Bra Boys

source: Bra Boys

When the word documentary is mentioned the words boring and horrible pop into my head. I imagine wild life images with extremely boring narrators' voices that will put any normal person to sleep. The Bra Boys is anything but this sleep filled image. Filled with action and adventure it tells the story of notorious Abberton brothers, Jai, Koby and Sunny. The narration is by the manly Russell Crowe. In summary this movie is the Bra Boys response to everything in the media about the notorious beach gang in Maroubra. The world finally gets to hear the Bra Boys version about Crunalla riot, Mark Matthew's 21st, and the murder of Anthony Hines. Maybe even more importantly it show's how these events affected a gang of boys, who in the media is portrayed to have no feeling at all. Yes it's highly bias, but wasn't the media's side of the story as well? It is shot in a very amateur way and in parts goes on too much. A lot like the boys are bragging about the things the get up to. There's a lack of women, and in some cases a lack of clothes. If you can get past these minor factors it's a good watch. What is interesting and not deliberately put in is how well these boys have actually done to become at least half decent. Yes their idea of fun is jumping of a cliff a light, or bashing someone to a pulp, but at least they try to get the most out the life they have been given. They do the most they can to use surfing to get them out of the rut of their lives and then become good role models to the younger boys in the group, or at least compared to their home life. It's rather touching to watch considering what a lot of them cop at home. It's touching to see how much the Bra Boys support these boys and how much the gang is truly their family. It's very confronting because the viewer starts to realize they can't dismiss these kids as trouble makers, there's just so much more to their story. They add to the story by showing a lot of Australian culture and the history behind it. There's some humour included when talking about the laws put in place that included men wearing skirts and other such ridiculous things the Maroubra authorities put in place. This is why the film a worthwhile watch. It helps people see why these boys do such things. It shows a bigger picture of what the gang mentality is all about. It stirs empathy inside of the viewer. What does get old in the movie is the amount of fighting that is put into the film. For a 'defence film' it was a wrong choice because it makes them look horrible. It's like they can't make up their mind if they want to be strong and tough, or terribly misunderstood. I guess there giving us the whole of themselves not just the filtered through good bits, and then it's the viewer job to decide how exactly they should stereotype these guys. Nicole GYC

I absolutely loved this documentary, it shows the guys for who they are and where they came from. The passion they have for surfing and the people they care for is unbelievable especially when you listen to the lives they have all had. I'd never heard about the Bra Boys until I was on holiday last year, my sister and I had undertaken surf lessons from a guy a couple of years previously. We asked what happened to him and were told he was promoting a documentary about the community he grew up in, it was then I found out Sunny Abberton taught me to surf!! After being in Sydney last July I decided to take a visit down to Maroubra, I wasn't there long, but just knowing I was in the place that Sunny had learnt to surf made me want to surf again even more, unfortunately where i live thats not always possible. But this documentary was definitely worth the time it took trying to find a place that sold it! (even the amount I had to pay for it)

The Bra Boys Directors: Sunny Abberton, Macario De Souza Writer: Sunny Abberton Producers: Sunny Abberton, Michael Lawrence Executive producers: Jason Bergh, Sal Masakela, Michael Lythcott, Nicholas Cook, Michael Lawrence, John Mossop Directors of photography: Macario De Souza, Brook Silvester Music: Jamie Holt Narrator: Russell Crowe Bra boys is a personal documentary on the Australian surfing group called Bra boys who are centered in the Sydney Suburb called Maroubra, also Narrated by Russel Crowe. It is mostly revolved around the Abberton brothers Sunny, Koby, Jai Abberton and Dakota. The four brothers share three different fathers with a mother as a heroin addict and a boyfriend who is a thief. Even though they don't have a strong mother or father figure they have there grandmother Mavis "Ma" Abberton who they all adore. Her home is one block from the beach and isn't just welcome to her grandsons also to there friends. It's a very one eyed view documentary directed by Macario De Souza and one of the Abberton brothers Sunny. You get to see there side of the story not just the medias. Maroubra is a suburb that happens to be a breeding ground for expert pro-surfers, many of them are from public housing and broken families. Bra boy shows an interesting overview of the historical clash between surfers and authorities and also the Abberton brothers dealing with maybe losing two brothers to jail. The bra boys call themselves a tribe while the media call them a "gang". You can understand while the media would recall them gang, by all the trouble they course like example one of the bra boys was having a 21st party while the police where having a Christmas party in the same place but upstairs. When they clashed it turned into a big brawl with 44 policemen getting injured and 8 bra boys getting arrested by the police. The bra boys only show there side of the story to this but this wouldn't be the only drunken brawl they would've have. You see how Jai and Koby both almost end up in jail and what they go through before they find out there sentence, an also relief they feel when they don't have to live a sentence in jail. By there sense of relief they go and surf they biggest waves they have in there life and realise to live life to the fullest and not to take life for granted. By watching this movie even though it is very biased you see how there not just really a "gang". They are also a group of great friends who would do anything for each other. It is even touching to see how much they all adore and love there grandmother ma. It might not be a high budget film but you get to see there side to there story and how they live there lives. The Abberton brothers didn't have much at all while being brought up but they have made there own success and money especially Koby who is now one of the biggest big wave surfers in the world. I recommend people to watch this movie because it can make you think differently of the bra boys and see how there not just a gang there a brotherhood. Liv GYC

BRA BOYS Genre: Documentary Run Time: 85 Minutes Rated: M Country: Australia Director: Sunny Abberton Bra Boys is a compelling documentary of the infamous surf gang, the Bra Boys. The story is centered around the three Abberton Brothers Jai, Sunny and Koby who joined together with other young kids going through disadvantaged upbringings. The three brothers, as well as their younger brother Dakota (who isn't mentioned in the story much) are looked after by their grandmother Ma, who becomes the boys mother, mentor and gang leader after drugs and abuse, tore apart their relationship with their mother. The Maroubra beach gangs story is a scary incite in to the Australian beach culture in the Sydney suburb which helped to form them. One full of drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, assault and rape. The director of this film, Sunny Abberton tells his side of the story on the notorious 'Bra Boys' and their story of hatred, distrust, and the love and pride they have for each other. For their 'Family' and for their 'Brothers'. The Bra Boys are amazing surfers, riding the largest, heaviest and most dangerous waves on earth and loving every minute of it. The documentary shows us mixed sides of the Bra Boys. Scenes showing their annual fun days dancing on the streets, jumping off cliffs covered in flames, on top of a very unimpressed bus drivers bus, to other scenes of brawls taking place involving guns, knives and various other weapons. The movie is mostly male dominated with the only females really mentioned being their mother Lynn who couldn't look after them due to her Heroin addiction and abusive partner, and the lady who becomes the most influential person in the boys lives, their grandmother Ma, whose house the boys hung out at and were treated with as close to a family life as some of the boys could get. Some of the boys still hang out there after over 15 years. One disappointing aspect of the story was the fact that Jai didn't use his brothers documentary as a way to tell his side of the events that happened on August 5, 2003, when he shot Tony Hines and disposed of his body over the cliff. We also didn't learn what Koby did to be facing 15 years jail. As you can imagine, the story is the Bra Boys, therefore it's their version and side of events so you can be sure that the police would completely disagree on most of the information mentioned in this documentary. However I found it quite engaging and it showed me a different side of the gang than what I expected. For example to be told that the gang was involved in the Cronulla riots as peace keepers using their multicultural backgrounds and friends to call about peace was news to me as I was under the impression they were to blame for it, and also the fact that they payed for Jess, a young talented surfer to go surfing with them. Russel Crowe narrates the story, his voice giving the impression of the tough, strong, masculine Australian men that the Bra Boys seem to be. 'Bra Boys' is a great piece of work, if a bit contradictory in parts, but then life usually is. Georgie GYC

