Original subtitles

Hello!

- Bring him in. - Bring him in.

Through here. Just get him in.

Alright, uh...

- OK, sit down. - OK, OK.

Hold his head! You have to keep his bloody head still!

Hey, hey! Hey, hey, you!

We've gotta get a clean...

Uh, no... Yeah, no worries.

What is his beef, huh?

It doesn't matter. I can't do it anyway.

I can't shoot a mate.

What can I get you, mate?

Uh, just a beer, thanks.

So, what's wrong with the dog?

Oh, baited strychnine

Why would anyone want to poison a dog?

Maybe someone set it out for the roos or the dingoes

or someone just doesn't like dogs, you know?

There are people, sick people.

Sorry.

Are you his master?

No, no. He has no master. Well, not now.

That's not just any dog in there, you know?

No? Oh, no, no.

No, no, he's a famous dog.

He's probably the most famous dog in all Australia.

Red Dog.

Yeah, the one that warned those people about that fire.

No, no, no.

The one that saved that child...

No, no, not him. Wrong dog.

Didn't he... No, no, no, no.

Look, mate, you're looking at it all the wrong way.

It's, uh... it's not what he did.

It's who he was.

'Is', I mean.

Red Dog?

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Vet's coming.

Yeah? When? Soon.

How's the poor thing doing?

Oh, I'm sorry, mate. Jack Collins, publican

Thomas Baker, trucker.

Yeah, yeah.

It was me that brought Red Dog to Dampier - me and Maureen...

near on 10 years ago now,

back in the mean old days

when men were men and dogs were...dogs,

rougher, hotter,

brighter, redder.

Why would anybody build a town out here?

Why would anyone LIVE in a town built out here?

Iron ore. Money.

Yeah, I know that.

What's that? What's what?

On the road.

It's a dog.

I can see that.

What's it doing out here?

Hello, boy!

Hey? Hello.

Hello. Aren't you a pretty boy, hey?

Hello.

Are you lost?

Do you need water?

Cheeky bastard.

Struth!

Is that the dog?

Well, it's certainly not me! Eugh!

Ohh! Oh, Lord, what did that thing eat?

Stop the car! I can't breathe! Ohh!

Eugh!

Oh...

Oh, this is like... Wow.

Ohh!

Ohh!

Hey, Maureen, Maureen. Come and have a look at this.

Oh, that poor little bugger.

Oh!

Oh, g'day, Rick. He's out the back, mate.

- Righto Thanks. - Hey Rick.

That's the vet.

Here you go, Vanno.

Hey. Vanno, this is Tommy boy.

I've just been telling him about Red Dog.

Vanno here's one of his first mates from back in the days.

Yes, 'the days'.

Wild days?

Very wild, very lonely

A dog of a certain type can do well in a lonely town

I know.

I come from a small little village in Italy - Abruzzi

Here we go.

Ohh!

Yes, yes, you all bloat,

but my little village was beautiful.

In spring, flowers are like Turkish carpet

and the wine would make you see the Virgin.

Why did you leave?

Same as all these fools - money!

We all follow the money.

They come from everywhere.

From all the countries, they come

for the money, for the work.

From Poland, New Zealand,

Ireland, Greece,

Latvia, America.

Even Melbourne.

Living together, eating together

and crapping together.

Money crackpot

They may look normal, but not normal.

Sun has burned out their brains.

See, I know sun in Italy, in Abruzzi,

but I not know the sun until I come here.

Very dangerous, this sun.

I knew a man - Goran. Remember Goran?

The sun, it kill him.

And also Sam. Remember Sam-Man?

He work in the sun for five hours without no hat.

Fool!

Afterward he spoke Chinese for two days.

Before the sun, he know not a word of Chinese!

Yes, it was crazy place when Red Dog arrive in Dampier.

Men are no better than wild animals.

They drink much and they... How do you say? 'Imbulge'.

And their hair, it goes funny.

If that thing could flap...

..it might just fly away.

You two...be needing an ed-u-cation.

A what?

Arggh!

Ohh!

Though not all imbulge

Some were quiet, educated,

with dark, mysterious past.

Some that never, ever laugh.

