Bastard Boys

Given the subject matter - a long-term strike on the Australian waterfront in 1998 by union employees while the Australian government tried to break the back of the unions - I watched 'Rove' and only recorded the first episode to watch later, thinking that if I got bored, I could easily delete the rest. Wrong choice!! Firstly a big bouquet must go to Sue Smith for yet another exquisitely sharp and economical script. The direction by Raymond Quint, and the wonderful performances by an array of top Australian actors - Anthony Hayes, Geoff Morrell, Lucy Bell, Daniel Frederickson - more than adequately supported the script, and so many stood out I feel bad only naming those 4. Rhys Muldoon's quirky and distracted Julian Burnside was beautifully crafted, and courageous also, given Burnside's recent and regular appearances in the media as the barrister for the refugees. Whilst the point of view of the writer was chiefly that of the workers, we were also taken on a regular journey into the struggles facing Chris Corrigan, the boss who was prepared to sell out to the government of the day to get the unions off his back.

I suspect that not many Australians would have seen this outstanding mini-series, given the usual Sunday and Monday night competition from the commercial networks. This is saddening, as this story needs to be seen by us all. It amazes me how quickly we all forget what came before.

I was only 12 when the waterfront dispute took place, and because I was away at the time, I knew basically nothing about what had happened. I didn't even know what the dispute was over.

Bastard Boys brilliantly recreates the events surrounding the waterfront dispute, where company Patrick Stevedores tried to sack all of their unionised workers and replace them with non-union staff. To find out what else happens, watch the program.

The miniseries uses recreations of real people involved with the events, such as John Coombs (Colin Friels) and Chris Corrigan (Geoff Morrell), as well as fictional characters such as the Tullys (Dan Wyllie and Jack Thomson).

Bastard Boys does an excellent job of combining the vital legal proceedings with the human side - particularly the wharfies. All the acting is outstanding, although special mention should go to Geoff Morrell, who had the challenging job of bringing Patrick boss Chris Corrigan to the screen and making him human, believable and not simply a two-dimensional bad guy.

There were a few problems with the script - Chris Corrigan's brother appeared out of nowhere, while Greg Combet was strangely underused towards the end. Other than that, an outstanding miniseries - not near the brilliance that was Answered By Fire, but outstanding all the same.

This story is a recreation of the battle of the 1998 waterfront dispute between the unions and Patrick Corporation, in Australia. Even if you are not a student of political history, or think the storyline is a bit dry, you can still enjoy the confrontation between the major players of the day, superbly performed by an array of the cream of Australian actors. The acting and the production levels are so good that I didn't notice the time go by watching it , and I was sorry it was over, and wishing there was more. There are four episodes of approximately 1 hour each, which gives the viewer an insight into four respective characters(real people central to the historical events). I gave it a 9 out of 10 vote.

I only write a comment because I was so annoyed at the allegation that this was one sided on the trade union side and typical of so called ABC bias. If I have a criticism of it, it's because it's a bit "soft left" and hedges its bets each way. The bit it glosses over is about the emasculation of the union movement (the "class war" in Australia has been entirely waged by the present government, not by unions) - the laws even then were blatantly pro-employer and anti-union, and have just got worse with time. In any case I was hooked on the recreation, so just judged purely as drama it's riveting (I especially liked Morrell's portrayal of Corrigan). Even if you remember the events and don't normally watch political films you should still see it - if you don't remember or don't know much about it, even more so.

I think the writer (Sue Smith)and producers made a bold step to create and televise this mini-series. Recreating, not just a real life event, but one with characters who are still alive and concerning such a controversial issue. Inevitably, it will ruffle feathers as it depicts such an important milestone in our democratic history. A portrayal of living public figures will always be seen as biased, one way or another.

But this was a story that needed to be told. A sanctioning by government of aggressive, potentially violent behavior, towards a group of men and their families who had broken no laws, merely been very successful in their fight for wages and conditions. And yes, maybe some of these had gone further than was healthy for the survival of the industry. (I have to claim ignorance here. I am not an economist or business owner) However I don't hear anyone up-in-arms about those business owners who are in the happy position of taking large slabs of time off to play golf, go overseas etc. We seem to have a different set of values for 'workers' and for business owners.

Back to Bastard Boys. One of the many themes was the portrayal of the personal lives of the main characters - the MUA leader, John Coombs (for which Colin Friels should get an award), Chris Corrigan (owner of Patricks, stevedores coy), Greg Combet, ACTU, the on-site Union rep (name?) and the solicitor, Josh Bernstein.

There are some surprises in store for those of us who felt angry towards Corrigan at the time. Corrigan is portrayed as a man with his back against the wall financially. He takes on the banks very forcefully. But the biggest surprise was some of the writing posted on the screen at the conclusion. It mentioned the friendship that arose between Coombs and Corrigan who met quite regularly after the conflict was over. Obviously, somehow or other, a mutual respect developed between them.

On the other hand, Bernstein is quoted this week in the Age's Green Guide as saying that this was a watered down version of what actually happened. The reality was a lot more heated and more intense. One wonders to what extent lawyers specialising in libel had been consulted and how much footage ended up on the cutting room floor.

Bastard Boys has single-handedly broken new ground in Australian TV - a drama about real events that took place, not 100, 50 or even 20 years ago, but in our recent memories. A story about a time when our democracy was severely tested. Thank goodness our restrictive laws concerning free speech (see Right to Know campaign) didn't stop this one! Don't miss it!