Broken Dreams: The Fight To Film The Battle Of Long Tan

By Erin Free

With the Australian film industry awash with coming of age stories and personal dramas, many pundits have suggested that local filmmakers should turn to Australia’s brief but rich history for inspiration instead, which could possibly see results at the box office. And with today being the 50th Anniversary of The Battle Of Long Tan – the watershed conflict during the Vietnam War which saw 108 Australian and New Zealand soldiers ultimately defeat more than 2,500 heavily armed Viet Cong troops – this is one extraordinary moment in history that could make for a great local movie. The war movie genre has given us some of our most popular films, including The Martyrdom Of Nurse Cavell, Exploits Of The Emden, Forty Thousand Horsemen and Peter Weir’s much loved favourite, Gallipoli, and this could be another major entry into the canon. Sure, 2010’s Beneath Hill 60 was a commercial disappointment, but it was about an incident that no one had heard of, and the better known Kokoda made considerably more money. It’s a disappointment and a near disgrace that so many of this country’s most famous battles – Kapyong, Milne Bay – have not been filmed, and Long Tan is undoubtedly the most high profile. So why no movie about The Battle Of Long Tan? Well, it’s not for a lack of trying.

Many projects have been floated about Long Tan (which is currently all over the news due to Vietnam’s cancellation of a commemoration event, and Malcolm Turnbull’s fight to get it back in action), including one which originated with acclaimed playwright, Louis Nowra (Radiance, Cosi). Nowra’s draft script for “The Battle Of Long Tan” (based on the book by Bob Grandis) was given the green light by seven of the key commanders involved in the bloody Vietnam War encounter, and was circulated in the mid-2000s amongst a selection of leading Australian directors and actors. The script was based on the most authoritative account of the ferocious conflict. “Louis has built a script that has all the hallmarks of the Aussie fighting spirit writ large against a backdrop of mixed social and political tensions and a legacy that resonates to this day,” producer, Martin Walsh, said in an official statement in 2005. “It is a true story of ordinary boys who become extraordinary men.” At the time of the statement, Australian actor, Sam Worthington, was the only name officially attached.

Australian director, Bruce Beresford, meanwhile, had signed on to helm what was being pitched as a major epic. “All of the ingredients are there – a gripping true story, young and diverse characters filled with hope and resolve in the face of overwhelming odds, stunning visual opportunities, epic action sequences, and the opportunity to showcase a high profile ensemble cast,” Beresford said in an official statement. “There’s this incredible mix of drama, tragedy and heroism tempered with laconic Australian humour in the heat of battle.”

Producer Martin Walsh couldn’t have been happier with the signing of Beresford, who had already made one wartime masterpiece with Breaker Morant. “We are thrilled and honoured that Bruce has accepted our invitation to take this story to a global audience,” said. “Bruce was our first and obvious choice.  He brings to the project his critically acclaimed talent as demonstrated through classic movies such as Puberty Blues and Breaker Morant. This, coupled with his Australian heritage and international experience, will create a truly authentic Australasian but universally appealing perspective. It’s been decades since Australia made a feature film remotely like this. This is a film that is long overdue, and will see us put one of Australia’s most heroic battles on the world stage for the first time.”

In 2007, while promoting the release of his Hollywood memoir, Josh Hartnett Definitely Wants To Do This…True Stories From A Life In The Screen Trade, Beresford revealed that the project was still on his heavily dotted to-do list. Beresford, however, instead moved on to his adaptation of Li Cunxin’s memoir, Mao’s Last Dancer, while his now-titled Long Tan failed to materialise. On the subject of having multiple projects on the boil at once, Beresford was typically down to earth when discussing the topic with FilmInk. “Don’t be under the illusion that they’re all going to happen, because they won’t,” he told us in 2007. “But one of them might…with a bit of luck.” Unfortunately, Long Tan wasn’t one of them.

A proposed film about The Battle Of Long Tan, however, seems to be a perpetual possibility on the Australian cinema landscape. When FilmInk spoke to writer/director, Stuart Beattie, upon the release of his 2014 horror action flick, I, Frankenstein, the spectre of war rose once again. “I’ve just finished writing a script about The Battle Of Long Tan that Kriv Stenders [Red Dog] is going to direct,” Beattie said. “That’s a story that I’ve wanted to tell for fifteen years.” Sadly, Stuart Beattie is still waiting to tell it, and we’re yet to see our potentially great movie about The Battle Of Long Tan…