| Bastard Boys | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Running time | 225 mins (110 min + 115 min) |
| Director(s) | Raymond Quint |
| Writer(s) | Sue Smith |
| Starring | Jack Thompson Colin Friels Dan Wylie Geoff Morrell Rhys Muldoon Anthony Hayes Daniel Frederiksen Justin Smith |
| Country of origin |  Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| Original channel | Australian Broadcasting Corporation |
| Release date(s) | 2007 |
| Original run | May 13, 2007 – May 14, 2007 |
| No. of episodes | 2 |
| IMDb profile | |
Bastard Boys is an Australian television miniseries broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2007, about the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute.
Contents |
Plot
The series tells the story of the waterfront dispute from four points of view: Greg's War from the point of view of union leader Greg Combet (Daniel Frederiksen), Josh's War from the point of view of lawyer Josh Bornstein (Justin Smith), Sean's War form the point of view of dock worker Sean McSwain (Anthony Hayes) and Chris' War from the point of view of Patrick Stevedores Managing Director Chris Corrigan (Geoff Morrell).
Cast (in alphabetical order)
- Lucy Bell as Petra Hilsen
- Mike Bishop as Peter Reith
- Justine Clarke as Janine McSwain
- Louis Corbett as Joe Corrigan
- Caroline Craig as Tali Bernard
- Daniel Frederiksen as Greg Combet
- Colin Friels as John Coombs
- Francis Greenslade as Bill Kelty
- Anthony Hayes as Sean McSwain
- Kevin Harrington as Derek Corrigan
- Deborah Kennedy as Gwen Coombs
- Jeremy Kewley as Frank Parry
- Geoff Morrell as Chris Corrigan
- Rhys Muldoon as Julian Burnside, QC
- Anna Lise Phillips as Cherie Snape
- Justin Smith as Josh Bornstein
- Helen Thomson as Valerie Corrigan
- Jack Thompson as Tony Tully
- Dan Wyllie as Brendan Tully
Degree of fictionalisation
Most of the characters portrayed are real individuals, many of whom were interviewed in the process of writing the drama. However, a number of characters were invented, and events were considerably compressed for dramatic purposes. Notably, the waterside workers portrayed in the drama were composites, based on interviews with many waterside workers.[1] Another example of invention was the placing of lawyer Bornstein at a key protest, which would have been illegal because of a court injunction [2]
Response
Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said in 2006 (whilst still in production) that the series "smacks of another example of wasteful spending by the ABC, being used to drive an anti-government, pro-left agenda, conveniently timed to appear during an election year".[3] Journalist Michael Duffy described the series as "the most blatant union propaganda" and was critical that "80 per cent of the story is told from the union point of view".[4] The Age's Debi Enker, however, described it as a "thoughtful, illuminating and superbly cast account of a seminal event in our recent history [which] represents exactly the kind of drama that one would want the national broadcaster to nurture."[5] Chris Corrigan was heavily critical of the series, stating after its screening that "The program portrays a series of predictable stereotypes and silly caricatures and gives them real names then cleverly claims to be a drama and hence does not explore any inconvenient truths such as the impact of the waterfront rorts on ordinary Australians."[2] Prime Minister John Howard declared the series "One of the most lopsided pieces of political propaganda I've seen on the national broadcaster in years" and argued that it completely ignored the notorious inefficiency of the Australian waterfront and years of collaborative failures to change this.[6] Criticism has also emerged from some members of the union movement. According to Phillip Adams, Bill Kelty was concerned that "no researcher, writer or producer - spoke to him about the dispute or his role in it. Yet they haven't hesitated to put words into their Kelty's mouth that the original Kelty never said".[7]. Chris Corrigan's brother Derek Corrigan has disputed claims that the broadcasting of Bastard Boys was timed to support Greg Combet's run for politics ".[8].
See also
References
- ^ "The Reality of Television", The Age, 2007-05-16. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
- ^ a b "Reloading history", The Age, 2007-05-16. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
- ^ Rachel Browne. "ABC did not influence Boys", Sydney Morning Herald, 2007-05-13. Retrieved on 2007-05-14.
- ^ Michael Duffy. "ABC unloads a shipload of bias", Sydney Morning Herald, 2007-05-12. Retrieved on 2007-05-14.
- ^ Debi Enker. "Reliving the waterfront war", The Age, 2007-05-10. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ "Howard hits out at 'lopsided' 'Bastard Boys'", ABC, 2007-05-17. Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
- ^ Phillip Adams. "Don't lose plot over 'true' stories", The Australian, 2007-05-15. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
- ^ ABC News Online. "Suggestions 'Bastard Boys' timed to Combet election run 'bizarre'", ABC, 2007-05-15. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
