It seems unlikely that the wheels of justice would have budged at all after the Pike River mining disaster in New Zealand, which killed 29 men in 2010, had it not been for the actions of the grieving families. This sobering true-life drama is a blow-by-blow account of their years-long fight for justice. The story is told with restraint, in meticulous detail – possibly too much detail – without any Erin Brockovich-type feelgood emotion, never losing sight of the heartbreak and devastation.
The film begins with agonising scenes before the accident: the miners get ready to go underground, good-naturedly ribbing each other – a familiar morning routine – with no clue of what’s coming, although in cinematographer Gin Loane’s foreboding camerawork the spectacular landscape of forests and mountains looms threateningly. In the hours after the first explosion rips through the mine, the company’s CEO (Jonathon Hendry) confidently says there is enough air underground to last several days. “But we’ll have them back before then.” The lies told to families were staggering.
