OLIVIA MARNE
Luke Hemsworth (“Bikie Wars : Brothers in Arms”) will star in the long-gestating Aussie War film “The 34th Battalion” for director Luke Sparke.
Deadline says Charles Mesure (“Boogeyman”), Les Hill (“Underbelly”), Nick Farnell (“Where the Wild Things Are”), Clare van der Boom (“The Pacific”), Henry Nixon (“The Pacific”), Andrew Lees (“Rescue Special Ops”), Vince Colosimo (“Body of Lies”), Ashley Zuckerman (“Rush”), Tony Bonner (“The Lighthorsemen”) and Khan Chittenden (“Endless Bummer”) are also onboard.
In addition, the IMDB lists Damian de Montemas (TV’s “The Secret Life of Us”), Jake Ryan (“The Sapphires”), John Reynolds (“The Condemned”), Paul Ireland (“Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War”) and Tony Nixon (“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”) as being part of the ensemble.
Ian and Luke Sparke’s script centers on a group of soldiers who, after Gallipoli, are forced to choose between fulfilling their call of duty and going on to fight in France or staying home.
Here’s the synopsis the official site has of the film :
After the death toll at Gallipoli in 1915 the Australian forces are sent to the major battlefield of the First World War: The Western Front.
JONATHAN BROWN and his close friends, whose lives are full of family and commitments, are faced with a call of duty. A recruitment march has found it’s way to their small town. Jonathan’s decision is full of heartbreak and regrets. He will carry those with him through the war.
The new soldiers soon find themselves under the wing of the experienced SERGEANT CHAPPELL – a man who will become a father figure – as they experience their baptism of fire in the mud soaked trenches.
A gritty and powerful window to the past, Jonathan’s story brings a personal and human element to the concept of war. How will this gentle and kind man survive the horrors of the Western Front? How will he return?
Travel with these men to the front lines. Be with them, change with them. Charge the enemy with them. Cry and laugh with them. Be exhausted with them.
Lead Hemsworth is obviously the brother of Liam and Chris Hemsworth.
