Review – Cedar Boys (2009)
August 16th 2009 05:54
A journey into the lives of Middle-Eastern Australians and the conflict between Sydney's western based migrants and the established anglo Eastern suburbs.
RELEASE DATE : June 10 2009 ( Sydney Film Festival) July 30 General Release.
RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes
CAST: Rachael Taylor ... Amie
Martin Henderson ... Mathew
Daniel Amalm ... Cassar
Bren Foster ... Jamal
Les Chantery ... Tarek
Waddah Sari ...Sam
Yasser Assadi ... Ali
Buddy Dannoun ... Nabil
Ian Roberts ... Bell Room Door Man
Serhat Caradee ... Zac
DIRECTOR: Serhat Caradee
WRITING CREDITS: Serhat Caradee
DISTRIBUTOR: Mushroom Pictures
SYNOPSIS: A journey into the lives of Middle-Eastern Australians and the conflict between Sydney's western based migrants and the established anglo Eastern suburbs. Tarek is a young panel beater who lives at home with his parents and younger sister. His best mate Nabil works for his family’s cleaning business while Sam the hot head of the trio thinks he can make it as a street hustler. When Sam offers Tarek a chance to join in on a heist that he and Nabil are planning, he initially refuses as he isn’t the criminal type.
On weekends they head out to go clubbing continually encountering a culture of racial stereo-typing where how you look decides whether or not you gain entry or not. That all changes when he meets Amie, a beautiful Anglo girl from the Eastern Suburbs. To impress her he decides to go in on the heist beginning a series of events that will eventually end in tragedy.
REVIEW: Cedar Boys seems to find its centre through the confusion of youth. Growing up in a Lebanese community, Tarek (Les Chantery) is conflicted by his family upbringing and his search for something more. In a world where you learn respect and hard work are the secrets to success, he is frustrated by the continual rejection he gets from what seems like a completely different world. East versus West. And Les finds a way to express this frustration with such ease that you know he has probably experienced at few of these emotions himself.
The entire cast it seems have could have been picked up off the street and it is easy to believe their story even if at times things do seem a little over the top. These boys are young enough to still feel that they will live forever. There is not even the slightest doubt that their plans could end in anything but success, and the anxious fear of the characters when it all starts to fall apart is palpable and real.
Rachel Taylor who has recently returned from the US gives us that wannabe Eastern Suburbs look that you find in the social section of every Sundays papers. It just has to be too good to be true, but Rachel manages to convince as the superficial Amie.
Serhat Caradee has created a incredibly realistic depiction of the divide between the different ethnic groups within Sydney. The main characters and plot are laid out at just the right pace to allow the audience to follow along in comfort. Nothing feels too forced and although it does seem a little incredible at times that these events could happen, it is still a realistic premise.
Some of the characters do at times feel a little underdeveloped, but that could very well be a personal perception of events and characters. Those living in most Australian capital cities will in some way associate with one or more characters in the film and expectations will vary from viewer to viewer.
With the recent spate of underworld and crime films and TV series currently on our screens or in production, it is not that hard to forget that this is a fictional story. It could very well happen.
At 100 minutes it seems that Australian Films struggle to reach that value for money two hour mark which many filmgoers look for, and it wouldn't have been that hard to extend another 10 minutes. That said, this was worth the cost of admission.
It will be interesting to see what Serhat follows up with next.
SJC
RANKING: 8 /10
RELEASE DATE : June 10 2009 ( Sydney Film Festival) July 30 General Release.
RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes
CAST: Rachael Taylor ... Amie
Daniel Amalm ... Cassar
Bren Foster ... Jamal
Les Chantery ... Tarek
Waddah Sari ...Sam
Yasser Assadi ... Ali
Buddy Dannoun ... Nabil
Ian Roberts ... Bell Room Door Man
Serhat Caradee ... Zac
DIRECTOR: Serhat Caradee
WRITING CREDITS: Serhat Caradee
DISTRIBUTOR: Mushroom Pictures
SYNOPSIS: A journey into the lives of Middle-Eastern Australians and the conflict between Sydney's western based migrants and the established anglo Eastern suburbs. Tarek is a young panel beater who lives at home with his parents and younger sister. His best mate Nabil works for his family’s cleaning business while Sam the hot head of the trio thinks he can make it as a street hustler. When Sam offers Tarek a chance to join in on a heist that he and Nabil are planning, he initially refuses as he isn’t the criminal type.
On weekends they head out to go clubbing continually encountering a culture of racial stereo-typing where how you look decides whether or not you gain entry or not. That all changes when he meets Amie, a beautiful Anglo girl from the Eastern Suburbs. To impress her he decides to go in on the heist beginning a series of events that will eventually end in tragedy.
CEDAR BOYS SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT VIP DRINKS, RED CARPET AND AFTERPARTY IVY, STATE THEATRE & ESTABLISHMENT HOTEL WEDNESDAY 3RD JUNE, 2009 PHOTOGRAPHER_BELINDA ROLLAND © 2009 SFF
REVIEW: Cedar Boys seems to find its centre through the confusion of youth. Growing up in a Lebanese community, Tarek (Les Chantery) is conflicted by his family upbringing and his search for something more. In a world where you learn respect and hard work are the secrets to success, he is frustrated by the continual rejection he gets from what seems like a completely different world. East versus West. And Les finds a way to express this frustration with such ease that you know he has probably experienced at few of these emotions himself.
The entire cast it seems have could have been picked up off the street and it is easy to believe their story even if at times things do seem a little over the top. These boys are young enough to still feel that they will live forever. There is not even the slightest doubt that their plans could end in anything but success, and the anxious fear of the characters when it all starts to fall apart is palpable and real.
Rachel Taylor who has recently returned from the US gives us that wannabe Eastern Suburbs look that you find in the social section of every Sundays papers. It just has to be too good to be true, but Rachel manages to convince as the superficial Amie.
Serhat Caradee has created a incredibly realistic depiction of the divide between the different ethnic groups within Sydney. The main characters and plot are laid out at just the right pace to allow the audience to follow along in comfort. Nothing feels too forced and although it does seem a little incredible at times that these events could happen, it is still a realistic premise.
Some of the characters do at times feel a little underdeveloped, but that could very well be a personal perception of events and characters. Those living in most Australian capital cities will in some way associate with one or more characters in the film and expectations will vary from viewer to viewer.
With the recent spate of underworld and crime films and TV series currently on our screens or in production, it is not that hard to forget that this is a fictional story. It could very well happen.
At 100 minutes it seems that Australian Films struggle to reach that value for money two hour mark which many filmgoers look for, and it wouldn't have been that hard to extend another 10 minutes. That said, this was worth the cost of admission.
It will be interesting to see what Serhat follows up with next.
SJC
RANKING: 8 /10
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