{"id":73183,"date":"2025-10-12T04:17:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T04:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/73183\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T04:17:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T04:17:11","slug":"out-of-the-dark-how-director-robert-sarkies-took-on-the-pike-river-mining-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/73183\/","title":{"rendered":"Out of the dark: How director Robert Sarkies took on the Pike River mining disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is an extended version of the interview that appears in the October 18 2025 edition of The Listener.<\/p>\n

\n It wasn\u2019t the deaths of 29 men in the Pike River mine that made Robert Sarkies want to make a movie about it. It was the lives of two women
\n in the aftermath.\n <\/p>\n

In 2016, six years after the explosion, the film-maker saw Sonya Rockhouse and Anna Osborne on television. They were successfully blocking access to the concrete trucks that would seal the mine. There was his film.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a decent period of time when I was looking at Pike River from the outside and thinking there must be a story to be told here. But I don\u2019t know what it is because it all seems terrible. I didn\u2019t see any point in making a film about a group of families doing what they could to fight against power and losing, getting nowhere. What\u2019s the message here? The message is, \u2018don\u2019t bother fighting\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd a movie is only really a movie if it\u2019s got great characters \u2026 but when I met Sonya and Anna I could see they were great characters and there was hope as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarkies is on Zoom from his Wellington office with a Pike River poster on the wall behind him. He\u2019s just back from Greymouth to check on preparations for the New Zealand premiere before an audience that would include many who worked on the film. Some played the 29, wearing actual Pike River headlamps in scenes aboard a real Pike River drift runner vehicle repaired for the shoot.<\/p>\n

Sarkies and his teenage son drove via the Cook Strait ferry from their home in Karori and visited other West Coast mine sites along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve got a 13-year-old who loves Minecraft, he was completely fascinated by walking around mine sites and climbing into slightly abandoned mine shafts. It was really quite cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was different, of course, back when Sarkies first visited the entrance to Pike River.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know what it looks like because we\u2019ve seen it so much in the news. To stand in front of it, which I\u2019ve done many times, it just feels ugly. You\u2019re very aware there are 29 men inside, entombed. But what you\u2019re seeing is this sort of industrial detritus \u2026 and it\u2019s weird, because if you turn your back on Pike and look the other way you\u2019re in the wilderness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FatefulFateful shift: The miners\u2019 cast includes Richard Crouchley as Ben Rockhouse \u00ad\u00ad(hi-viz pants at left) and John Leigh as Milton\u00a0Osborne (hi-viz overalls, centre).<\/p>\n

As he probably doesn\u2019t like to be reminded, Pike River gives Dunedin-raised Sarkies a trilogy of tragedy in a career which started out with the comedy Scarfies. In 2006 he delivered Out of the Blue, his gut-wrenching drama about the 1990 Aramoana massacre. In 2014, it was the television film Consent: The Louise Nicholas Story, about the woman who took the police officers she said raped her as a teenager to court as an adult.<\/p>\n

But as he reiterates when asked about why these darkest-days stories have become a specialty, Pike River is a David versus Goliath story, as Consent also was. \u201cIt\u2019s the same essential narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MichelleMichelle Blundell as Louise Nicholas in Consent, the 2014 television film written by Fiona Samuels that Sarkies directed. <\/p>\n

Osborne and Rockhouse were keen to have their story on screen. Sarkies\u2019 friend, director Tony Sotorious, who was filming a documentary on trade unionist Helen Kelly before her death and becomes a character in Pike River, suggested he talk to the pair. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me that they they wanted their story told, but they\u2019re not particularly readers, they didn\u2019t necessarily want a book written, or even know how they would even start that, but they loved watching telly and going to the movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarkies and his producer-partner Vicky Pope shoulder-tapped seasoned screenwriter Fiona Samuel, who had done the script for Consent, to write Pike River. They shared the research, spent a lot of time in Greymouth drinking a lot of tea talking to the families, reading everything, including the transcripts and report of the Pike River Royal Commission to Tragedy at Pike River Mine, the 2013 book by then Listener journalist Rebecca Macfie (\u201cAnyone who sees the film should read that book\u201d \u2026 the film, in a way, starts where the book leaves off\u201d).<\/p>\n

Not all the families wanted a film made, or to be involved. Some of those Samuel and Sarkies interviewed had put Pike River behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cOften we\u2019d get to the end of the interview, and this was around eight years after the tragedy, and they\u2019d often say \u2018well, that\u2019s actually quite good to talk about we don\u2019t talk about Pike River very much\u2019. There are family members who as they described this to me put the Pike River experience, which is obviously just an awful experience for them, in a box and try to close the lid on the box and park it somewhere. They can\u2019t. It\u2019s always going to be with them. But they don\u2019t want it to sort of take over their future lives, I suppose.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a challenge, obviously, making the choice to talk to a filmmaker and those who talked to us, made that choice and went back to that place. But I genuinely think there\u2019s some small aspect of catharsis that happens every time you tell and retell a story. Even if you then put it back in its box and park it again, it helps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PikePike River writer Fiona Samuel whose past screenplays have included Consent \u2013 The Louise Nicholas Story, Bliss \u2013 The Beginning Of Katherine Mansfield, Princess Of Chaos. Supplied<\/p>\n

