Devil's Dust (2012)

 

 

 

Devil’s Dust – a miniseries in two parts – is a historical drama (based on a true story) which premiered on Australian television (ABC) in 2012.

 

The topic is the history of asbestos in Australia; a dark chapter of Australian history. The focus is on the management and the workers of a large corporation (James Hardie) and on a tenacious journalist (Matt Peacock) who followed the story and covered it in numerous reports, first on the radio and later on television, during four decades, from the 1970s to the beginning of the 21st century.

 

The case has been described as “one of Australia’s most shocking corporate scandals.”

 

Here is some basic information about this drama:

 

** Director: Jessica Hobbs

** Producers: Antonia Barnard and Stephen Corvini

** Writer: Kris Mrksa

** Based on the book Killer Company: James Hardie Exposed by Matt Peacock (2009)

** Consultants: Matt Peacock and Karen Banton

** Released on DVD by Freemantle Media Enterprises

** Run time: 86 + 84 minutes = 170 minutes

 

There are many characters in this drama. I will not mention all names, because the complete list is too long. I will only mention the most important characters. In order to help you understand who is who and how they are connected with each other, I have divided them into three categories based on their role and their position in the drama:

 

# 1. JAMES HARDIE – Management

** Don Hany as Adam Bourke – leader of the PR department

** Paul Ireland as Dr Terry McCullagh – leader of the medical department

** Greg Stone as Peter McDonald – member of the board

** Marta Dusseldorp as Meredith Hellicar – member of the board

** Pip Miller as John Reid – CEO

 

# 2. JAMES HARDIE – Workers and their family

** Anthony Hayes as Bernie Stanton (1946-2007) – a worker and later a political activist

** Josef Ber as Ted Banton (died in 2001) – Bernie’s brother

** Daniel Henshall as Jock – Bernie’s friend

** Katherine Hicks as Janis Banton – Bernie’s first wife

** Alexandra Schepisi as Karen Banton – Bernie’s second wife

 

# 3. OTHER CHARACTERS

** Ewen Leslie as Matt Peacock – a journalist who works for ABC radio and television

** Genevieve Hegney as Tanya Segelov – a lawyer who works for the victims of asbestos

** Mirrah Foulkes as Rebecca Bourke – Adam Bourke’s wife

 

Since this drama is based on a true story, the basic facts are part of the public record. They are not a secret. Therefore, I feel free to mention some of them in this review. But I will not tell you everything. I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. I will only tell you what you need to understand what this drama is about and how it begins.

 

While this drama is based on a true story, it is not a documentary film. It is a dramatized version of events. Not everything happened exactly as shown here. Some details have been added or excluded or changed for practical reasons or dramatic purposes. But the basic story is true.

 

Asbestos is a killer. Today we know that. But back in 1950, this fact was not known. Asbestos was excavated in Australian mines and used for different purposes: building houses, building roads.

 

Asbestos is a slow killer. If you are exposed to the devil’s dust, the consequences may not show up until 10 or 20 or 30 years after exposure. If exposure is strong and constant, for several years, death is certain. The only question is how long it will take before the dust will kill you.

 

Management knew of the dangers long before the workers, but they kept this knowledge to themselves as long as possible.

 

During the 1950s and 1960s, health and safety in the workplace were not a high priority at James Hardie. Management had a devious trick to avoid discovery of the truth: the most dangerous jobs were given to old workers. Management assumed that these people would die of other causes (such as smoking cigarettes or drinking beer) long before the asbestos would kill them. Thus, the deadly effect of asbestos would never be revealed.

 

James Hardie health department checked the health of the workers every year, but after a medical check, the workers were always told that everything was fine. Medical records were the property of the company. The public (for instance a curious reporter) had no access to these records.

 

From time to time, a governmental organization would arrive to conduct a health inspection, but the company was always given a tip before this happened. On the day of the inspection, the floor was always clean and everything looked fine. If a worker had to cough, the medical officer would explain that this worker had a case of bronchitis. Nothing to worry about!

 

When the people behind this drama wanted to tell the horrible story of asbestos in Australia, they had a lot of evidence, but they needed to find a good way to present it.

 

They did not want the story to be too technical. Nor did they want the story to be too general. They wanted an approach which could make an impact on the audience.

 

They decided to make the story personal. They decided to focus on one worker (Bernie Banton) who had been the face of the campaign which demanded justice for the victims of asbestos and on one reporter (Matt Peacock) who had followed the case and covered it during four decades.

 

The drama is based on Matt Peacock’s book about the case which was published in 2009. It is also based on interviews with people who survived and with people who knew workers who had died, including Bernie’s second wife Karen Banton.

