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"War is hell, as we know, but it's also hellish to film. The First World War is the most hellish and the Western Front its most
diabolical part. The triumph of the film is its re-creation of the war underground, a visceral, claustrophobic netherworld
where war is being reinvented. Beneath Hill 60 is a considerable achievement: it shows that the Western Front can be
dramatised, and on a budget. More, please. 4 Stars." Paul Byrnes SYDNEY MORNING HERALD "Brendan Cowell and a supporting cast of top shelf Aussie actors generate rousing performances from behind a couple of inches of mud and grime in Beneath Hill 60, an on-the-battlefield WWI pic that focuses not on soldiers per se but mine engineers: men who dug tunnels underneath enemy lines, and, in 1916, lit the fuse on the biggest load of explosives the world had ever known. Sims by and large strikes a good balance between dramatically satisfying storytelling and a broader responsibility not to simplify war into the crude context of goodies versus baddies." Luke Buckmaster CRIKEY FILM REVIEWS "What a wonderful story about Australian miners recruited to use their skills tunnelling underground beneath the enemy in World War I. Filmmaker Jeremy Sims follows his excellent directorial 2006 debut Last Train to Freo with an engrossing true story set on and beneath the mud flats of France and Belgium in 1916. It's a war story, a story about heroism and a human drama. We get a real sense of camaraderie between the soldiers with humour sprinkled here and there, amply depicting the Aussie spirit." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "Just in time for Anzac Day, screenwriter David Roach and director Jeremy Sims have unearthed a tale from the Great War about important notions of courage, camaraderie and sacrifice – and made a hell of a movie out of it. In fact, the whole thing has been so brilliantly put together: on a small budget; that it feels like a great war movie while only having a couple of bona fide action sequences in it. You’d have to see it to believe it, but Beneath Hill 60 has every chance of joining the ranks of Gallipoli and Breaker Morant." Darren King THE VINE |
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"Director Jeremy Sims magnificently captures the mud, blood, and sweat of this unique brand of trench warfare, filling the
frame with the dark, constrictive space of his tunnels, which will make many a claustrophobic shift in their seat. Its
re-enactment of this hellish environment is made even more real with fully fleshed, finely acted portrayals of Woodward’s
men. A montage of pictures featuring real Australian soldiers during WW1 only skims the surface of what Woodward saw and
did. "Beneath Hill 60" brilliantly does the rest. 4 Stars." MATT'S MOVIE REVIEWS "When Australians think about the first World War, it pretty much begins and ends with Gallipoli. The equally bloody and pointless struggles of Australian troops in the trenches of the western front tends to get overlooked. Hopefully Beneath Hill 60 will go some small way towards redressing this imbalance. It doesn't hurt that, unlike most World War One stories, this doesn't get bogged-down story-wise in labouring over the horror of the trenches and the futility of war." Anthony Morris WEB WOMBAT "One thing you can say for the local film industry, when they make a good picture they make a bottler. Last year we had "Balibo" and this year in the tradition of Gallipoli comes "Beneath Hill 60". It ticks every box and relegates Australia to a long home movie. The nature of the horrors of trench warfare in World War I are brought to the screen with a realism defying any 3D trickery: you’re right there with the courage, fear, mud, and blood; the appalling conditions under which men fought and died. The heroes in the story are miners who risk everything to tunnel under the German lines. Everyone knows the story of Gallipoli, but this legend of extraordinary bravery has somehow been lost in history." John Bale THE BLURB "The film boasts superb production values, managing to recreate the rain drenched, mud-filled trenches of Europe, conditions that drain a man's spirit, even before the bullets and the shells drain his life. Adding to the film's sense of scale is Cezary Skubiszewski's rich, textured and sensitive score and brilliant work from cinematographer Toby Oliver. In all, a film to be proud of for all the right reasons. A story of ordinary men doing extraordinary things in extraordinary circumstances, Beneath Hill 60 is a gripping and involving film." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE |
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1916. Two massive armies facing each other along the Western Front have fought themselves to a standstill. The count down to the Battle of Messines Ridge has begun. The Allies' audacious plan to break the deadlock depends on a small company of Australian miners led by Captain Oliver Woodward. These ordinary men from mining towns across Australia were given just two weeks military training before being thrust into the war. Poorly equipped, with scant regard for military etiquette, the miners' task is to defend a leaking, labyrinthine tunnel system snaking beneath the Messines Ridge. The tunnels hide a deadly secret; a series of massive mines. If the plan succeeds it will produce the biggest explosion the world has ever known and could change the war. With constant inundation of mud, water and endless vibrations from heavy artillery, the tunnels are in imminent danger of collapse. |
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Director Written by Producer Original Music Cinematography Film Editor Casting Production Design Art Direction Set Decoration Costume Design |
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Jeremy Sims David Roach Bill Leimbach Cezary Skubiszewski Toby Oliver Dany Cooper Kirsty McGregor Clayton Jauncey Sam Hobbs Rolland Pike Ian Sparke |
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Brendan Cowell Harrison Gilbertson Steve Le Marquand Gyton Grantley Alex Thompson Alan Dukes Mark Coles Smith Warwick Young Anthony Hayes Leon Ford Chris Haywood John Stanton Bob Franklin Anthony Ring Andy Bramble Tom Green Aden Young David Ritchie Kenneth Spiteri Marcus Costello Gerald Lepkowski Jacqueline McKenzie Bella Heathcote Juliana Dodd Fletcher Illidge Morgan Illidge |
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Captain Oliver Woodward Frank Tiffin Sergeant Bill Fraser Norman Morris Walter Sneddon Jim Sneddon Billy 'Streaky' Bacon Percy Marsden Captain William McBride Lieutenant Robert Clayton Colonel Wilson Rutledge General Lambert Potsy Stoat Wilf Piggott Hutchings Major Brady North Kommandeur Fusslein Karl Babek Ernst Wagner William Waddell Emma Waddell Marjorie Waddell Isabel Waddell Colin Waddell Gordon Waddell |