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The Combination
[Wed 28/01/2009 12:47:55]
Australia / 96 mins / Australian Film Syndicate Screening February 2009 Director David Field Written by George Basha Producer John Pirrie Line Producer Cathy Flannery DOP Toby Oliver ACS Editor Ken Sallows ASE Production Design Xanthe Highfield Key Cast George Basha, Clare Bowen, Firass Dirani, Doris Younane, Ali Haidar, Michael Denkha, Vaughan White, Katrina Risteska
A tale of two Lebanese-descent Australian brothers told in the vein of American History X, The Combination is actor David Field’s directorial debut that convincingly encapsulates the cultural ignorance and contemporary multi-racial clashes that have existed alongside the Cronulla riots.
The film’s story has clever snapshots of the every day stereotypes endured by multi-racial suburban Australians, with nuances of cultural education. From misconstruing all Lebanese as Muslims to the minorities’ identity crisis, the issues are presented clearly in the true-to-life and witty one-liners: “Youz came in here in chains, we came in planes.”
Cultural overtones aside, the love interest plot between John (Basha) and Sydney (Bowen) and brotherly-relationship plot between John and Charlie (Dirani) bodes well in serving a tender experience of the film, enough to warrant the empathy for the film’s end.
Field, lending from his own acting experience and being a renowned dramaturg, has constructively brought out exceptional performances from his appropriately cast actors. Sallows’ editing is succinct, complimenting DOP Oliver’s framing of the visual subtext of fear and insecurity represented in John's love interest's whitebread culture against John and Charlie’s Lebanese-influenced home - all in all making The Combination grippingly real and honest, without being pretentious.
