Kokoda (film)
Encyclopedia
Kokoda is a 2006 Australian film
directed by Alister Grierson
and is based on the experiences of Australian troops fighting Japan
ese forces during the 1942 Kokoda Track campaign
.
Due to budgetary restrictions, Grierson and co-writer John Lonie were forced to scale down the story, concentrating primarily on the trials and tribulations of one lost patrol.
Australia lost nearly an entire division captured. The rest of Australia's professional military force – the Australian Imperial Force
(AIF) were still in the Middle East fighting the Axis. Australia then only had available conscripts who were considered unfit for combat duties. These were known as chocolate soldiers (contracted to chocos) – it was believed that they would 'melt' away if faced with serious trouble. The chocos had been kept doing menial tasks such as working unloading cargo.
Given the circumstances that these men were the only ones immediately available to defend New Guinea they were rushed northwards with minimal or no combat training. From Port Moresby they were sent over the torturous Owen Stanley Range
along the only track – the Kokoda Track
till they came in contact with Imperial Japanese forces coming along the track from the other direction.
The story then of Kokoda is men from one of these units, under-trained, under-provisioned sent to face battle-hardened Japanese soldiers in a desperate effort to save Australia.
invasion. The 39th Battalion are the only troops available to hold off the Japanese advance until the AIF
arrives to relieve them. The story centres on an infantry section of the 39th Battalion. The section with their platoon commander, an AIF lieutenant (Ben Barrack) who has served in North Africa, is on forward patrol when they are attacked by a Japanese force. The lieutenant is killed early in the battle and the section, led only by a recently-promoted lance-corporal, Max (Simon Stone
), decide to fall back. One of the men, L/Cpl Wilstead (Ewen Leslie
), is bayoneted in the face by a Japanese soldier, and a Bren gunner called Blue (Christopher Baker) offers to stay and provide cover. However, the remaining men are cut off and surrounded in the dense jungle, with little hope of escaping. The Australians try to remain hidden until nightfall, when Darko (Travis McMahon) and Jack (Jack Finsterer
) decide to go and find out where Blue is. They stumble across Blue, who is tied up and being tortured by Japanese soldiers. Darko and Jack look on helplessly as the Japanese soldiers bayonet him in the stomach and groin, and finally decapitate him with a sword. They return to their hiding place, shaken by what they have seen. The Japanese ambush the section and they run further into the jungle. Caught behind enemy lines in harsh terrain, Jack, to whom the others (including his brother, Max, have deferred) tries to maintain command of a small group of men. Suffering from malaria
and dysentery
, the remaining six men decide to make their way to Isurava, where the remainder of the 39th are fighting a desperate battle.
One of the soldiers, Sam (Steve Le Marquand
), has been injured in the leg and orders the rest of the section to leave him behind. They refuse and he struggles along with a crutch. After a full day of walking, the men are exhausted. The next morning they awake to find Sam gone, having hidden himself in a hollow tree stump to avoid holding them up.
The men continue and are ambushed by a Japanese patrol. The Japanese are all killed, but Max is badly wounded by a gunshot to the stomach and is unable to walk. He is carried by all the men.
The section makes it to a New Guinea village that has been destroyed by the advancing Japanese, and the Australians decide to take refuge. They bury the dead New Guinea villagers and an argument arises between Jack and Darko, a tough soldier who carries the section's Bren gun, over Max. Darko wishes to leave him behind as he is slowing the section down and they are needed at Isurava. Jack, however, wants to stay with him. However, Max decides to stay and let the others go and Johnno (Tom Budge
), who has severe dysentery, stays with him. The men agree, and Jack, Darko and Burke (Luke Ford
), Darko's number two, head off to Isurava. The journey becomes treacherous and Burke's dysentery is getting worse.
Meanwhile at the village, a few Japanese arrive to search the village and in a desperate attempt to save the life of his mate, Johnno fires at the Japanese and runs into the jungle; however, he is tracked down and gunned down by the Japanese. A day or so later a New Guinea tribesman comes back to inspect the village and finds a badly wounded Max in the hut.
After a gut-wrenching climb, Jack, Darko and Burke are found by the AIF, who take them to Isurava, where the situation is in dire straits. The AIF has arrived but they too are weak from the trek to Isurava. The 39th is no longer a fighting unit and almost all of the men are too sick or wounded to fight. The three men check themselves into a makeshift field hospital for treatment. However an AIF officer comes in and asks for any available men from the 39th to help hold the line. Jack, Burke and Darko volunteer and they are assigned to a position held by men of the 2/16th Infantry.