That human story starts on November 18, 2010, the evening before the day of the mine explosion, at the Osborne family home. There, Anna (Melanie Lynskey) suggests to husband Milton (John Leigh) that perhaps he should call in sick tomorrow. The next morning Milton has joined the shift that also include Rockhouse\u2019s two sons Daniel and Ben. They gear up, drive into the mine. Only two of those \u2013 Daniel Rockhouse and Russell Smith, the man he dragged clear, come out again.<\/p>\n

It was my gut instinct to not show the explosion really at all. But still I\u00a0hope for\u00a0us to feel it.<\/p>\n

Robert Sarkies<\/p>\n

The film doesn\u2019t go into the mine. The explosion isn\u2019t recreated. The news trickles out by phone call and word of mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a strong instinct from the get-go that if this was going to be the story of the families\u2019 fight for justice and reflecting their experience that we should not show things, mostly, that the families hadn\u2019t experienced. It was my gut instinct to not show the explosion really at all. But still I hope for us to feel it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the thing about tragedy. When something awful happens to you often you find out in the most benign ways \u2026 we were just trying to make it as relatable as possible and reflect the experience of these families.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sat down with Anna Osborne and she essentially told us the story that you see in the first 10 minutes of the film even more evocatively than I can ever hope to depict. But as a dramatist you\u2019re scribbling down every one of those details because it\u2019s the details that make drama specific and also relatable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film itself starts with a helicopter shot of the rugged terrain around Pike River, where seams of coal can be seen in the cliffs that stand like giant headstones. But it\u2019s the film\u2019s sound as much as its visuals that carries as much of its atmosphere and emotion. Whether it\u2019s the wail of the families gathered in a Greymouth hall after they have been bluntly told by mine boss Peter Whithall and police superintendent Gary Knowles their men are dead, or sound of the pit itself. <\/p>\n

\"MelanieMelanie Lynskey (centre) as Anna Osborne in a still from Pike River where the families hear there is no hope of the 29 menbeing brought out alive. Photo \/ supplied<\/p>\n

Sarkies hasn\u2019t been into the mine but he\u2019s heard it. He found a special microphone made in Slovakia to record subterranean vibrations. He attached it to a pipe at Pike River and listened on his headphones.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it was the deepest subterranean of rumble I\u2019ve ever heard \u2026 and I knew that at some point in the film we had to use that sound \u2026 you can at very least feel the deep weight of [the mine].<\/p>\n

The sonic design also served the film\u2019s subtext. \u201cEven though we don\u2019t go into the mine, I actually felt like these families and these two women were trapped like they were trapped in a mine \u2013 trapped by the injustice and a sort of toxic mix of grief and anger. I wanted to find a way to subtly represent that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarkies did consider the possibility that Pike River and its sprawling story, which in the film boils things down like the Royal Commission hearings and decision to three minutes of screen time, could be told as a television series. Something akin possibly to a Mr Bates vs the Post Office or Chernobyl.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I wanted to take people into that place and hold them there and then gently release them. I wasn\u2019t sure that it was something that people would want to keep tuning into night after night. There\u2019s something about the experience of watching a movie in a dark room and engaging fully. You\u2019re not doing the ironing while you\u2019re watching Pike River. You\u2019re sitting there consumed by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably mentioned to Sonya that it\u00a0would be pretty amazing if Jacinda did it, thinking, \u2018Well, that\u2019s never going to happen.\u2019 Sonya just immediately goes, \u2018Well, I\u2019ll call her\u2019 <\/p>\n