Enough people have waxed lyrical about this film so I will lay of the heavy dissection. As young surfer growing up in on the North Shore of Auckland New Zealand I can fully appreciate the sentiments around "the locals only" culture but never to the extent as portrayed here. A good movie for the footage of some heavy duty surfing on some out of control breaks. The Abberton brothers and crew have large kahunas I will give them that. You can almost taste the biased portrayal of the murder of the Hinds character. You would think that he deserved his fate and Jai & Koby were angels from heaven come to deliver the world from this evil menace. Unfortunately most kids in the Maroubra community will now come to think of these brothers as heroes for killing another human being be it an act of self defence or intentional. It is never okay to take a another persons life even if you came from the worst possible family environment possible. One last point...where are all the females?? Apart from the grandmother their seems to be a heavy underlying gay tone. Even in the group scenes their is a total distinct lack of female presence. I would have got out of there for that reason alone ha ha

Bra Boys (as in residents of the Sydney beach-side suburb of Maroubra rather than intimate female apparel) may well represent further evidence of a newly emerging style of Australian movie making. Something akin to what punk and grunge were to pop music of the 1990's. The first example of this possible new trend to come to my attention was "Kenny", in which the Crocodile Dundee character was resurrected as a dunny man rather than an eco-tourism guide. Engaging, honest, low brow and yet wise and disarming in a laid back, rough diamond sort of way. Whereas Kenny was apparently an example of spontaneous cinematic generation, Bra Boys was given a certain amount of mentoring by Russell Crowe and the people responsible for the Australian Broadcasting Commission's excellent documentary series, Australian Story. The ABC can lay hold to a proud tradition in this regard. They made it possible for a group of university review graduates to lay bare the sanctimonious foolishness of television news and current affairs programmes with their Front Line series a few years ago. The structure of Bra Boys is unpredictable and marvelous to behold. It has obvious antecedents in that genre of surfing films that started with Endless Summer back in the 1960's when surfies wore suits and ties when they travelled on commercial airlines. The Bra Boys were natural candidates for roles in the evolution of that genre into grand spectacles of surfers being towed into lethally dangerous waves the size of waterfalls. But Bra Boys is also a documentary on a prevention of a miscarriage of justice by the police and legal system. Its style is terse and economical with words, but it touches on the background to big news events that the media did not provide. The Bra Boys sudden appearance as peace makers after the internationally documented 2005 Cronulla race riots is given some passing explanation. All this plus a story of a worthy matriarchal figure who provided support and understanding to her hoodlums with hearts of gold. Yes it is probably more hagiography than hard bitten journalism, but it manages to convey the background to big events so much more effectively than the media hacks seem to be capable of doing. I am told the film suffers from audio and visual defects of a technical nature - I was too engrossed to notice.

I heard Bra Boys was a gang related story and straight away was not interested in seeing it even though a few friends had seen it and they had said it was a good movie I still had my doubts. After being reluctant to see it I gave in to the temptation that if there were so many good comments it can not be that bad. Bra Boys was one of those few movies you come across that take you on an emotional roller coaster ride, often feeling anxiety as the story unfolds. The movie was a fantastic achievement especially from one of the family members the movie revolves around and inspires greatness in all of us if we choose to make an effort in life. A very good documentary and well worth seeing, In the end I was glad I went to see it.

This movie is astonishingly biased and is based on the opinion of gang members rather than true fact. The movie basically attempts to justify a murder committed by one of the Abberton brothers, who head the group. It also accuses policemen of starting a fight with gang members when both groups were attending functions at the same location. "Bra Boys" encourages youngsters to leave school and take up a life of dangerous surfing, drug use and crime. The leaders who offer their opinions are ridiculously immature. Its wrong this movie was allowed to be released. The only good thing about the movie is Russell Crowes narration.