That night the Japanese attack in waves against the Australian positions. The Australians, who are only equipped with rifles and machine guns, desperately hold off the Japanese. The Japanese are gunned down by the superior firepower of the Australians, but in the final seconds of the fight Burke is shot through the chest and dies in Darko's arms as the fight rages on. The Japanese end the assault and the battle is over.
The next day, the scant remainder of the 39th is paraded at Isurava village. The men are tired and haggard and receive news that they will be taken off the line and that they have just saved Australia from an imminent invasion. After the speech by the 39th's colonel (William McInnes
), Jack and Darko withdraw with the rest of the soldiers. (The Australians withdrew from Isurava to take up positions at Brigade Hill.) While withdrawing, Jack and Darko spot Max being carried by Fuzzy wuzzy angels
to an aid station. He has survived.
Paul Byrnes from The Sydney Morning Herald called the film "a glimpse of what this dirty, nasty, very personal corner of the war was like." In Australia the film made over $3 million in its first few weeks and became one of the highest-grossing Australian films of the year. Some critics went as far to say that Kokoda could be compared to Peter Weir's film Gallipoli
. . Some critics felt that character development was slim except for Jack and his brother who are later found out to be of German-Australian descent. The performances by Jack Finsterer
, Travis McMahon and Steve Le Marquand
were highly praised by critics, considering most of them had never done a film on this large scale. The film was also praised for its realistic portrayal of the Australian 39th Battalion during the campaign as well as the jungle setting which critics found "haunting, scary and very realistic." Many Kokoda veterans have also praised the film, many calling it "the closest thing you can get other than experiencing combat on the Kokoda Track yourself".
nominations for best costume design and best visual effects, one nomination from the Film Critics Circle of Australia
for best cinematography and three from the IF Awards for best cinematography, best editing and best production design.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Alister Grierson
Alister Grierson
Alister Grierson is an Australian film director and scriptwriter. Born in Canberra in 1969, he completed his secondary schooling at Canberra Grammar, graduated in Economics and Arts from the Australian National University and studied Japanese in Tokyo...
and is based on the experiences of Australian troops fighting Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese forces during the 1942 Kokoda Track campaign
Kokoda Track campaign
The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign was part of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 between Japanese and Allied—primarily Australian—forces in what was then the Australian territory of Papua...
.
Due to budgetary restrictions, Grierson and co-writer John Lonie were forced to scale down the story, concentrating primarily on the trials and tribulations of one lost patrol.
Background
In 1942 with the fall of SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
Australia lost nearly an entire division captured. The rest of Australia's professional military force – the Australian Imperial Force
Second Australian Imperial Force
The Second Australian Imperial Force was the name given to the volunteer personnel of the Australian Army in World War II. Under the Defence Act , neither the part-time Militia nor the full-time Permanent Military Force could serve outside Australia or its territories unless they volunteered to...
(AIF) were still in the Middle East fighting the Axis. Australia then only had available conscripts who were considered unfit for combat duties. These were known as chocolate soldiers (contracted to chocos) – it was believed that they would 'melt' away if faced with serious trouble. The chocos had been kept doing menial tasks such as working unloading cargo.
Given the circumstances that these men were the only ones immediately available to defend New Guinea they were rushed northwards with minimal or no combat training. From Port Moresby they were sent over the torturous Owen Stanley Range
Owen Stanley Range
Owen Stanley Range is the south-eastern part of the central mountain-chain in Papua New Guinea. It was seen in 1849 by Captain Owen Stanley while surveying the south coast of Papua and named after him. Strictly, the eastern extremity of the range is Mount Victoria , which was climbed by Sir William...
along the only track – the Kokoda Track
Kokoda Track
The Kokoda Trail or Track is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland — in a straight line — through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea...
till they came in contact with Imperial Japanese forces coming along the track from the other direction.
The story then of Kokoda is men from one of these units, under-trained, under-provisioned sent to face battle-hardened Japanese soldiers in a desperate effort to save Australia.
