Synopsis

A small platoon of Australian soldiers from the 39th battalion have been set as a forward patrol far outside the perimeter of Isurava, a village on the Kokoda track. They plan to be on patrol for twenty four hours and then return to base. After an initial attacks from the Japanese, the men find they are cut off from their supply lines and all communications. Isolated in the jungle behind enemy lines, they must make their way back through the most unforgiving terrain on earth to get to safety and the main body of Australian troops. Allegiances form, strengths and weaknesses emerge, and leadership battles threaten to destroy the group, as the going gets tougher and tougher. After three days with no food or sleep, carrying their wounded, and suffering the effects of dysentery and malaria, they emerge from the jungle exhausted to the point of collapse only to find that the fighting isn't over.

What The Critics Say

"Kokoda draws comparisons with Gallipoli if for no other reason than it will come to be similarly regarded as a landmark in Australian cinema. Yet it’s not a gung-ho gala of Christian certainty, as Kokoda’s moral-compass is never stable. Salvation comes from loyalty, mateship and the glancing nod that passes for deep emotion. It’s a remarkable feature for so many reasons, not the least of which is the haunting tension." Colin Fraser FILMINK "It's an homage to the qualities of courage, endurance, mateship, sacrifice and the dedication to the Australian troops which stands in Isurava today." Margaret Pomeranz ABC AT THE MOVIES "I think the film deserves absolutely top marks for really re-creating this nightmare - the rain, the mud, the dysentery, the horrors and it is almost like a horror film at times, as the Japanese get so close to them." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES "Kokoda's portrayal of the enemy forces is nothing short of atavistic. The Japanese soldiers are faceless villains without a human characteristic between them." Vicky Roach THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

"Grierson has leaned heavily on the techniques of the horror genre to present the story: a small group of people, hunted by a largely unseen enemy presence through a dark, claustrophobic landscape, punctuated by visceral violence and gore. This limited scope is both the strength and the weakness of the film." Alister Grierson ABC THE BACKYARD "The film is at time harrowing, but how can it not? Superb production design takes us into this world and battle fatigue is evident as the film comes to its heroic conclusion. But for Australians, it is a stirring and valuable tribute - and a fine piece of cinema." Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE "If you want to get into the Anzac Day spirit this year, go and see this film. At the very least, you’ll have the rare pleasure of seeing your tax dollars well spent." Shane Brady BRISBANE NEWS "This is a gritty examination of the grim realities of front line warfare. Using hand held cameras and close up photography the humidity, mud and suffocating paranoia are vividly conveyed." Jaimie Leonarder SBS THE MOVIE SHOW