In Abruzzi, no-one would fight over moustache.

What do they fight over?

Women!

Abruzzi has the most beautiful women in Italy.

Slender, with a wonderful breast, like a nut.

Nuts?

Yes! Big, beautiful nut!

To come from a place with such beautiful women

to a place with no women...

I don't think you can understand Such pain.

In Abruzzi, the sky is very blue,

like, uh...

..like the Sky of Abruzzi.

In Abruzzi, the sea...

Arghh!

Oi! 01!

Barry Wright to main office, please.

Barry Wright.

We took a vote, and the shop steward agrees.

If you don't stop talking about 'Bruzkilu

Abruzzi!

..The Ski Patrol have permission to slit your throat.

Sorry.

Everyone's homesick.

Not you?

Need a home to be homesick, mate.

You alone too, Mr Doggie?

But you are happy, no?

You have a gift, Mr Doggie.

I do not.

Have you ever heard of Abruzzi?

Abruzzi has the best fishing in Italy...

What can I say?

He was an excellent listener.

He did not judge.

A polite doggie, a very loyal doggie.

Or so I thought.

Betrayal!

Hey!

What are you doing? Nothing.

Are you talking to my dog? Your dog?

How is he your dog? I talk to him first.

That doesn't make him your dog, mate.

That just makes you weird.

If I am weird then you are more weird.

Not likely. I feed him steak!

Well, what do you think I'm feeding him? Broccoli?

Dog robber

Alright, then. Why don't we let him decide?

Good. Let HIM decide!

Whose doggie are you?

- Give us a kiss.

Good boy! How you going?

Oh, you're a good boy, Red Dog.

You little Red Dog, aren't ya? Aren't ya a good boy?

He was like that - a dog for everyone.

Come here, boy!

Come here, boy.

Here, Red. Here.

Good boy! Come here.

Yes, for everyone, but no-one in particular.

All those in favour of Red Dog joining the TWU

under the job heading con...consu...

Consulari. Whatever.

All those in favour, say "Aye"

Aye.

Yes, a union doggie,

a doggie for all.

That is, until he met his true master.

- Johnny! - Yeah, Johnny!

- Johnny boy! - Johnny Boy!

Good morning.

Bloody Americans.

Hey!

Did you see that? Red Dog.

He almost got run over. Nan, he was hitchhiking, mate.

That was hitchhiking?

Once you pick him up, he remembers

and thinks it's his right to demand a ride any time.

Pushy bloke, no doubt about it.

What? He only does that to people that he knows?

Of course not. Just the ones he likes.

Hey, what do you think you're doing'?!

Go on, get off my bike. Go on, go on. Get!

The World is a funny place, no?

Sometimes you pick your dog.

Sometimes your dog picks you.

No dogs on the bus.

All the sad faces in the world won't work,

so you can just stop.

- Ready? - OK, five.

In for five.

Ready? Quiet!

GO!

Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!

9.2 seconds! A new world record!

No! Oh-ho-ho!

What's next? What's next?

Something harder! Give him the meat tray!

A chicken!

Why wouldn't he eat a chicken?

Alive chicken!

Enough!

I won't let Red Dog eat a live chicken for your sick amusement.

What's it to you, huh? It's not your dog.

No chicken, mate.

Says who? I do.

Ooh!

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!

OK, OK!

No chicken, no chicken.

Red Dog, come!

Huh?

Come on, boy. We ride together now.

And from that day on Red Dog had a master...

the only master he would ever have.

Hey, but enough said about that.

- Hey, quiet! Quiet! Shh! - Turn the jukebox off.

Uh...to tell you the truth, I should put him down.

But he's a strong old dog

and God knows he deserves a last fight

so I've given him some anticonvulsants,

he's resting easier.

We wait. Hopefully, he'll make it through the night.

Come on, Red Dog.

Poor Red.

What are we gonna do with you, huh?

A shame, that is. Yeah.

There's a lot of history there, you know,

with Nancy, John, Red Dog

Down!

Bad dog!

You'll never get him out of there, Miss.

No-one sit there when Red sit there.

Ohh!

Well, aren't you a charmer, huh?

Stop that!