Plot
A motley crew of Australian militiamen or 'chocos' from the 39th Battalion are stationed in a New Guinea village just after the JapaneseEmpire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
invasion. The 39th Battalion are the only troops available to hold off the Japanese advance until the AIF
Second Australian Imperial Force
The Second Australian Imperial Force was the name given to the volunteer personnel of the Australian Army in World War II. Under the Defence Act , neither the part-time Militia nor the full-time Permanent Military Force could serve outside Australia or its territories unless they volunteered to...
arrives to relieve them. The story centres on an infantry section of the 39th Battalion. The section with their platoon commander, an AIF lieutenant (Ben Barrack) who has served in North Africa, is on forward patrol when they are attacked by a Japanese force. The lieutenant is killed early in the battle and the section, led only by a recently-promoted lance-corporal, Max (Simon Stone
Simon Stone
Simon Stone is an Australian theatre director, writer and actor.-Film and Television:Stone has acted in the television series John Safran's Music Jamboree, MDA , Blue Heelers, Rush , City Homicide, and the films Jindabyne, Kokoda, Balibo, Blame, and The Eye of the Storm.-Theatre:In 2007 Stone...
), decide to fall back. One of the men, L/Cpl Wilstead (Ewen Leslie
Ewen Leslie
Ewen Leslie is an Australian actor.Born in Fremantle, Western Australia, he started appearing in various TV shows from the age of 12...
), is bayoneted in the face by a Japanese soldier, and a Bren gunner called Blue (Christopher Baker) offers to stay and provide cover. However, the remaining men are cut off and surrounded in the dense jungle, with little hope of escaping. The Australians try to remain hidden until nightfall, when Darko (Travis McMahon) and Jack (Jack Finsterer
Jack Finsterer
-Early life:Finsterer grew up in Ainslie, Canberra, where he attended Daramalan College, before going on to study drama at the Victorian College of Arts in Melbourne.-Career:...
) decide to go and find out where Blue is. They stumble across Blue, who is tied up and being tortured by Japanese soldiers. Darko and Jack look on helplessly as the Japanese soldiers bayonet him in the stomach and groin, and finally decapitate him with a sword. They return to their hiding place, shaken by what they have seen. The Japanese ambush the section and they run further into the jungle. Caught behind enemy lines in harsh terrain, Jack, to whom the others (including his brother, Max, have deferred) tries to maintain command of a small group of men. Suffering from malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
, the remaining six men decide to make their way to Isurava, where the remainder of the 39th are fighting a desperate battle.
One of the soldiers, Sam (Steve Le Marquand
Steve Le Marquand
Steve Le Marquand is an Australian-born actor, known both locally and internationally for his film and stage work.Born in Perth, Western Australia in 1967, his family moved to Sydney when he was quite young....
), has been injured in the leg and orders the rest of the section to leave him behind. They refuse and he struggles along with a crutch. After a full day of walking, the men are exhausted. The next morning they awake to find Sam gone, having hidden himself in a hollow tree stump to avoid holding them up.
The men continue and are ambushed by a Japanese patrol. The Japanese are all killed, but Max is badly wounded by a gunshot to the stomach and is unable to walk. He is carried by all the men.
The section makes it to a New Guinea village that has been destroyed by the advancing Japanese, and the Australians decide to take refuge. They bury the dead New Guinea villagers and an argument arises between Jack and Darko, a tough soldier who carries the section's Bren gun, over Max. Darko wishes to leave him behind as he is slowing the section down and they are needed at Isurava. Jack, however, wants to stay with him. However, Max decides to stay and let the others go and Johnno (Tom Budge
Tom Budge
Tom Budge is an Australian actor. Budge was born in Melbourne, Victoria. Early in his acting career, Budge appeared in a number of Australian television shows, includingNeighbours, Round the Twist and Shock Jock etc...
), who has severe dysentery, stays with him. The men agree, and Jack, Darko and Burke (Luke Ford
Luke Ford (actor)
Luke Ford is a Canadian-born Australian actor.-Early life:Ford was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada but raised in Sydney, Australia. He attended Parramatta Marist High School in Westmead, Sydney, and once worked at the Winston Hills Hotel, and a short stint at Universal Magazines in...
), Darko's number two, head off to Isurava. The journey becomes treacherous and Burke's dysentery is getting worse.
