Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

The Combination (2009)

play Coarse language – medium
Email a link to this page
To:
CC:
Subject:
Body:
clip John and Sydney row bitterly

Original classification rating: MA. This clip chosen to be M

Clip description

Sydney’s parents have told her to stop seeing John or they will kick her out of their home. She (Clare Bowen) is waiting for him (George Basha) when he arrives home and tells him, in tears, that she can’t see him anymore. They start to row bitterly, for the first time reverting to their ‘tribal’ (ethnic and family) loyalties – and with ugly results.

John is being uncharacteristically cruel and aggressive. However, we know (but Sydney doesn’t) that he is upset because he has just discovered his brother Charlie is dealing drugs and has flushed them down the toilet – putting his family in danger from a drug gang.

Curator’s notes

This is a major turning point in the script – the first occasion in which the lovers’ different ethnic backgrounds become an issue between them. The scene demonstrates that rising above prejudice and ethnic tension is never easy. So far they have tried to deal with this issue by not discussing it, so when it finally rises to the surface it comes out in an ugly way.

Dramatically the scene represents one final, important challenge to the relationship – John and Sydney look here as if they have decided to give in to the forces trying to separate them. They still have the option of struggling to rise above them. But will they take it?

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer John and Sydney row bitterly from the feature film The Combination as a high quality video download.

To play the downloadable video, you need QuickTime 7.0, VLC, or similar.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before downloading the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

This clip is available in the following configurations:

File nameSizeQualitySuitability
combinat3_pr.mp4 Large: 20.9MB High Optimised for full-screen display on a fast computer.
combinat3_bb.mp4 Medium: 9.9MB Medium Can be displayed full screen. Also suitable for video iPods.

Right-click on the links above to download video files to your computer.

Thanks to the generosity of the rights holders, we are able to offer this clip in an embeddable format for personal or non-commercial educational use in full form on your own website or your own blog.

You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions before embedding the clip:

australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

Copy and paste the following code into your own web page to embed this clip: