reach this rank. You, as my parents, did all you could to raise me and make it possible for me to serve my country and my people. You are my heart, you are my soul and you are the inspiration to my life. 
I am eternally grateful to God and to you.

Beloved father, dearest mother, I entrust my beloved wife, and my dear son, first to God and then to your protection. Please do for them whatever is possible. Please help my wife in raising my son and providing him with the necessary education.  I know that we are not wealthy or people of means. So I know I cannot ask for anything more than what is possible. 
To ask would be quite in vain.

Please give the enclosed letter addressed to my wife into her own hands.  
She will be devastated. So please do what you can to console her grief. 
She will weep and mourn, please comfort her…

Dear relatives, beloved friends and comrades, farewell to you all.

All of you please bid me farewell and pray for my soul. I will pray for yours.

Beloved father and mother, I eternally entrust you to God.

Farewell

Your son Mehmet Tevfik

Mehmet Tevfik was killed 2 weeks later.

The film: Turkish original version)

RELEASED: November 2005

Director: Tolga Örnek

Running Time: 90 mn

Cast: (Narrated by): Sam Neil, Jeremy Irons

Rating: 4,5 stars