HEY, HEY IT’S ESTHER BLUEBURGER (2009)
Stars: Danielle Catanzariti, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Toni Collette, Essie Davis | Written and directed by Cathy Randall
Hey, Hey It’s Esther Blueburger is the story of Esther, a 13 year old Jewish Australian girl who doesn’t fit in with the conformist crowd at her all girls private school; she carries around a duck, talks to god through a toilet and break-dances at her bar-mitzvah. It’s at her bar-mitzvah that Esther befriends free-spirited Sunni, who attends the local state school; enamoured with her new friend, Esther attends the school as a Swedish exchange student. It is here she finds her freedom, amongst the cliques of Sunni’s school Esther finds her home with Sunni and her small group of social rejects, with their help she experiences the things she thought she was missing out on at her former school. “Sometimes to fit in you have to stand out…”
I’m not typically a fan of Australian cinema, but when I read that tagline for Hey, Hey It’s Esther Blueburger I was intrigued. Sounding like something that would describe a 1980’s John Hughes teen movie, I had to see if this film could deliver on that promise. I wasn’t disappointed. With Hey, Hey It’s Esther Blueburger, writer/Director Cathy Randall has successfully managed to make an Australian Juno-esque update of Sixteen Candles, with a bar-mitzvah replacing that films birthday. There are many similarities in both character and performance between Danielle Catanzariti’s Esther and the lead characters in both those Hollywood movies. And the similarities don’t stop there, like all good teen movies, the soundtrack for Hey, Hey It’s Esther Blueburger is worth noting. Featuring an eclectic mix of artists such as Missy Higgins, Surferosa, Persian Rugs, Operator Please, and even a song sung by lead actress Danielle Catanzariti, the soundtrack hits the right note, so to speak, throughout the film.
The acting by Danielle Catanzariti, as Esther, has to be one of the most real performances of teen angst I’ve seen in years, she delivers a sincerity in her acting that is way above any of the current output from Hollywood’s teen actors. Acting alongside her is Keisha Castle-Hughes, who previously found acclaim for her performance in The Whale Rider, and she too has the same air of sincerity and believability. It is this believability in the characters that allows you to come involved with the journey that the film takes you on. Hey, Hey It’s Esther Blueburger, for the most part, is a light-hearted comedic look into the world of a “not normal” teen girl growing up in Australia, but it is not afraid to show us the darker side of youth – there’s one particular sequence where Esther and her pals give a young guy fellatio in a back alley. Thankfully we don’t see what happens, the film cuts away to dream-like sequence of Esther doing a song and dance about cereal ingredients at the appropriate point. The change in tone – which is carried through to the end of the film – could have been jarring in the hands of a lesser cast and crew, but here it works, mainly because of the performances of the two leads. But don’t worry, whilst the film may take a more serious darker tone towards the end, like all good teen movies Hey, Hey It’s Esther Blueburger has a happy ending.
EXTRAS:
Behind the Scenes B Roll Footage
**** (4/5)
