DANGER CLOSE: THE BATTLE OF LONG TAN
****
Director: Kriv Stenders
Screenwriter: Stuart Beattie
Principal cast:
Travis Fimmel
Richard Roxburgh
Anthony Hayes
Daniel Webber
Nicholas Hamilton
Alexander England
Country: Australia
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 118 mins.
Australian release date: 8 August 2019
Previewed at: Sony Pictures Theatrette, Sydney, on 20 May 2019.
Kriv Stender’s Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan details the events surrounding the bloody clash between Australian and New Zealand forces and the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army on Thursday 18 August 1966. With good reason, it is thought of as the most ferocious battle of the Vietnam War involving ANZAC troops. On a rubber plantation near Long Tan in the province of Phuoc Tuy, 108 diggers valiantly fought off the advance of 2,500 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers in the most difficult conditions. Eighteen Australians lost their lives, and Vietnamese losses were estimated to be between 250 and 500. The troops were awarded both the United States and South Vietnamese Presidential Unit Citations for gallantry and a large number of individual medals for bravery were presented to the men involved.
When the Australian base at Nui Dat unexpectedly came under mortar fire in the wee small hours of 17 August, companies were sent out to ‘seek and destroy’ the Viet Cong units responsible. After an unsuccessful initial sortie, it was D Company, 6RAR, that followed cart tracks into a rubber plantation near the abandoned village of Long Tan. As they moved through the rubber in three platoons, one group engaged with the Vietnamese and followed them further into the trees, only to encounter a major force of enemy soldiers, come under heavy fire and become trapped. More than half the platoon’s strength of 28 men were wounded or killed within 20 minutes of making contact. Separated from each other, and with their lines of communication broken, it became a battle against not just the enemy but also the elements, as the three platoons attempted to regroup, all the while desperately trying to call in air support and back-up.
Hard on the heels of the recent limited release of Francis Ford Coppola’s, Apocaypse Now: Final Cut, also set in Vietnam, Stender’s film is a brutal reminder of the atrocity of war that depicts the bravery and heroism of the young men prepared to put their lives on the line. The irony is that many of these men were conscripted and, being under the age of 21, were not yet entitled to vote or consume alcohol legally in Australia. Kriv Stenders has done an excellent job of putting the viewer in the midst of the action and, by concentrating on key figures, Stuart Beattie’s script lets us in on the how, the why and the who behind the events. The cinematography, editing and effects are all top-notch and the use of super slo-mo elevates the drama on the battlefield.
In a recent interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Stenders maintained that his film is about one intense battle rather than the Vietnam war as a whole, saying that, “It’s a survival story as opposed to a war story.” That said, co-producer Martin Walsh explained that, “It’s very important for us to immortalise the Vietnam generation because we haven't done that in Australia, yet it was the most socially defining period of Australian contemporary history. If we don’t understand why we went there, or why we shouldn’t have gone there; if we haven't properly debated that, then we haven't honoured those families that made the ultimate sacrifice, and we don’t learn for the future.” It’s a vital message that never loses relevance. As the Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan is an important and timely film.
Screenwriter: Stuart Beattie
Principal cast:
Travis Fimmel
Richard Roxburgh
Anthony Hayes
Daniel Webber
Nicholas Hamilton
Alexander England
Country: Australia
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 118 mins.
Australian release date: 8 August 2019
Previewed at: Sony Pictures Theatrette, Sydney, on 20 May 2019.
Kriv Stender’s Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan details the events surrounding the bloody clash between Australian and New Zealand forces and the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army on Thursday 18 August 1966. With good reason, it is thought of as the most ferocious battle of the Vietnam War involving ANZAC troops. On a rubber plantation near Long Tan in the province of Phuoc Tuy, 108 diggers valiantly fought off the advance of 2,500 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers in the most difficult conditions. Eighteen Australians lost their lives, and Vietnamese losses were estimated to be between 250 and 500. The troops were awarded both the United States and South Vietnamese Presidential Unit Citations for gallantry and a large number of individual medals for bravery were presented to the men involved.
When the Australian base at Nui Dat unexpectedly came under mortar fire in the wee small hours of 17 August, companies were sent out to ‘seek and destroy’ the Viet Cong units responsible. After an unsuccessful initial sortie, it was D Company, 6RAR, that followed cart tracks into a rubber plantation near the abandoned village of Long Tan. As they moved through the rubber in three platoons, one group engaged with the Vietnamese and followed them further into the trees, only to encounter a major force of enemy soldiers, come under heavy fire and become trapped. More than half the platoon’s strength of 28 men were wounded or killed within 20 minutes of making contact. Separated from each other, and with their lines of communication broken, it became a battle against not just the enemy but also the elements, as the three platoons attempted to regroup, all the while desperately trying to call in air support and back-up.
Hard on the heels of the recent limited release of Francis Ford Coppola’s, Apocaypse Now: Final Cut, also set in Vietnam, Stender’s film is a brutal reminder of the atrocity of war that depicts the bravery and heroism of the young men prepared to put their lives on the line. The irony is that many of these men were conscripted and, being under the age of 21, were not yet entitled to vote or consume alcohol legally in Australia. Kriv Stenders has done an excellent job of putting the viewer in the midst of the action and, by concentrating on key figures, Stuart Beattie’s script lets us in on the how, the why and the who behind the events. The cinematography, editing and effects are all top-notch and the use of super slo-mo elevates the drama on the battlefield.
In a recent interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, Stenders maintained that his film is about one intense battle rather than the Vietnam war as a whole, saying that, “It’s a survival story as opposed to a war story.” That said, co-producer Martin Walsh explained that, “It’s very important for us to immortalise the Vietnam generation because we haven't done that in Australia, yet it was the most socially defining period of Australian contemporary history. If we don’t understand why we went there, or why we shouldn’t have gone there; if we haven't properly debated that, then we haven't honoured those families that made the ultimate sacrifice, and we don’t learn for the future.” It’s a vital message that never loses relevance. As the Spanish philosopher George Santayana famously wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan is an important and timely film.