The Inside Story The fighting spirit of Australian soldiers has been well documented, but until now the focus has always been on Gallipoli. It is claimed that the Battle of Gallipoli forged a nation. This bloodied battle, which commenced on April 25th 1915 took its toll on those who fought there. Allied troops suffered about 180,000 casualties, while the Turks suffered around 220,000 casualties. The fledgling nation of Australia great loss was "5833 Australian soldiers killed in action during the eight months of the campaign, while a further 1985 died of their wounds." In 1981 the film "Gallipoli" [directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson, Bill Hunter, Don Barker and Tim McKenzie] was released. Many claim it rekindled the ANZAC spirit and helped turn around the nations attitude towards war. Now a new film has hit the cinemas. Made on a limited budget, shot in twenty eight days and made by a group of virtual unknows it is a tribute to another group of soldiers, those brave young men who defended Australia from the threat of invasion by stopping the advancing Japanese forces on what was then known as, 'The Kokoda Track'. It is reported that at one time in the campaign 500 Australian troops faced a force of 6000 Japanese soldiers. Prior to this, the "39th met the Japanese just north of Kokoda. One company or about 120 Diggers faced the first wave of Japanese, about 1500 seasoned troops." Historical records tell us "the weight of enemy numbers forced them to fall back to Kokoda where they regrouped. By this stage, the battalion’s Commander, Lt Colonel Owen, had seventy seven men left, most of whom had not slept for three nights. Nevertheless, Owen deployed his men around the Kokoda plateau and prepared to hold it against the invaders. Colonel Owen was killed during the night of 29 July and the survivors were forced to withdraw from Kokoda and fall back down the Track." "Kokoda" is based on this action and a group of young Australian soldiers known as 'choco's' or 'chocolate soldiers'. First time feature film director Alister Grierson says he "first became inspired by the story of Kokoda after his brother came back from walking the track and was astounded by the enormity of the history there and that it was still a predominately untold story from World War 2. He began researching what he found to be an epic story of the struggle of the unsung heroes of the 'chocolate soldiers'. What became obvious very quickly was that it would be impossible to tell the whole story." Grierson says they needed "to collapse it down into something more accessible in 90 minutes, so we came up with a lost patrol concept/genre. We worked it out in treatment form, wrote the story for the lost patrol and gathered all the ideas together, then we approached John Lonie to write the first draft." With John and Alister working on a final script, Producer Leesa Kahn met with Catriona Hughes’ production company, GFN Productions, and supplied Catriona with a director’s statement of Alister’s vision for the film. Even though they weren't presented with a script, Catriona was sold on the project. "I’ll never forget. I was salivating with excitement because it was a director with a great vision, a high concept, the project was do-able and full of creativity," Catrioan recalls. This led to an "incredible conversation about aiming to get the film released by ANZAC day 2006 and once that decision was made it set a whole series of timetables in place and we had to do a lot of financing very quickly and we had to go the funding bodies very quickly and had to cast very quickly." Remarkably they attained that goal. "Kokoda" would be written, financed, shot and distributed in less than 2 years. Once finance was secured, the team had a "6 week turnaround to organise cast and crew for the production." Part of that time included a trip by Alister, Adrian and Jules to Papua New Guinea, for inspiration. After researching their subject it became apperent that they couldn't shoot the film in Papua New Guinea. They settled on the hinterland of Mount Tamberine behind Queensland's famous strip known as the 'Gold Coast'. "We were able to find abut 10 different locations all within a small radius of each other that clearly represented New Guinea and that was just an amazing blessing." They were also blessed when it came to casting the film. Prior to funding being finalized, they contacted respected casting director Nikki Barrett who “voluntarily undertook to do the research and read the texts that Alister recommended," Grierson noted. "Nikki was really fabulous, Alister went in with a brief, and she presented accordingly and basically had cast the film in 3 weeks. We did cast the net wide. We didn’t just focus on Sydney, we went around Australia." The core cast of 10 soldiers comprised Jack Finsterer, Travis McMahon, Simon Stone, Luke Ford, Tom Budge, Steve Le Marquand, Angus Sampson, Christopher Baker, Ewen Leslie, Ben Barrack, Shane Bourne and William McInnes. Having found their cast it was time to send the actors off to boot camp. That camp included being "given an introduction to the art of rifle practise and patrolling." What did the cast gain from the experience? "For me it was about finding out what it was like to be in that group of soldiers," says Simon Stone. "It wasn’t so much character development, but I think a character evolves from their circumstances as much from their mental state." "I really enjoyed the boot camp. I felt we really developed a relationship amongst the boys and the fact that we are doing war tactics and battle tactics, a strong bond developed," says Luke Ford. "Boot camp was probably the start of the development process for me." The cast also got to meet some members of the original 39th battalion. "To hear a quiver in their voice and see them remember it and for a spilt second to just go back to where they were, that was pretty special," says Jack Finsterer. "It was really a great honour and I think it reinforced for the whole group, not just the actors, how special a story this is." Shooting "Kokoda" required just twenty eight days. It wasn't easy going. "The Kokoda trail is known as one of the most difficult terrains for warfare in the history of mankind and it wouldn’t be right to make a film on a location that wasn’t equally as difficult or almost as difficult. So we did have incredibly tough times. We’ve been on the side of hills where people are falling over and almost falling off the sides of cliffs and the camera man is holding an incredible weight on his shoulders, both literally and metaphorically, and about to fall off the hill and he’s harnessed and we’re all trying to look as if we’ve been on this terrain for a while and we are used to it and we’ve only been on it for half an hour," recalls Simon Stone. "We were in the middle of jungles where you see red belly black snakes just slither past and funnel web spiders attacking members of the crew and people having to deal with circumstances like that while we are trying to get into the line of the film. It’s certainly not stress less filmmaking and that can take its toll on you." "Kokoda" is an engrossing story of courage, commitment, mateship and survival in a very hostile environment. It is a credit to the cast, crew, the graduates of 2004 [Director Alister Grierson; Producer Leesa Kahn; Director of Photography Jules O’Loughlin; Sound Designer Adrian Bilinsky; Composer John Gray and Editor, Adrian Rostirolla] and all those who had the courage to finance the project. Today 'The Kokoda Trail' [as it is now known] is, like ANZAC Cove, considered sacred ground to many 'aussies' who take part in organized walks along it. I am sure that after seeing "Kokoda", many more Australians will want to walk the trail. The Verdict "This is a film every Australian should see. "Kokoda" truly captures the spirit of the Australian infantry soldier at war in a hostile land where they were hopelessly outnumbered by Japanese forces. "Kokoda" is a brilliant debut for first time feature director Alister Grierson and his fellow 2004 graduates from the prestigious Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Very recommended." Cast & Crew Bytes "KOKODA" stars .......
Jack Finsterer ["Blue Heelers", "Love is a 4 Letter Word" and "McLeod’s Daughters"]; Simon Stone ["Blue Heelers" and "MDA"]; Tom Budge ["Australian Rules", "The Honourable Wally Norman" and "The Proposition"]; Luke Ford ["Water Rats", "Stingers", "Mcleod’s Daughters" and "All Saints"], Shane Bourne ["The Sullivans", "Cop Shop" and "MDA"] and William McInnes ["Blue Heelers", "Sea Change", "Dirty Deeds" and "Look Both Ways"] as The Colonel.
"KOKODA" was .......
directed by Alister Grierson ["Kokoda"]; screenplay by John Lonie ["Japanese Story" and "Beneath Clouds"] and Alister Grierson ["Kokoda"]; cinematography by Jules O’Loughlin ["Kokoda"]; original music by John Gray ["Across Borders", "The Road Home" and "Ash Wednesday"] production design by Nick McCallum ["In A Savage Land" and "Gettin' Square"] with costume design by Phil Eagles ["Gallipoli" and "The Year of Living Dangerously"]. Run Time 99 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Palace Films - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved