ScreenWize

This low budget Aussie film about three young men of Middle-Eastern descent who dabble in drug crime is slow to get going, but survives on excellent performances from the core cast before it really hits its straps in the last twenty minutes. It’s a contemporary urban gangster flick that immerses us deeply and realistically in it’s shiny sad world – and examines the difficulties & dangers of life as a second-generation migrant tempted by the easy way to get the goods.

Tarek (Les Chantery) is a panel-beater from Bankstown in Sydney’s West. Along with mates Sam (Waddah Sari) and Nabil (Buddy Dannoun) he’s looking for a step up and out of his world. Neither truly grounded with his traditional Lebanese family, nor really accepted by the Aussies at work, Tarek dreams of a cool car, a hot chick and a flashy apartment in the wealthy Eastern suburbs. When an opportunity to make some money by cheating drug dealers comes their way, the three friends decide that this is their chance to get ahead, but – as with all gangster movies – it’s never that simple, and the stakes escalate as nastier creatures higher up the drug food chain emerge to reclaim what is theirs.

The strongest part of this film is the character design of the three leads along with the performances given by Chantery, Sari – and in particular Dannoun. Sam is the cocky aggressive leader who’s already getting ahead selling pills and cocaine. Sensitive Tarek and thoughtful Nabil are the novices – unwilling at first to follow the path that has already seen Tarek’s older brother behind bars. But peer pressure, the admiration of a beautiful girl from the other side of town (Rachael Taylor) and the lure of cash is just too much. Writer/director Serphat Caradee creates a raw, grungy, everyday world using handheld camera and plenty of pumping rap music, and – despite making it clear what the dangers of this way of life are – never offers his characters, or us, an alternative way of being in the world. Caradee – like the filmmakers behind the recent Australian films dealing with similar themes - The Combination and Two Fists One Heart - is more comfortable immersing us in the world he knows, and at times there’s just too much of the ordinary detail going on. Nevertheless it’s a strong debut feature from a young director who has already won much acclaim overseas for his short films.

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Filed Under: Reviews by Simon