By Erin Free
Not many Aussie films stir up heated controversy, which makes The Combination a true rarity. Directed by long time actor turned debut director, David Field, this tough, gritty, but deeply sensitive film made a big splash in the mainstream media. During some cinema screenings, this tale of multicultural youth in Sydney’s rugged western suburbs was accompanied by fighting and minor bursts of violence. There were, significantly, just a few minor incidents, as opposed to the full scale riots that media reports suggested.
In response, The Combination was pulled from select cinemas, quickly derailing what had been a highly successful opening period. By the time the film was returned to theatres after the cinema chains’ decision was questioned, the damage had already been done. “A lot of people didn’t know that it was back on,” David Field told FilmInk upon the film’s DVD release. “That stopped a lot of people going to it; they probably thought that the film was more violent than it actually was. It sent out the wrong message, and I don’t necessarily believe that all publicity is great publicity. We were doing massive figures before that, and then it all dropped off. We could have done a lot better business had we not had that intrusion. Our screen averages were as good as The Dark Knight, and with averages that high, we really expected it to flow on. They had no right to take the film off. We might have had grounds legally, but how are you going to take on a big chain like that? It had a lot to do with the amount of Arabic kids that were walking into the cinema to see the film; it was about more than that one single cinema. The police reported that it was nothing to do with the film. Why take the film off? Let’s be honest – if it was Rocky, would they have taken it off?”
