Misto makes effective use of dramatic techniques to portray the brutality of the Japanese against POW, to emphasis the strength and resilience of the women. In Act I Scene IV when Bridie is being punched by ‘Lipstick Larry’ is described as “the savage yell… big ugly thumps” to emphasise the beating the women had to endure from the Japanese. The Japanese also threatened the women, “No work. No food” so they would have to dig graves “We’d get down on all fours - Bridie would hack away at the Earth with her Shoe-horn” Misto’s intention was to confront his responders with the powerful distinctive visual imagery and highlights that these women did not receive acknowledgement for their sacrifice in the POW camps. Likewise, Gallipoli also conveys the messages of strength and conviction, demonstrated at the end when Archie takes out his medal from the running race and hangs it on his knife, knowing he is about to die and leaving it for those at home is symbolic. The medal emphasis the waste of life and potential that the film makes us think about, this relates with what Sheila did for Bridie. Therefore, traumatic distinctive qualities convey human suffering and strength to the …show more content…
At the start of the Act I Scene V, the song “Happy Times” by Jo Stafford is played. This imagery and sound effects build the scenes moment of violence experienced. The song creates a melancholy but warm and comfortable atmosphere, which is starkly contrasted with the account of wartime atrocity that Bridie articulates afterward. Also in the interview, Sheila exposes to Bridie how she got the quince to save her life, “You didn't sleep with a Jap. Not you… he went and got quinine” Bridie's response was shocked and angry which the audience is able to relate to. Similarly, in Gallipoli in the close up scene when Archie is studying the map from the newspaper, in detail, as he decides whether to enlist with the Australian troops. This then transitions quickly into the same map being studied by Frank’s friend Wilkes, at their railway works campsite. This is the first link of the connection between Frank and Archie; it flows in a subtle way and is coincidental, but significant. It is an omen of what their destination will be, their ‘coming of age’ and loss of innocence similar to that of Bridie and Sheila. Evidently, individuals resilience to the horror of war allows them renew the individual’s strength and survive human suffering
Therefore, with the use of sound effects, story and stage directions both composers have created a distinctive image of human suffering and strength.