Nobody expects a screenwriter to get to the root of racism but this film is far from deep thinking
Early in The Combination Redemption, the aggressive but fundamentally decent boxing trainer John (George Basha) barks and hollers at one of his pupils. “Toes toes toes, get on ya fuckin’ toes!” he yells, reminding me of Clint Eastwood’s grizzled trainer from Million Dollar Baby – except without Eastwood’s age and gravitas. When he is pulled aside by his boss (the late Tony Ryan) and asked “why you pushin’ the kid so hard for?”, John – the film’s protagonist – shoots back: “He needs to be pushed.”
But in the original The Combination, an interracial Australian drama from 2009 that became controversial when one of its actors was charged with sexual assault and (in separate incidents) violence broke out at screenings in Sydney, the point was made that pushing people hard doesn’t work.
Early in The Combination Redemption, the aggressive but fundamentally decent boxing trainer John (George Basha) barks and hollers at one of his pupils. “Toes toes toes, get on ya fuckin’ toes!” he yells, reminding me of Clint Eastwood’s grizzled trainer from Million Dollar Baby – except without Eastwood’s age and gravitas. When he is pulled aside by his boss (the late Tony Ryan) and asked “why you pushin’ the kid so hard for?”, John – the film’s protagonist – shoots back: “He needs to be pushed.”
But in the original The Combination, an interracial Australian drama from 2009 that became controversial when one of its actors was charged with sexual assault and (in separate incidents) violence broke out at screenings in Sydney, the point was made that pushing people hard doesn’t work.
- 2/6/2019
- by Luke Buckmaster
- The Guardian - Film News
George Basha and David Field.
Nine years after their first collaboration on The Combination, co-directors David Field and George Basha are putting the finishing touches on the sequel.
Pinnacle Films will launch The Combination: Redemption on February 7 as well as handling international sales of the crime drama set in Sydney’s Western suburbs.
Field made his directing debut on the 2009 film which starred Basha as John Morkos, a Lebanese-Australian who is released after 18 months in jail and discovers his teenage brother Charlie (Firass Dirani) is involved with a Lebanese gang which is feuding with a bunch of Australian bigots.
Scripted by Basha and set six year later, the sequel follows Morkos as he is still haunted by the events that led to his death of his brother. As he begins to rebuild his life he finds solace in the boxing ring at his local gymnasium.
Meanwhile tensions are building as...
Nine years after their first collaboration on The Combination, co-directors David Field and George Basha are putting the finishing touches on the sequel.
Pinnacle Films will launch The Combination: Redemption on February 7 as well as handling international sales of the crime drama set in Sydney’s Western suburbs.
Field made his directing debut on the 2009 film which starred Basha as John Morkos, a Lebanese-Australian who is released after 18 months in jail and discovers his teenage brother Charlie (Firass Dirani) is involved with a Lebanese gang which is feuding with a bunch of Australian bigots.
Scripted by Basha and set six year later, the sequel follows Morkos as he is still haunted by the events that led to his death of his brother. As he begins to rebuild his life he finds solace in the boxing ring at his local gymnasium.
Meanwhile tensions are building as...
- 11/25/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
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