Bad dog!

Hang on, Miss. Hang on!

Ever since he became a union member

he thinks he's got rights.

I'm not moving, so you'll just have to put up with me.

Stop that! Now, be a gentleman and move over!

- Now! -Ooh.

Hello.

You're sharing a seat with my dog.

Yes, I am.

Wow.

So, what will you be doing at Hamersley, Nancy?

A secretary.

Quite a change from Perth.

An adventure, to be sure.

That's a good way to look at it, an adventure.

- Is alright yet? - Don't wanna be too late,

Give it another minute or two to air out, boys.

Wouldn't want anyone to get sick from the fumes.

So, Nancy, there's a new movie playing at the open-air.

Would you like to come and see it?

What's it about?

Uh, I can't remember.

Alright, then.

Still 'rip'. 'Ripe?

Yes, the rip is very ripe.

Oh, yeah?

Hi, John

Uh, I need to borrow the wagon

so I can take the new girl to the movies.

What makes you think that shed be interested

in a skinny little Yank like you

when she's got us proper blokes around?

I bathe.

Also, do you think you could watch Red?

-I think he's a touch... - ..J-E-A-L-O-U-S.

J-E-what?

- Jealous. -Oh! Huh?

Pfft! No troubles.

We'll have a right party, we will.

Won't we, Red? Thanks, Peet. See ya, Red.

Get ready to get wild.

This one's a beauty.

It's called the fisherman's rib.

Lovely, don't you think?

You play your cards right

and I can make you a sweater with four legs.

Where do you think you're going?

Ohh...

Yo!

We're going to the pub.

I can't.

I'm watching Red Dog for Johnny boy.

What is in his mouth?

Hey! Give me that.

Bring back my bloody yarn!

Red! Red!

Hello, kitty.

Whoa.

Hey, hey. Go on, take off.

Red Cat was an horrendous animal, no?

He was - how do you say?...

a destroyer of many pooches

Hey, what are you doing to my cat?

Nothing. I...

What's going on?

Oh, this cat tried to attack me. It must smell Red Dog on me.

Visitors have to park on the road. It's a rule.

Sorry, Mr Cribbage.

Rules are rules, Miss Grey.

With all the riffraff the company's hiring

it's only rules that separate us from the animals.

Goodnight, Mr Cribbage.

He's the caretaker of the park.

I'm trying not to get on his bad side.

Does he have a good side?

There you are. Thank you.

Turn your bloody lights off, ya nongs!

PERSONS Shh!

Oh, geez!

ohm

- Oi! I can't see!

What the hell is that?

Hide. It's my dog.

Ohh!

You, dog, be needing an ed-u-cation.

Hey, can I show you something?

Careful.

So a few years back, this old dude, Jumbo Smelt,

was swimming right out there

and he got attacked by a great white.

Bit him in the leg and pulled him under.

Did he die? No, no.

The shark spat him out- didn't like the way he tasted.

Not a surprise if you knew Jumbo.

It took 73 stitches to get his leg sewed back together.

That's awful.

Hey, no-one swims out there any more.

Most days you can still see the shark swimming back and forth.

He's been spotted so often the boys have given him a name.

Mmm? Lord Nelson.

I don't see anything.

Maybe we should go out a bit deeper.

What's that? What?!

Nothing. It's not funny!

Maybe he's asleep.

Sharks don't sleep.

They have to keep moving, just like you,

Mr Never Lived More Than Two Years in the Same Place.

Are you calling me a shark? Maybe.

Nan, you got me wrong.

Moving is part of my romantic nature.

Hmm.

You're just scared.

Scared? Of what?

Of finding something worth staying in one place for.

Really?

Hello, Red. Hello! Come on. Up.

Red Dog! Red!

Yep, Red was a real matchmaker, alright.

Red Dog is reason I met my most bella wife.

Do you remember? It was the day Red Dog was shot.

Red Dog was shot? Oh, yes.

After his first great fight with Red Cat.

Why would anyone Shoot him? Because he won.

No, he did not win his first fight with Red Cat,

but Red Dog was not a normal poochie.

He was smart, very, very smart,

and brave.

