Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows sapphire miners Johnny (Harold Hopkins) and Mike (Colin Friels) pegging a new claim. Newcomer Andy (Dennis Miller) appears with a convoy, which includes two bulldozers and a truck, and challenges their right to the land. After a tense but superficially genial exchange, Andy appears to retreat, then motions to the driver of one of the bulldozers, who proceeds to flatten the ute belonging to Johnny and Mike. When Johnny and Mike drag the driver of the bulldozer to the ground, Andy fires a rifle shot at their feet, leaving them wondering what to do next.

Educational value points

• In its depiction of the beginning of the battle between Johnny and Mike, the underdogs, and Andy, the unscrupulous big operator, the clip encapsulates a central theme of the feature film Buddies. Australians have tended to sympathise with and celebrate the underdog or battler, particularly those facing adversity. Andy represents a threat to the relationship between Johnny and Mike, but also to a simpler and freer way of life.

• The clip exemplifies how mateship is depicted in Buddies. The taciturn exchanges between Johnny and Mike reflect not discord but an easy camaraderie, in which speech is often redundant. The two men portray an ideal of Australian masculinity that had its origins in the 19th-century bushman. This 'ideal’ male is independent, practical, ready to 'have a go’, hates affectation or officiousness and, above all, is loyal to his mates, with whom he has an egalitarian relationship – a relationship also typified by an absence of women.

• Buddies was filmed near Emerald in central Queensland. Sapphires were discovered in this area in the 1870s and by 1900 sapphire mining was an established industry, with the region renowned worldwide for its sapphire deposits. In the late 1970s, the development of sapphire deposits overseas saw a downturn in demand and today the region relies largely on tourism.

• The clip dramatises a conflict between small-scale hand miners and machinery miners. Sapphire mining methods range from simple hand mining of surface and shallow deposits through to large-scale open-cut operations involving heavy machinery. The advent of machinery mining on the Queensland fields in the early 1970s led to clashes between machinery miners and hand miners. The State Government eventually restricted the areas that could be mined with heavy machinery, reserving the richest sapphire fields for hand mining.

• In Australia, miners can stake a claim to Crown (government) land if that land has not been subject to a previous claim. As shown in the clip, the miner uses pegs to mark out the area of the claim. The land still belongs to the Government, but the miner has between 10 and 20 years to explore the claim. Miners need a licence to make a claim, which is cheaper than a lease, although less secure. During the 1970s in central Queensland, disputes between small-scale sapphire miners and machinery miners led to widespread allegations of illegal claim jumping.

• The clip provides an example of how film techniques can be used to create narrative tension. As Johnny and Mike stake out their claim in the foreground of the shot, Andy’s convoy is seen approaching in the distance, and the contrast between the miners and the machines is heightened by the increasing noise of the vehicles. The clip emphasises the stand-off by not showing Andy and the miners in the same frame, but rather cutting between shots of the adversaries. The threat posed by Andy is underlined by the presence of an offsider with a rifle and the idling bulldozers in the background.

• Buddies is an example of the work of screenwriter John Dingwall. A former newspaper police roundsman, Dingwall began his career as a screenwriter working for the production company Crawfords on television shows such as Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police. Buddies won Best Screenplay at the 1983 Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards. Dingwall’s best known feature screenplay, however, is Sunday Too Far Away (1975), a story of a champion sheep shearer that also explores the themes of mateship and male identity. Dingwall has directed two films, The Custodian (1990) and Phobia (1993).

• Colin Friels is shown in the early part of his acting career. Friels graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) in 1976 and has since worked in film, television and theatre. Prior to Buddies he appeared in Monkey Grip (1982), but it was in the title role in Malcolm (1986) that he made his mark, winning Best Actor in a Lead Role at the 1986 AFI Awards. He is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Frank Holloway in the long-running television series Water Rats, for which he received the Logie for Most Outstanding Actor in a Lead Role in 1997.

Johnny Well, let’s get the bastard pegged.
Johnny goes over to the ute to gather pegs as Mike walks in the opposite direction. Johnny walks over to where Mike is kneeling in the grass. He has discovered a red peg in the ground, hidden beneath some grass.
Mike Hey Johnny.
Johnny What?
Mike Someone else is here.
Mike and Johnny both look down at the peg in the ground, then look around to see if they can see anything.
Mike We’re going that way but I think that land’s worth a pinch of poop.

Mike walks away and hammers a peg into the ground. Johnny carries the other pegs. Mike paces up the land and points to the ground to show Johnny where to put the next peg. Johnny holds the peg to the ground as Mike starts hammering the peg into the ground.

A bulldozer and a four-wheel drive approach.
Johnny Hey!
The four-wheel drive pulls up and Mike walks towards it. A man with a rifle exits the vehicle, followed by Andy.
Andy Sorry gentlemen. We’re pegging this land.
Mike Who are you?
Andy Andy.
Andy puts out his hand but Mike doesn’t shake it.
Mike Well, you’ve gone that way. Andy.
Andy Yeah. Now we’re pegging here.
Mike You know the rules. First up, best dressed.
Andy I suppose I, ah, I could come to some sort of arrangement.
Mike I’m afraid not.
Andy Is that your final word?
Mike I reckon.

Mike smiles as he answers Andy. Andy walks towards the four-wheel drive and waves the man holding the rifle back into the truck. We see them drive off. Johnny and Mike continue with their pegging as Andy directs the driver of the bulldozer to head towards Johnny and Mike. Johnny looks up and realizes that the bulldozer is about to destroy the ute.
Johnny Hey!
Johnny and Mike run towards the ute as the bulldozer runs over it. Mike climbs onto the bulldozer and pulls out the driver.
Mike Hey, you bastard!
Mike is about to punch the driver when Andy fires a shot that hits the ground nearby. Mike, Johnny and the driver of the bulldozer all look up to where Andy holds the rifle, smiling. Johnny and Mike looking at Andy.
Johnny So, what do we do now?