Q:Build a movie plot around this: Why didn't Frank want to fight for the British? Irish heritage and general cynicism
A:
In Western Australia, May 1915, Archie Hamilton (Mark Lee), an 18-year-old stockman and prize-winning sprinter, longs to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. He is trained by his uncle Jack (Bill Kerr) and idolises Harry Lascelles, the world champion over 100 yards. Archie wins a race with a bullying farmhand, Les McCann (Harold Hopkins), Archie running bare-foot and Les riding his horse bareback.Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson) is an unemployed ex-railway labourer who has run out of money. He's an accomplished sprinter and hopes to win the prize money at the athletics carnival, he also bets a lot of money on himself winning. Archie and Uncle Jack journey to the athletics carnival. Frank is surprised when Archie defeats him and is bitter at first and he feels robbed of his bet. Eventually Frank approaches Archie in a cafe after getting over his loss and they both decide to travel to Perth to enlist. Before leaving, Archie gives all the prize money he won at the race to Jack and tells him that he will not be coming home for he had decided to enlist.As Archie and Frank are penniless, they secretly hop on a freight train, then walk across the desert and stop for the night at a cattle station. Upon arriving in Perth, they arrange to stay with Frank's father, an Irish immigrant. Due to Frank's Irish heritage and general cynicism, he has little desire to fight for the British Empire. However, Archie persuades him to try to enlist in the Light Horse. Failing to ride a horse, Frank enlists in the infantry with three co-workers from the railway: Bill (Robert Grubb), Barney (Tim McKenzie), and Snowy (David Argue). Many of the motivations for enlistment are revealed: wartime ultra-nationalism, anti-German propaganda, a sense of adventure and the attraction of the uniform. All soldiers embark on a transport ship bound for Cairo. Frank and Archie are separated and embark on different troopships.Some months later, Frank and his fellow soldiers train near the Pyramids and spend their free time in Cairo, drinking and visiting...