AustLit

'Of all the ways in which the Anzac legend has been transmitted, cinema, with its emotive power, has been among the most influential. This is the first study of how the Great war Anzac legend has been portrayed in Australian film and television productions over 80 years. Reynaud traces the evolving image of Anzac from its origins as a derivative of British military myths to the controversial early days of its Australian identity in the interwar years, when the legend adopted the comic and the lean bushman as its archetypical hero, and then to its depiction in the nationalistic fervour of the 1980s, when the legend finally acquired its exclusively Australian identity and sharp anti-British edge. By building the story into the broader Australian context, the book shows how films have both shaped and been shaped by one of Australia's most cherished defining national mythologies.' - back cover