Get out! Get! You dirty, filthy, whoring hound!

Yeah? Johnny boy!

Phone.

Hello.

He's over here!

Hey, buddy. Hey.

Oh, what have they done to you?

Ohh. What do you think?

I can stop the bleeding, but we have to get him to a vet.

Thais four hours.

Three and a half, mate, the way I drive.

Don't you dare die on me, you damn dog.

Don't you dare die.

You're OK.

So, who do you think did it?

Evil Cribbages..

They live on pig shouts and they hate the doggies

what makes you think he has a rifle?

-I know. - How do you know that?

After Jumbo Smelt was eaten in the leg

all the men with gun...

..went out to kill the sharky.

I'm glad they didn't kill it.

Why?

You never know when you might need a shark.

What in Gods red earth would you need a shark for?

Say you woke up one fine morning

and didn't find it so fine.

Being eaten by a shark is rather a memorable way to go.

You would not talk this way if you laugh once in a while.

I laugh.

Never. Hes right, mate.

I've never even heard you chuckle.

Maybe you haven't noticed,

but Dampier's no three-ring bloody circus, is it?

In my home village of Abruzzi

there was always laughter, always.

I don't even think there is an Abruzzi.

You probably come from some piss-ugly town in Albania

and are trying to pass.

Vannoski!

That is not funny.

Yuri Vannoski.

Dimitri Vannoski.

Knitter.

What did you call me? I called you a knitter!

What kind of a man Knits a sweater?

Shut up! Give Red Dog some peace, for Godsakes!

It's OK. It'll be OK.

Well, he got lucky.

The bullets missed the bone.

I saved them for you.

Well, look at that.

How long will he need to stay? Just a Couple of hours,

it's my shout, boys.

You alright?

Red's gonna need to come back in two weeks.

That's a long bloody drive. Yeah.

I could try and take the stitches out for you.

No.

I will take him.

It would be an honour.

Idiota, idiota, idiota!

His nose, it is, uh, very dry.

I cannot sleep

Yes, a Worm.

A big White worm

I am sorry they give you enema last time.

This time I promise to ask her out

OK, OK, OK.

I ask her out and give you big meat, huh?

No. After.

I can't see any glass.

I wonder, you know, sometime,

I and you together maybe...

Are you asking me out?

I do.

Arggh!

Well?

Yes, I, Vincenzio Alberto Girolomo,

ask you, bella Rosa, out.

A round of drinks on me

for my bella Rosa, my bello child Giovanni and Red Dog.

He saved my life once. True.

Yeah? How did he do that?

Everyone that ends up in this part of the country

has something they're running away from.

Hang on.

Lack of money, broken heart,

violent acts, loss of hope.

We all have a story we left behind.

10 years ago, my wife and girl were killed in an auto accident

when I was driving.

Oh, Jesus, I...I'm sorry.

What Vanno said was true. I...I hadn't laughed in years.

Then one fine morning I woke up

and I didn't find it so fine.

Oh, g'day, Jumbo.

Couldn't stand a drink

for me poor nerves and me throbbing scar, could you?

No worries, Jumbo.

Throbbing something horrible all night.

And what do I hear this morning?

Me old nemesis, Lord Nelson, is back off Hansen's Cove,

swimming back and forth, carefree as a kiss.

Huh.

I feel like Captain bloody Hook.

Tick-tock, tick-took.

Hey, mate, can you grab us a cold one out of the esky?

Oh, g'day, mate.

Get it!

Where are you, you lazy-arse fish?

Hey, get out of it, you mongrel! That's my Steak!

Drop that steak!

- Jocko! - Get out!

MAN 32 Shark!

Faster! Get in, Jocko!

Ah!

Do you want to die? Get rid of the steak!

Get in!

You alright?

Wasn't for Red Dog and that prime hunk of red meat,

you'd be looking at fish bait

Hello?

Oh, uh. Wait. Wait a second. Uh...

A gentleman.

Four sisters.

Ah. Well...

Oh, yeah, sorry. Sorry.

Yeah

So, whatever happened to them?

Who? Nancy and John.

Uno, dos, one, two, tres, cuatro.

Up! Up' Up' up.

