Summary
Arguably Australia’s most celebrated labour focused feature film, Strikebound is a gritty and emotionally powerful film about the 1937 stay-in strike at the private Sunbeam Colliery in the Victorian township of Korumburra. Based on historical characters and events, the film charts the struggle by Korumburra miners to win better pay and conditions in what was one of the most fractured and difficult coal mines in the country.
The film revolves around the two main protagonists, miner Watty Doig, played by Chris Haywood and his wife Anges Doig, played by Carol Burns. Watty, a committed communist, becomes the spokesperson and de facto leader of the sit-in, while his wife Agnes, a local Salvation Army member, becomes a union organizer and establishes the Women’s Auxiliary. Still suffering the lingering effects of the Great Depression, this was the first sit-in at an Australian mine and its success followed the watershed 1934 strike at the nearby Wonthaggi State Coal Mine. Together, these two victories became an inspiration for Australian workers in their struggle to claw back the terrible losses inflicted on the working class during the Great Depression.
The film has a deep authenticity about it, a rawness and honesty that underscores the deep humanity and dignity of coal miners and their staunch communities. The realist aesthetic of the film is highlighted by the opening scene of the narrative, which is shot in a real coal mine in what is now the Eastern Area Tourist Mine in Wonthaggi. The closed and flooded mine was re-opened by retired local miners over a period of many months and imbues the film with an authenticity and commitment to realism that continues throughout the film.
The film’s social realist documentary style is underscored by the opening and closing scenes in which an interview with the real Watty and Agnes Doig permeates the film with grassroots activism and a call to arms when Agnes states: “I’m proud to be a member of the working class. They&