Ten years ago Australia released a brilliant, gritty crime drama that wowed audiences and critics alike. The Combination saw actor David Field (The Rover, Chopper) turn director and introduced us to the talented screenwriter/actor George Basha (Felony, Convict). A decade on the pair team up again to deliver the next part of the story with – The Combination Redemption. It is just as gritty, can stand alone and once again plucks a story straight from the news headlines and takes a look at exactly what is happening in Western Sydney.
“We did a sequel because it was there to be had,” says Field as we sit in a Melbourne hotel room over-looking a city that has had more than its fair share of race tension in recent months. “It is still a stand-alone film though if you hadn’t seen the first one it wouldn’t matter at all.”
“We actually said we were done after the first one,” adds Basha. “We said we would never go back to it. But all these things started to arise over the years and that clicked something in my head that told me that I could bring some of the characters back and it just developed from there. I started to think about characters like Mo and started to think what would happen to a cat that was so scared. I mean what would happen to a kid that was so scared when he started to hit the street, the same with John’s character I decided to explore the idea of depression. You know a lot of people take their lives through depression so it was a subject that I wanted to tackle head-on. At the end of the day though we wanted to make a film that catered for both crowds – those that had seen part one and had followed the story and those that could watch part two as a standalone film. That was why we decided to call it The Combination Redemption rather than The Combination 2 because we didn’t want to scare away those that had never seen part one.”
You can listen to our full interview with David Field and George Basha on Spotify right now.
The Combination Redemption is in cinemas right now.
