History Film / BreakerMorant

The film is based on ''Scapegoats of the Empire'', a 1907 account written by Witton, who like Morant and Handcock had been sentenced to death, but had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Many protests by Witton led to his release just over two years later, though he was never pardoned.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/breaker_morant.jpg]]

A 1980 Australian film directed by Creator/BruceBeresford, based on true events from the second Anglo-Boer War in UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica.

The film is based on ''Scapegoats of the Empire'', an account written by Witton, who, like Morant and Handcock, had been sentenced to death, but had his sentence quickly commuted to life in prison. Many protests by Witton led to his release just over two years later, though, he was never pardoned.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Breaker_Morant_4406.jpg]]

The late Creator/EdwardWoodward plays the title character, an English officer serving with the Bushveldt Carbineers, an Australian cavalry unit. The film depicts the military trial as Morant and two of his fellow officers - Peter Handcock and George Witton - are charged with war crimes for executing surrendering prisoners, though they maintain that they were acting under orders. A murkier issue involves the death of a German missionary, which causes diplomatic tensions with UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany. As the trial progresses, it becomes clear that the military intends to convict the officers to cover up the complicity of the military leadership in the executions. The film is based on "Scapegoats of the Empire", an account written by Witton, who, like Morant and Handcock, had been sentenced to death, but had his sentence quickly commuted to life in prison. Many protests by Witton led to his release just over two years later, though, he was never pardoned.

* BigBad: Lord Kitchener, who is indirectly responsible for the crimes the defendants stand accused of, and directly responsible for putting them on trial.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: While Kitchener and his staff are obviously corrupt in their denying Morant and his men a fair trial for following a set of criminal orders they themselves issued (though with the [[TheEndJustifiesTheMeans somewhat nobler intention of trying to cool the conflict]] whilst also [[NeverMyFault saving their own skin]]), Morant himself seems ''far'' [[BloodKnight too eager to order the deaths of the POWs and a German noncombatant that he merely suspected of spying for the Boers]], making his ultimate fate [[LaserGuidedKarma rather ironic in its own right]]. In fact, most of the characters, protagonists and antagonists alike, would be considered [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar unambiguous war criminals]] by modern standards. Kenneth Ross, author of the original play, once [[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/02/25/1014471630364.html wrote an essay making this very point]]. His goal was to attack British military hypocrisy rather than to exonerate Morant and his men. Indeed, he seemed disgusted with modern-day Australians lobbying for Morant and Handcock to be pardoned, feeling they completely missed the point.

* KangarooCourt: As the court martial points out, Morant's 'trial' and execution of a Boer prisoner falls under this category. At least Morant and the other defendants had an officer speaking in their defense, and the opportunity to call and cross-examine witnesses.

** [[spoiler: "We didn't carry military manuals around with us; we were out on the veldt, fighting the Boer, the way he fought ''us''! I'll tell you what rule we applied, sir: we applied 'Rule 303'. We caught them, and we shot them under Rule '''''[[PunctuatedforEmphasis Three! Oh! Three!"]]''''']]

** [[spoiler: "We didn't carry military manuals around with us; we were out on the veldt, fighting the Boer, the way he fought ''us''! I'll tell you what rule we applied, sir: we applied 'Rule 303'. We caught them, and we shot them under Rule '''''[[PunctuatedforEmphasis Three! Oh! Three!"]]''''']]