It tells the story of 14 non-religious absolutist conscientious objectors who were sent by the New Zealand government to military camps and prisons in Great Britain, France, and the front to force them to become willing soldiers. It is based on the 1939 memoir by Archibald Baxter.
Archibald Baxter (Fraser Brown) and Mark Briggs (Byron Coll) are two leaders of the conscientious objectors. Both men are unmarried men in their 30s who believe killing anyone or participating in the military at any level is anti-human. At the time, New Zealand recognized only religious conscientious objectors like Quakers or Seventh Day Adventists. The 14 men taken to Great Britain refused to wear the uniform or handle any weapons.
The film begins by showing Baxter being hospitalized and uses flashbacks to recall his experience in camps, prisons, and the front. Non-commissioned officers tended to mistreat the men; fellow privates tended to be more sympathetic. Two of Archibald's brothers, John (Jason Hodzelmans) and Sandy (Damien Avery), are also part of the group. Mark Briggs was the most vocal and absolutist of the group. Baxter ultimately agreed to go to the front without a weapon; Briggs refused to walk to the front and was dragged there by other soldiers. A number of the 14 objectors ultimately became stretcher-bearers, but Baxter and Briggs did not.
This was a hard film to watch because of the physical abuse portrayed, including "field punishment no. 1," which consists of being bound to a stationary object like a post for several hours up to 28 days straight. The extent of the abuse is likely somewhat exaggerated, based on a caveat at the end of the film explaining that not all incidents actually occurred.
Nonetheless, this is a powerful film. Baxter's two sons were also pacifists in World War II.
This is the 23rd in my list of films in which pacifists are primary characters.
