Synopsis for
'Breaker' Morant (1980) More at IMDbPro »

In the Boer War in South Africa in 1901, three Australian irregular soldiers are tried by a British military court for the murder of 12 prisoners and a German missionary. The accused are Lieutenants Harry Morant (Edward Woodward), Peter Handcock (Bryan Brown) and George Witton (Lewis Fitz-Gerald). Morant, an English-born adventurer who has spent years in Australia, maintains he was following unwritten orders. Their inexperienced Australian lawyer (Jack Thompson) struggles to have his case heard. (from http://australianscreen.com.au).

Breaker Morant concerns the murder trial of three Australian Army officers of the Bushveldt Carbineers serving in South Africa during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Lieutenants Harry "Breaker" Morant (Edward Woodward), Peter Handcock (Bryan Brown), and George Witton (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) are accused of the murder of one Boer prisoner and the subsequent murders of six more. In addition, Morant and Handcock are accused of the sniper-style assassination of a German missionary, the Rev. H.C.V. Hesse (Bruno Knez). Their defense counsel, Major J.F. Thomas (Jack Thompson), has had only one day to prepare their defense.

Lord Kitchener (Alan Cassell), who ordered the trial, hopes to bring the Boer War to an end with a peace conference. To that end, he uses the Morant trial to show that he is willing to judge his own soldiers harshly if they disobey the rules of war. Although, as Major Thomas mentions in court, there are great complexities associated with charging active-duty soldiers with murder during battle, Kitchener is determined to have a guilty verdict, and the chief of the court, Lt. Colonel Denny (Charles 'Bud' Tingwell), supports him.

The causes and occurrences relating to the trial are developed. Morant's execution of the Boer prisoners was revenge for the mutilation and death of his friend and commanding officer, Captain Simon Hunt (Terence Donovan). Enraged by the incident, Morant led an attack on a Boer camp, where a Boer, Visser (Michael Procanin), wearing Captain Hunt's khaki battle jacket was captured. Morant had him executed on the spot. (It was later proved that the mutilation of Hunt's body was done by black witchdoctors, and not Boers as Morant believed, and that Visser did not wear any of Hunt's clothes.)

Morant later executes, again by firing squad, six other Boer prisoners for the same reason after they had surrendered under a white flag. He later said of the incident, "You know the orders from Whitehall. If they show a white flag, we don't see it. I didn't see it." Just prior to the execution one of the Boers tries to escape and is shot in a struggle with Lt. Witton. Before their execution, Morant notices the German missionary, Rev. Hesse, speaking with the Boer prisoners, despite Morant's orders to the contrary. Morant, furious, is convinced that Hesse is a spy, though he has no proof. A conversation with Handcock leads to the latter taking a rifle and horse and following the missionary, who is found shot the next morning.

During the trial, the court's bias toward a guilty verdict becomes apparent, as do the political machinations behind it. Morant and Handcock repeatedly display their contempt for the proceedings by insulting their accusers and lashing out at the prosecuting attorney, Major Charles Bolton (Rod Mullinar). At one point, the presiding officer of the court, Lt. Colonel Denny, warns Handcock that if he does not behave, he will find himself in "very serious trouble" (this to a man on trial for multiple murders). In a poignant scene between trial sessions, Morant tells his friend Captain Alfred Taylor (John Waters), an intelligence officer who had come to testify in his behalf, that he knows he and Handcock are going to be shot, and that the trial had been a sham from the beginning. Morant makes it clear that he does not care what happens to him anymore, since his life in England was in shambles and there was nothing to go back to. He declines an offer from Taylor for assistance in an escape. In an effort to bolster Morant's spirits, Taylor describes him as a "black sheep" and Handcock as "a simple and wild fellow". Morant replies sardonically, "We won't be missed".

The main focus of the trial is on whether or not orders were issued by Kitchener to shoot Boer prisoners. Major Thomas's case is that there were standing, though unwritten, orders to execute Boer prisoners in the field, which Morant acknowledges he did. But since these orders were verbally relayed to Captain Hunt, and by Captain Hunt to Morant, there is no way to prove that they were really issued. To the surprise and delight of his three clients and the growing discomfort of the British High Command, Major Thomas proves to be a very skilled defense lawyer, although his only previous legal experience had been in "handling land conveyances and preparing wills". He repeatedly scores points for the defense by proving that many of the prosecution's witnesses, having been dismissed from the Bushveldt Carbineers, were biased against the accused, and that the high command was actively interfering with his efforts to defend the three officers. He also establishes that both Morant and Handcock were admired by their men for their courage and effective leadership in battle. In one scene, Thomas forces the first witness for the prosecution (former Bushveldt Carbineers Captain Robertson (Rob Steele)) to admit that Handcock's irregular tactics had proven to be effective in suppressing train ambushes by the Boersso effective that he himself continued them.

During the court-martial, the fort is attacked by Boers. The three defendants are temporarily released, issued firearms, and ordered to assist in the fort's defense. The defendants perform these duties with valor and efficiency, killing several attackers in the process. However, when the trial resumes and Major Thomas attempts to point out that such fine conduct under fire should be cause for dismissing the charges against the defendants, Lt. Colonel Denny becomes incensed. He states that the defendants' actions are "irrelevant," and cannot be used to terminate the trial.

Major Thomas then delivers a brilliant summation in which he indicts the British government's policy in South Africa as well as its case against the defendants, whom he describes as sacrificial pawns to be offered up in the name of international politics. He lists the atrocities and brutalities that he himself has seen performed by other British Empire troops, and describes these actions as standard operating procedure instituted with the knowledge and blessing of the General Staff (but again, without putting the orders in writing). Thomas points out to the court that it is impossible to fairly judge men for their behavior under the circumstances of war, where conventional norms do not apply. As the camera pans the faces of the board of judges, it is clear that they have been shaken by Thomas's words, and that some are in grudging agreement with him. Finally, Thomas pleads with the court to at least show mercy to Witton, who had nothing to do with the alleged crimes of Morant and Handcock and was guilty of nothing more than "having shot a Boer who was trying to shoot him."

At this point, it develops that Morant and Handcock were in fact responsible for the murder of Reverend Hesse, the German missionary and suspected spy for the Boers. Handcock, who took care to set up an alibi with two "lady friends", admits to Witton that he did follow Hesse and shoot him. When Witton recoils at the killing of the clergyman, Handcock explodes and rails against the war and the British Army. He points out that they are all about to be shot for the sake of political expediency for simply fighting a commando war using commando tactics, and that the Boers were under no such legal restraints. Morant expounds on this, explaining to Witton that "This is a new kind of war for a new century, George. I suppose this is the first time our enemies have not worn uniforms. Some of them are women, some are children, and some....are missionaries." In any event, the court acquits Morant and Handcock of the murder of Hesse, but finds them guilty of the other two charges of murdering Boer prisoners.

Some time after the conclusion of the trial, each of the three accused is marched one at a time from his jail cell into the office of presiding court officer Denny, who informs them, "You have been found guilty of murder and are sentenced to death." Morant stiffly comes to attention, salutes, and clicks his heels as he shouts out "Sir!" As he is marched back to his cell, Morant shouts out to Witton, "Shot in the morning." As Handcock returns to his cell after receiving his sentence, he growls to Witton "Same as Harry." That afternoon, both Handcock and Morant listen as carpenters on the other side of the prison wall construct their coffins. Handcock sarcastically says "You'd think they could at least measure us for those first", Morant quips "I'm sure they don't get too many complaints." Morant begins to write his last poems, one of which serves as the backdrop as the men are led off to be shot the next day. He hands his last work to Major Thomas and thanks him for his skilled defense efforts in court. He asks Thomas to post the poems as soon as possible, since he fears government censorship. He remarks, "After all, we poets do crave immortality." When the execution detail comes to get Morant and Handcock, the military chaplain asks their religious affiliation. "Pagan." replies Morant. "What's a pagan?" inquires Handcock. Morant replies, "Well, it's somebody who doesn't believe there's a divine being dispensing justice to mankind." Handcock nods and says to the chaplain, "I'm a pagan too." As the march to meet their firing squad begins, Morant quips that he wishes his epitaph to be "Well Peter, this is what comes from empire building!" While walking to their execution site (two chairs in a vast open field), Morant and Handcock nod to each other and hold hands in a display of solidarity. After being seated, and just before the execution squad opens fire, Morant yells "Shoot straight, you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!"

Kitchener conveniently makes arrangements to be absent from his headquarters in the aftermath of the execution, and is therefore unavailable for pleas for a reprieve, although he does commute Witton's sentence to life imprisonment before leaving. Morant and Handcock are shot as Witton is taken to a railway station, the first step on his way back to a prison in England. As a final indignity, Handcock's coffin is found to be too small for his tall frame, and the soldiers of the burying detail are forced to clumsily cram his body in as the soundtrack plays a stirring paean to the British Colonial Armies.

A summary at the end of the film reveals what later happens to some of the characters. Major Thomas returns to his native Australia and continues his civilian law practice, which is confined to estate planning and wills. Witton serves three years of his sentence, and then is released after a national outcry. In 1907 he writes a book entitled Scapegoats of the Empire, an account of the Breaker Morant affair (reprinted in 1982), which proves so inflammatory and anti-British that it is suppressed during both World Wars. (from Wikipedia.org)