 

What do reviewers say about this drama?

 

On IMDb it has a rating of 83 percent which corresponds to four stars on Amazon. If you ask me, this rating is very appropriate. I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but I cannot go all the way to the top, because there are some flaws which cannot be ignored. Let me explain:

 

# 1. There are many characters in this drama, but most of them are never properly identified. In the beginning, it is not easy to know who is who and how they are connected with each other.

 

The characters do not always address each other by name, because they already know each other. But the viewer does not yet know them. The viewer needs some help to understand who is who.

 

There is a cheap and easy solution to this problem: the first time a character appears, an on-screen message can tell us the name of this character. It is a shame this method was not used here.

 

# 2. The drama covers four decades. But it is not always easy to know where we are in time. In the beginning of the drama, they use old telephones and old tape recorders, so we can guess that we are in the 1970s, but it is never stated clearly.

 

When the story jumps forward in time to the next decade, it is not indicated. But after a while the viewer will realize that we have moved on to the next chapter of the story.

 

There is one indicator: Matt Peacock’s hair becomes shorter and shorter as the years go by!

 

There is a cheap and easy solution to this problem. An on-screen message can tell us where we are in time when a new chapter begins. It is a shame this method was not used here.

 

# 3. There are no subtitles on the DVD! Subtitles are necessary for those who are deaf and hard of hearing. They are also useful for people who can hear, because sometimes an actor speaks very fast or sometimes an actor mumbles or whispers, so it is not easy to hear what is being said.

 

Subtitles should be optional. You should be able to turn them on or off whenever you like.

 

Subtitles should be available in English (the original language) and other languages as well. With subtitles in French, German and Spanish, this DVD could be marketed and sold all over the world. Without subtitles, the product can only be marketed and sold in English-speaking countries.

 

# 4. There are no bonus features on the DVD. There should be some extra features such as an interview with the director, an interview with one of the actors, and perhaps an interview with the real Matt Peacock or the real Karen Banton.

 

The topic of this drama is important. The story deserves to be told. And in this drama, it is told very well, but as you can see, there are some flaws which cannot be overlooked. I have to remove one star because of these flaws. Therefore, I think this product deserves a rating of four stars.

 

PS # 1. The Australian Asbestos Network is a useful website for the person who wants to know more about this topic.

 

PS # 2. Asbestos was mined in three Australian places: Wittenoom (in Western Australia) and Baryugil and Woodsreef (in New South Wales). Google these names to find more information about these locations.

 

In this drama, we follow Matt Peacock as he visits one of these remote places (Baryugil) where he can see the devastating results of asbestos mining. The workers at Baryugil are Aborigines.

 

The average life expectancy is not high. One of them says: 

 

"The oldest person around here is 50. The rest are younger."

 

PS # 3. Most names used in the drama are real, such as Matt Peacock and Bernie Banton. But there are two exceptions:

 

** Adam Bourke is the leader of the PR department at James Hardie. Today he would be known as a media manager or a spin doctor. The real name of James Hardie’s spin doctor is Greg Baxter.

 

** Rebecca Bourke is Adam’s wife. Since Adam is a fictional name, it follows that Rebecca is a fictional character. It seems the people behind the drama wanted to introduce this character in order to give the story a dramatic twist.

 

PS # 4. The front cover of the DVD box has two messages:

 

** The workers were EXPOSED TO POISON.

** This drama is EXPOSING THE TRUTH.

 

PS # 5. The following items are available online:

 

** Leon Gettler, "Asbestos House: The secret history of James Hardie Industries," The Age, 8 April 2006 (a review of Gideon Haigh's book Asbestos House).

** Matt Peacock, “I’m still angry: Hardie asbestos widow,” ABC.Net, 28 April 2009.

** Angela Welsh, “Review: Killer Company,” The Walkley Foundation, 27 October 2009.

** Kevin Jones, “Devil’s Dust: Australian movie on asbestos and corporate morality,” Safety at Work Blog, 30 October 2012.

 

PS # 6. Asbestos: The Never-Ending Story is a documentary film which was shown on French and German television (ARTE) in September 2022.

** Produced by Thierry Marro and Stephane Rybojad. 

** Directed by Thomas Dandois and Alexandre Spalaikovitch. 

** Run time: 92 minutes. 

** Available on YouTube.

 

*****

 

 Devil's Dust

(ABC television 2012)

*****

 

Bernie Banton (1946-2007)

*****

Asbestos House:

The Secret History of James Hardie Industries

by Gideon Haigh 

(2006)

 

*****