'What would happen if by any means a German army should land in Australia? The question is not very difficult to answer, if one imagines the nameless horror perpetrated on helpless Belgians and Poles in the name of Kultur. Think for a moment of a repetition of the dreadful nightmare here in Adelaide! Picture those nearest and dearest to you at the mercy of the merciless Hun! Think of the un-dreamed-of possibilities, of the remorseless and wanton destruction of our beautiful cities! Imagine our beautiful public buildings, our stately churches, our treasured squares and gardens laid in smoking ruins! That is what the producer of a remarkable moving picture, entitled "If the Huns came to Melbourne" have [sic] set out to bring in a vivid manner before our eves. The result is a pictorial achievement that Australia may well be proud of. Every incident has been carefully thought out and faithfully reproduced. It teems with surprises, thrills, and sensations.'
Source:
'If the Huns Came to Melbourne!', The Advertiser, 29 May 1916, p.6.
'War films are not an obvious starting point to discuss Australia's diasporic cinema. Nevertheless, portrayals of the enemy draw attention to the nationalizing discourses which serve to maintain an assimilationist model of the nation. While neither German nor Turkish identities figure prominently in Australia's contemporary multicultural cinema, these national 'types' play a more significant role in Australian visual culture produced in the first part of the twentieth century. German, and to a lesser extent Turkish, villains feature in numerous films produced in Australia during both world wars. In this chapter, we argue that in the short term Australian film portrayals of the 'the cruel Hun' and 'noble Turk' encouraged glorification of soldiers in Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), while in the long term these perpetuated a more nationalistic construction of the Anzac legend' (Publication abstract)
'War films are not an obvious starting point to discuss Australia's diasporic cinema. Nevertheless, portrayals of the enemy draw attention to the nationalizing discourses which serve to maintain an assimilationist model of the nation. While neither German nor Turkish identities figure prominently in Australia's contemporary multicultural cinema, these national 'types' play a more significant role in Australian visual culture produced in the first part of the twentieth century. German, and to a lesser extent Turkish, villains feature in numerous films produced in Australia during both world wars. In this chapter, we argue that in the short term Australian film portrayals of the 'the cruel Hun' and 'noble Turk' encouraged glorification of soldiers in Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), while in the long term these perpetuated a more nationalistic construction of the Anzac legend' (Publication abstract)