Yeah!

Not that song!

Hey.

Excuse me, guys.

Oh, here we go, here we go, here we go.

Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!

- Speech! - No. No, no, no, no, no.

What do you think I'm standing up here for, the weather?

How's the weather? Hot!

Now, most of you blokes have no idea

what we're celebrating here tonight.

You heard there was free beer and food

and you came swarming out of the night like locusts

He's not a bad bloke for a seppo..

But I'm here to tell you there's something deeper

going on here tonight.

We're celebrating a unique moment in my life.

Sedentariness.. Did he say he was on drugs?

Nan, I think he's joining the priesthood.

Now, I've been in Dampier two years and one day.

That is one day longer than I've ever been

in any single place my whole life.

- Why, you ask? Why? Why? -Why?

Why in this glorious armpit of the North-West?

One reason.

One incredibly beautiful reason.

I am hopelessly in love with Nancy Grey,

and I am not afraid to tell the world about it, or her.

Uh... Huh.

Nancy Jane Grey...

..will you marry me?

John Grant...

..I Will!

Now, go home!

Lovely party. Mmm

I think we should go to my place.

Or we could just go into my bed.

Which two of your mates are passed out in.

Red Dog, you stay. You hear me?

I'll be back in the morning.

Go back to sleep, beautiful.

I'll see you tonight, OK?

Hello?

Oh, hello, Nancy. It's Jocko.

Hello, Jocko. How"s your head?

What head?

Some joker's replaced it with a swollen pumpkin.

Have you seen John? Why?

Well, he never showed up for work.

He left my place early to go back to his house.

He probably went back to sleep, is all.

I'll... it's nearly lunch.

I'll pop over and take a peek.

Call me when you find him. Will do.

See that? What?

Turn around.

Slow down.

Here!

Oh!

No. Oh!

With all the sadness and then..

..Arrangements for the funeral,

everyone forgot about Red Dog.

Wasn't till three days had passed

that anyone noticed that...

..he was still waiting outside Johns house

Nancy made an effort to claim him, but...

..he was a one-master dog.

So he waited.

In the heat and the cold, day and night.

For three weeks, he sat in front of John's house

and barely moved,

his eyes always on the road.

Then one day, Red Dog made a decision.

If John wasn't gonna come home, them he, Red Dog.

Would go out in the world and find John,

Walked in the transport...

and looked into the face... of every man there

He was asking a single question.

""Have you seen John?"

""Have you seen John?"

""Have you seen John?"

""Have you seen John?"

He looked everywhere at Hamersley. Every department.

And when he couldn't find him there,

he went to the saltworks.

And then the mall.

And then the pub.

And even the harbour.

Most dogs would have stopped there in Dampier.

But most dogs weren't Red Dog.

And this is how he became famous.

This is how he became the Pilbara Wanderer,

Dog of the North-West.

You see mate...

..he went everywhere.

He travelled for years.

Town to town to town.

He was spotted down in Perth more than once

and as far north as Darwin.

And I have it on good authority

that he even hitched a ride on an ore ship

from Port Hedland to Saganoseki, Japan.

But in the end, after all the looking

and the travelling...

..the grief...

..I think he finally knew.

It was time.

Time to come home.

Red?

Red?

Red Dog! Red!

Red Dog! Hello!

Red Dog. Red Dog!

You came back!

Did you hear?

I got a promotion. I'm an executive assistant now.

Which is really the same as a secretary

except I get paid a bit more.

They've put me on the list for one of the new houses at Karratha.

Oh.

And I finally let that Kurt bloke take me out.

I don't think so.

Bad dental hygiene.

Shh.

Hello.

Miss Grey. Mmm

Its come to our attention

that you're in serious violation of park rules.

And what would they be? You know what.

No dogs allowed! It's a silly rule.

We know you have a dog in there. No point in denying.

Red Dog is not your average dog, Mr Cribbage.

He has privileges. Everybody knows that.

I don't care if he's the Queen's bloody corgi.

If you don't get rid of him, we get rid of you.

Aha!

Red, stop that.

Your contract clearly states that you cannot own a dog.

I don't own Red Dog. Nobody does.

