Former Novocastrian Dein Perry has put the steel into the city in his long-awaited movie Bootmen. And he hasn't held back, writes James Joyce. DESPITE some to-die-for scenery and a feel-good finale, director Dein Perry acknowledges that his new film isn't exactly a tourism commercial for his home town.

Bootmen tells the story of two young tap-dancing steelworker brothers from Newcastle, who fall in love with the same girl while rehearsing a tap dance benefit concert for their retrenched workmates. The film's early scene-setting shot is a spectacular aerial sweep above the wreck of the Sygna that moves up Stockton Beach to Newcastle Harbour and down the Hunter River to the imposing BHP steelworks.

First-time director Perry and cinematographer Steve Mason lay on some other equally breathtaking images guaranteed to warm the heart of proud Novocastrians, including an overhead shot of Nobby's headland and a picture-postcard view from Newcastle Ocean Baths at dawn. Even the heavy metal grime of the steelworks has a majestic austerity. But there's no romance or nostalgia in Bootmen's blue-collar characters and their working-class ways. It's all checked flannelette shirts, watching footy, fist fights and the `f' word.

But Perry wouldn't have it any other way. As producer Hilary Linstead told a press conference before last week's Newcastle premiere of the film: `Quite a lot of the toughness we actually reduced, which was not to Dein's liking.' Perry, a fitter and turner by trade who went on to create the internationally acclaimed Tap Dogs stage show that was the inspiration for Bootmen, acknowledges that some Novocastrians might find his depiction harsh.

`That's what it was like and very much how I felt when I was growing up,' said the former Charlestown boy, who is now based in Sydney. `It's probably not as tough now as it used to be. It used to be quite a tough joint. There's no doubt about that.' Bootmen has been classified `M' for its `medium level' violence and coarse language. It will carry the equivalent `R' rating when it opens next week in the United States.

Perry said the movie needed to be `tough' because `that's what sells'. `To be able to make a dance movie in this day and age you need to be able to pull something into the movie that's selling movies these days,' he said. `And the violence and drama and conflict and that sort of stuff are all part of it. `Besides, when it comes down to a few `F' words here and there $ and we didn't use the `C' word $ to me, that's natural, normal stuff.

`I just wanted to make it real. If you've got a bunch of guys going around having an argument and they're all saying "frigging" to each other it sort of doesn't make sense and lightens the whole thing up and makes fun of it. `Then it might turn into more a West Side Story and a ballet gang number rather than a tough reality number.' Most of Bootmen was filmed last year in Newcastle. The shoot was plagued by poor weather and forced some reshoots, including the memorably picturesque sequence at Newcastle Ocean Baths. `There were two beautiful days, the first and the last, and it just bucketed down for the rest of the time,' Perry recalled with a laugh.

`For me, that was a bit of a bummer because, as much as Newcastle is an industrial town and everyone perceives it that way, I really, really wanted to show some beautiful beaches and parks. `That was my thought behind the opening shot. Starting with the Sygna and then going down a beautiful coastline, taking a right-hand turn and, all of a sudden, you've got this huge industrial site next to such beauty.'

Perry payed close attention to the aerial sequence under the opening credits. `The way I originally storyboarded it was to start by sweeping across the Sygna and flying straight down the coast and all the way to BHP. We did that but we had to cut it up because, for some reason, I was given a quote very early on that it would only take a minute and a half in a helicopter from the Sygna to BHP. When we realised it would take seven minutes we thought that might be a bit long for the opening credits.'

Perry said it was a struggle when he was forced to edit out other Newcastle scenery. `I got some beautiful overhead shots of the BHP,' he said. `We had a chopper going right through the smoke going up from the smoke stacks. But, at the end of the day, if it's not advancing the story, even beautiful shots won't mean anything.' While he described working with stars Adam Garcia, Sam Worthington and Sophie Lee as `a joy', Perry confessed that the brief cameo by retired Newcastle Knight Tony Butterfield was one of the highlights of the shoot. `His is one of the bits I'm most proud of,' Perry said.

`When Tony came in we only had about an hour and a half to shoot his scene. We were a bit worried, hoping that he would get it together and not fumble too much because we were in a hurry. `And, I'll tell you what, he came in and just nailed it. Everytime we'd do it from a different angle he'd get it in the first take. I didn't have to give him much direction. `It was beautiful to watch. I think he's really talented. Everyone was absolutely shocked and surprised. It was fantastic. He was just so relaxed with it.

`To be able to make a dance movie in this day and age you need to be able to pull something into the movie that's selling movies these days. And the violence and drama and conflict and that sort of stuff are all part of it.'

Thanks to Colette for help with this page.