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Beneath Hill 60 (DVD)
Year: 2010
Rating: M
Director: Jeremy Sims
Cast: Brendan Cowell, Leon Ford, Gyton Grantley, Aden Young
Release Date: August 19, 2010
Distributor: Paramount
The Film: 4.0
The Disc: 3.0
FILMINK rates DVDs and Blu-rays out of 5Devoid of overblown heroism and boosted by fine performances, this is a powerfully affecting war tale.
With Beneath Hill 60, director Jeremy Sims has brought forth the hitherto unknown story of the WWI Australian Tunnelling Company, a ragtag group of engineers and miners, with only the most Spartan military training between them, who were charged with bringing down a byzantine network of German tunnels by simply digging deeper into the blue clay than their enemy, and achieving victory from below. Captain Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell) anchors the film vividly, overseeing an operation that is routinely sabotaged by flooding and counter-espionage.
Sims, who proved a dab hand at wringing drama from closed-off quarters in Last Train To Freo, once again creates a forbidding cinematic space, but most pleasing is that there is little in the way of overblown heroism - we never have any doubt that if these men make it out of the trenches, they will be dearly damaged goods. Performances are fine in the supporting ranks, with Anthony Hayes a stand-out as Woodward's right-hand man, though some of the younger cast falter. It's a small quibble though for a powerfully affecting drama, which adds to the fine run that Australian cinema is enjoying currently. DVD special features include an informative audio commentary with Jeremy Sims and screenwriter David Roach, as well as a collection of storyboards.