The Combination

I watched the sequel the combination redemption before is as this gem of a film. After speaking to few friends they had told me it's as their fav Australian film of all time . So I had to watch it and I tell you it hard to disagree with them . It takes you right into western Sydney streets and the characters that are portrayed are done so with great success . The story in itself is relatable to anyone that has been in love with a partner from a different cultural background . The film without spoiling it shows us that family , love , honour and choices are very important in life and how our life is shaped . Great Australian film up there with any other film made in Australia .

I wanted to watch something boring. I chose to watch The Combination. The beginning didn't promise me much, I even had to check if this was an Australian film, and actually it was!

I am neither Australian nor Lebanese, but I have met both cultures for at least a brief moment in my lifetime. So the question when watching a story of Lebanese in Australia was: are the facts just? Is this real? It is. Although people are depicted differently from those I have seen in the real world, parts of them that are true and up to a point are also shown.

Is the material educative? Yes. You can remember your history lessons, fighting skills, and how to be romantic.

Will you be bored? I was not.

THE COMBINATION is the first Australian film to be shown in it's country of origin this year and it's already become a news story - not for it's quality but because there have been incidents between what we are told are Lebanese gang members and theatre staff.

It would be nice if the film were to prove something substantial. What it is however is a passable gang warfare subject, made without undue sensationalism (it is particularly timid with sex) and preaching anti violence. The inclusion of recent race riot TV actuality tells us they want to be taken seriously.

The film takes a predictable multicultural line with old Australia dismissed as football, beer and meat pies, as against the leather lounges and sumptuous Arab meals with music to which hard man writer-star Basha introduces so blonde object of his affections Bowen, who comes from a family where scotch on the rocks seems to be the main food item. The Lebanese gang has one Asian kid, though he does back off when it's time to face off with the so mean (white) drug pushers. Basha gets a job in a gym run by stand up aborigines. The white kids spit and mug solitary members of the other gang.

The dynamic of school yard gangs is better, though we can't but wonder when the kids get to do any study, even though younger brother Dirani does once make it as far as the library.

One note performances are strong and the Western Sydney setting is effective and still unfamiliar. Particularly choice are the pusher's neighbors urging Basha to blow the low life away in the film's most inventive scene.

It would be nice to say this independently financed item was a break away from the blandness of funded filming here. However it is formula and lacks the dynamism of US films that covered this area - the work of Phil Karlson or young Scorsese and particularly American HISTORY X which appears to have inspired plot elements.

Those involved attack with a determination that it would be nice to see rewarded with worthwhile careers but they have the dis-spiriting history of Astralian production against them.

When Australia makes any dramas set in the burbs they generally always have the feel of being written by someone with not only a separation from suburban life but utter contempt for it as well. The characters are flagrant stereotypes, the dialogue has the feel it was written by a 5 year old trying to sound tough and the stories always generally deal with the idea that growing up in the burbs gives you 2 opportunities. Mundane blue collar jobs or pursuing criminal enterprise.

While the combination does include the final element in it's story, it does not offer it as the only choice for the burbs either. And it skillfully shows that each person has a choice and must take responsibility for their actions.

Well written, starring an amazing cast and finally giving a sense of realism to suburban life in Australia, The Combination is a great film.

Being a Sydney 'westie' I can't get over the aspect of dialogue in this film. Finding an Australian film that does not come across as a parody in the way characters interact with each other is nearly impossible. Even within a great film like Two Hands if you watch the movie again note the absence of free flowing dialogue that feels real. This film has it down pat. The characters seem undeniably real. George Basha has done a great job. Let's hope he is not a one trick pony and can use his skills for further great Australian films in the future.

I urge you to see THE COMBINATION on a big screen in a good cinema with great sound! That is how i saw it last night and I was astonished at almost every part of this very slick crime thriller set in the teen world of Arab/Lebanese Western Sydney. Directed by Aussie actor David Field and with a stellar performance by Firass Dirani THE COMBINATION is right on target to identify a serious racial topic alive and festering in Australia: the idiotic crime aspirations of teen gangsters who learn from irresponsible 'gangsta' movies and music and then act them out in real life thus assigning themselves and their families to funerals and social distress. What a sharp movie! Made on a low budget and with it's social target well in sight, THE COMBINATION identifies the numerous factors in this suburban crime scene, from alienation by racial prejudice, fighting for no reason other than to be seen to be 'tough', the vicious stupidity of street fights, the catastrophe of the legacy of TuPac Shakur and the American gangsta image, and just plain teen anger amped into crime by media imagery. Finally a film that really identifies the root cause of teen boys killing each other in the suburbs... and the effect it has on their mothers, brothers, and friends. THE COMBINATION is seriously good cinema and George Basha whose book and lead role along with David Fields' direction makes this and Aussie/Lebanese film of major standout importance.