Robert Sarkies<\/p>\n

You\u2019re also possibly impressed by how true-to-life everything and everybody looks, whether it\u2019s Lucy Lawless as Helen Kelly, the depictions of now familiar figures such as Rowdy Durbridge or Bernie Monk, or political figures such as John Key, played by Dan Cleary. Sarkies captures him as a man in the meetings with the Pike River families who appears to be listening but looks like he\u2019d rather be somewhere else. And then there\u2019s a 2017 scene when Rockhouse and Osborne are lobbying politicians at Parliament. They get a meeting with newly anointed Labour leader Jacinda Ardern \u2026 as played by Jacinda Ardern.<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably mentioned to Sonya that it would be pretty amazing if Jacinda did it, thinking, \u2018Well, that\u2019s never going to happen.\u2019 Sonya just immediately goes, \u2018Well, I\u2019ll call her\u2019 and 10 minutes later I get a text saying, \u2018She\u2019s keen\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I\u2019m aware it\u2019s going to get attention. But it\u2019s a very small moment, and it is actually depicting a meeting that really happened. What was significant about that particular meeting was that it was a meeting between power represented by Jacinda and these two women on the same level, which was very different from the interactions they had had with politicians throughout the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it felt worth it to accept Jacinda\u2019s offer because of what it represented. And Jacinda is a massive fan; she\u2019s in awe of Sonya and Anna.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked for comment on her involvement in the film, Ardern\u2019s office replied: \u201cAfter leaving office Dame Jacinda was asked by a Pike River family member involved with the film to appear. She agreed to briefly appear as herself, in a voluntary capacity. She hasn\u2019t yet had the opportunity to see the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnnaAnna Osborne and then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a ceremony at the entrance to the Pike River Mine in 2019 after the Labour-led government had established the Pike River Recovery Agency after its election in 2017. Ardern plays herself in a cameo in the film. Photo \/ Getty<\/p>\n

Given the film\u2019s dim view of the Key government and then the Ardern cameo, how does Sarkies think it will be received politically? Especially given the moves by the Coalition Government to dismantle the workplace safety legislation introduced in the wake of the 2010 tragedy?<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that all politicians are open enough to just watch it \u2026 there\u2019s a bigger story here, a bigger reflection here of who we are and how we deal with things as a country beyond the direct health and safety aspect. I would love [Workplace Relations and Safety Minister] Brooke van Velden to watch this film with an open heart. It\u2019s not a criticism of this government at all. It\u2019s now part of our history and it involves multiple agencies, politicians and institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a class system in New Zealand but we\u2019ve got the Koru Club \u2013 this band of people represented by institutions who are actually above the law<\/p>\n

Robert Sarkies<\/p>\n

But Sarkies thinks the Pike River story goes to something in our cultural DNA and how power and justice really work in NZ. Mine boss Peter Whittall walked away from health and safety charges after a $3.41 million settlement was paid \u2013 a deal the Supreme Court later ruled was wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unfairness of having their men killed is shocking enough but then to not have that initially properly investigated, for there to be no real effort to go in and either get the men out or gather evidence, and then Peter Whittall and others just sort of walk away scot-free \u2026 It interested me socially. Why do we in New Zealand work like this, act like this?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just part of a narrative that goes back to Erebus and forward to the CTV building [in the Christchurch earthquakes] where on the surface due process has been followed but we rarely prosecute people so they can be judged.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a class system in New Zealand but we\u2019ve got the Koru Club \u2013 this band of people represented by institutions who are actually above the law and because we\u2019re so fair-minded and egalitarian, supposedly, historically, we have just let that go.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"PIkePIke River director Rob Sarkies on set in Grey Mouth with Sonya Rockhouse and Anna Osborne. S<\/p>\n

Pike River has its NZ premiere in Greymouth on October 13 before screenings in Auckland Christchurch. It got a standing ovation at its world premiere with Osborne and Rockhouse going on stage at the Sydney Film Festival in June. Also there was survivor Daniel Rockhouse who had left to work in the mines in Australia six weeks after the Pike River disaster. Sarkies had only spoken to him on the phone before meeting him for a coffee the day before the premiere. <\/p>\n

\u201cI said to him, \u2018Daniel, I honestly don\u2019t know what this experience will be like for you. While you and the families, helped us make the film, the film isn\u2019t for the families. You\u2019ve already experienced this. You don\u2019t actually need to experience it again. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe just said \u2018mate, I\u2019m here because I want to be here. I want to see your film\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rockhouse was sitting with his partner and mother behind Sarkies at the screening. The director could hear him nudging his partner and commenting \u201cgood looking bloke\u201d about the actor playing him, and swearing when the character of Whittall appeared on screen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe definitely found it cathartic so much so that he\u2019s flying himself to New Zealand to watch it again and be part of the New Zealand release. He\u2019s going to be in Christchurch, sitting there again with his mum. He was reluctant to see it but I guess it helped him process.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pike River is in cinemas from October 20.<\/p>\n

Save<\/a>Share this article<\/p>\n

Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.<\/p>\n

Copy LinkEmailFacebookTwitter\/XLinkedInReddit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is an extended version of the interview that appears in the October 18 2025 edition of The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1443,57538,4510,15166,3936,48803,156,221,6187,1362,5812,57537,2752,435,111,139,69,1118,90,3111,49648,6739,3046,57536,1361,223,6382,4524,18324,2248],"class_list":["post-73183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-about","tag-aftermath","tag-dark","tag-deaths","tag-director","tag-disaster","tag-entertainment","tag-how","tag-lives","tag-made","tag-make","tag-mine","tag-mining","tag-movie","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-on","tag-out","tag-pike","tag-river","tag-robert","tag-sarkies","tag-that","tag-the","tag-took","tag-want","tag-wasnt","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}