Rob Munday
If I were to describe Stefan Hunt’s short film Yeah The Boys as a depiction of masculinity and Australia’s drinking culture, it would be accurate, but might conjure up a certain stereotype. However, the film beautifully defies expectations, as in collaboration with his wife, choreographer Vanessa Marian (who conceived the initial idea), Hunt has created a work that is as touching and unexpected as anything you’ll see this year.
The film opens with a tender moment as a young woman lovingly grooms her “grubby” partner in the front seat of her car. But just as this intimate scene unfolds, it’s abruptly shattered when his friends swarm the car. With bodies pressed against the windows, the young man is quickly swallowed up by the rowdy group, and their night of drinking begins.
“This process took some 3 – 4 full weeks to develop with professional dancers, who are highly trained to do lifts, falls, and stunts as though they are simply a bunch of boys getting rowdy on the drinks.” – director Hunt.
This sudden disruption delivers a jolt, almost like a jump scare, but it’s far from the film’s most unexpected moment. As the music (courtesy of The Avalanches) pulses in, and the night’s chaos escalates, the group of men transforms into a swirling, choreographed tangle of limbs and emotions. Their dancing and drinking pull us into their frenetic energy, with our perspective on the group shifting as rapidly as their movements. Visually, it’s captivating to watch, but there’s much more beneath the surface of Hunt’s film.
“My wife the choreographer, created this concept based on the idea of Australian masculinity viewed through the feminist lens”, the director reveals. Adding that “the idea was to portray a typical Aussie drinking session entirely through movement and dance”, Marian and Hunt were looking to examine “this idea that men often don’t communicate with words” and show how “so much of what they feel comes down to sub-text, gesture and body language”.
“This film doesn’t try to be moralistic, but it simply asks the question: when does the night stop feeling fun?”
Told in four long takes with minimal dialogue to capture the chaotic energy of the story, Hunt decided to treat his steadicam operator almost like a seventh dancer and ensure his movements were “meticulously choreographed”. We talk a lot about the immersive nature of films in our write-ups for S/W, but Sam Chiplin (DoP) and Justin Besser (Steadicam) take it to another level here with their camera often so close to the action, you wonder how it isn’t getting mounted by one of the dancers.
This immersive quality is crucial to the success of Yeah The Boys, as Hunt needed his audience to feel like they were in the midst of the action to provoke a genuine reaction. If viewers perceive themselves as outsiders looking in, the film risks losing its impact. Aiming to explore the question, “When does the night stop feeling fun?” Hunt acknowledges that responses to the film can vary widely; some viewers may identify with the group, while others might feel scared or intimidated by them. Pleased with this range of reactions, Hunt believes that “you don’t need to push any moral agenda to evoke such visceral reactions and conversations from people”.