Then he's a stray. No. He's common.

What the heck's common?

He's accepted and cared for by the town.

The community.

Now, there's a laugh.

That's no proper town. And there's no such community.

It's just a bunch of dirty miners

working, drinking and whoring.

What happens in this park is what I say.

And I say that dog is a dangerous stray,

plain and simple.

And the next time I see him, I'll shoot him for sure.

Listen to me, you little bug.

You as much as harm a hair OD that dogs head

and you will have me and the entire Pilbara to answer to!

You've been warned, Miss Grey. And so have you.

Now, once more.

Who was it?

Everyone.

Stop that!

Who are all you people?

Well, they would be the community of Dampier.

But since there is no proper town and no such community,

I guess they're just a bunch of dirty, drunken miners.

-Yeah! - That's right. Dirty, drunken.

I'll call the police, I will.

There's no need, Mr Cribbage. Back here.

Get these people out of my park!

Now, Mr Cribbage. You're just the caretaker

Hamersley owns the land. So what?

I take care of the land. You got a problem with that?

What do you all want with me?

Oh, we just have a small delegation

that would like to have a private word with you.

That's all.

Oh, whoops. Seems to be my break time

Call me if you need me.

We had a little chat.

It was very civilised and all. You were very persuasive.

It was nothing, really.

All the Cribbages needed was a bit of ed-u-cation.

Well, they were so educated

that they ran away and took their caravan with them.

The only thing they left behind...

..was their cat.

So as Red Dog would never be accused

of being a low-clown dirty stray again,

we all had him registered at the shire as common

Oh!

But...

..there was a reckoning still to be decided.

The Cribbages were gone, true,

but let us not forget that a dark, sinister force

still ruled over the caravan park.

Good versus evil!

Civilisation versus chaos!

Doggie do versus cat poo!

Red Dog and Red Cat are going at it! Place your bets, gents!

They fight!

They fight!

What?

Spectacular.

Nobody knows how or why.

Perhaps it was a grudging respect.

Certainly, they were the scrappiest and the rangiest

their two kinds have ever cooked up.

Perhaps they saw more than a bit of themselves in each other.

Who knows?

But know this.

Mates, they became.

- Red Cat and Red Dog. - Red Cat and Red Dog.

Shh, shh, shh.

There's an iron statue outside

brought up from Perth

By this fine man, Thomas, here.

It's of that old English explorer William Dampier.

Paid for, as in all things, by Hamersley Iron...

..to stand at the entrance of this town.

Dampier sailed into the harbour in 16-something-or-other,

spent five minutes, sailed out again.

The only thing he wrote about the place was,

"Too many flies."

That's it!

"Too many flies"!

Well, I say, to hell with that!

Why should we have a statue

honouring a poncy Pommy fly-hating aristocrat?

Or, for that matter, a fat bloody general,

or, God help us, a stinkin' politician?

Yeah!

We should have somebody that understands this place.

Somebody that lives and breathes this vastness and desolation.

Somebody that's got red dust stuck up their nose

and in their eyes and their hair

and up their arse!

Somebody that's like all of us.

Men...

and women...

who understand the meaning of independence

and the importance of a generous heart.

Mates who are loyal by nature, not design...

Hand who know the meaning of love and loss.

Somebody that represents our home.

Somebody that represents the Pilbara in all of us.

And I say that somebody...

..dammit...

..is a dog!

Guess whose shout.

Yeah!

- PEOPLE Whoo! -Yeah!

- Hey!

To Red Dog!

The best damn doggie in the whole damn country!

Hey. Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

He's gone.

No, no.

He's gone from the room. He's not out the back any more.

We have to find him Come on. Let's go.

- Red Dog! - Red!

Red! Red!

Doggie!

Red Doggie! Red!

Doggie!

Red!

Here, Red!

Here, boy!

Red!

Red!

Where are you, boy?

Red!

Red Dog, come home.

They've found him.

You stay, boy.

You stay here.

You're home now.

Oh, my God!

Where'd you get him? Vanno was giving them away.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you would please take a seat,

Red Dog died on November 21, 1979. His statue still stands on the road to Dampier. His story became an Australian legend.