Meanwhile at the village, a few Japanese arrive to search the village and in a desperate attempt to save the life of his mate, Johnno fires at the Japanese and runs into the jungle; however, he is tracked down and gunned down by the Japanese. A day or so later a New Guinea tribesman comes back to inspect the village and finds a badly wounded Max in the hut.
After a gut-wrenching climb, Jack, Darko and Burke are found by the AIF, who take them to Isurava, where the situation is in dire straits. The AIF has arrived but they too are weak from the trek to Isurava. The 39th is no longer a fighting unit and almost all of the men are too sick or wounded to fight. The three men check themselves into a makeshift field hospital for treatment. However an AIF officer comes in and asks for any available men from the 39th to help hold the line. Jack, Burke and Darko volunteer and they are assigned to a position held by men of the 2/16th Infantry.
That night the Japanese attack in waves against the Australian positions. The Australians, who are only equipped with rifles and machine guns, desperately hold off the Japanese. The Japanese are gunned down by the superior firepower of the Australians, but in the final seconds of the fight Burke is shot through the chest and dies in Darko's arms as the fight rages on. The Japanese end the assault and the battle is over.
The next day, the scant remainder of the 39th is paraded at Isurava village. The men are tired and haggard and receive news that they will be taken off the line and that they have just saved Australia from an imminent invasion. After the speech by the 39th's colonel (William McInnes
William McInnes
William McInnes is an Australian film and television actor and writer.-Television:After a recurring role on A Country Practice in 1990, McInnes appeared in series such as Bligh, Ocean Girl, and Snowy before making his name as Senior Constable Nick Schultz on Blue Heelers in 1994...
), Jack and Darko withdraw with the rest of the soldiers. (The Australians withdrew from Isurava to take up positions at Brigade Hill.) While withdrawing, Jack and Darko spot Max being carried by Fuzzy wuzzy angels
Fuzzy wuzzy angels
The Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels was the name given by Australian troops to a group of Papua New Guinean people who, during World War II, assisted and escorted injured Australian troops down the Kokoda trail...
to an aid station. He has survived.
Based on true story
The movie was inspired by the true story of a forward patrol led by Lieutenant Sword that found itself cut off from supply at the beginning of the battle for Isurava. After many frightening days making their way back to Isurava with no food, carrying the wounded and suffering from the effects of tropical diseases, they emerged from the jungle near Alola. Upon hearing that the 39th Battalion was about to be overrun, they joined a party of severely wounded men and made their way back to the battle.Style
The film barely shows the Japanese themselves in any detail – reflecting the claustrophobic jungle warfare – when the enemy could be just in front of you but hidden from sight.Reception
The film received generally positive reviews from critics . Beyond Hollywood.com called the film 'a gem'.Paul Byrnes from The Sydney Morning Herald called the film "a glimpse of what this dirty, nasty, very personal corner of the war was like." In Australia the film made over $3 million in its first few weeks and became one of the highest-grossing Australian films of the year. Some critics went as far to say that Kokoda could be compared to Peter Weir's film Gallipoli
Gallipoli (1981 film)
Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian film, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, about several young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey, where they take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. During the...
. . Some critics felt that character development was slim except for Jack and his brother who are later found out to be of German-Australian descent. The performances by Jack Finsterer
Jack Finsterer
-Early life:Finsterer grew up in Ainslie, Canberra, where he attended Daramalan College, before going on to study drama at the Victorian College of Arts in Melbourne.-Career:...
, Travis McMahon and Steve Le Marquand
Steve Le Marquand
Steve Le Marquand is an Australian-born actor, known both locally and internationally for his film and stage work.Born in Perth, Western Australia in 1967, his family moved to Sydney when he was quite young....
were highly praised by critics, considering most of them had never done a film on this large scale. The film was also praised for its realistic portrayal of the Australian 39th Battalion during the campaign as well as the jungle setting which critics found "haunting, scary and very realistic." Many Kokoda veterans have also praised the film, many calling it "the closest thing you can get other than experiencing combat on the Kokoda Track yourself".
Awards
The film received 6 nominations. Two 2006 AFIAustralian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
nominations for best costume design and best visual effects, one nomination from the Film Critics Circle of Australia
Film Critics Circle of Australia
The Film Critics Circle of Australia is a group of cinema critics that judge Australian films.-External links:**...
for best cinematography and three from the IF Awards for best cinematography, best editing and best production design.