Film: Aggravated Assault
Release date: 14th February 2011
Certificate: 18
Running time: 96 mins
Director: David Field
Starring: George Basha, Firass Dirani, Doris Younane, Rahel Abdulrahman, Clare Bowen
Genre: Crime/Drama
Studio: Metrodome
Format: DVD
Country: Australia
This is an English-Language release.
The directorial debut from Australian actor David Field centres on the issues faced by Lebanese-Australians in Sydney. It is told through the eyes of one family struggling to cope with violence, crime, love and loss and the sometimes incompatible differences between cultures.
John, a Lebanese-Australian, is released from prison, and returns home to his mother and younger brother, Charlie. Seeing that his brother is heading down the same road that led John to prison, he attempts to prevent him making the same mistakes.
At school Charlie must face racism, and the temptation to follow his Lebanese friends into a world of drugs and crime.
John meets and falls in love with a white woman, and they face the difficulties of being accepted by one another’s cultures.
Surrounding these characters is an increasing racial tension that threatens to engulf them all, and they must all face up to the choices they have made, and the consequences of their actions…
Aggravated Assault, aka The Combination, is a courageous film. The central theme seems to be the issue of cultural integration, suggesting that it is not simply the acceptance of new cultures by white Australians that needs attention, but also the acceptance by Lebanese-Australians of the white culture that surrounds them. But an interesting and important central theme isn’t enough, it needs to translate to dramatic cinema - in the case of Aggravated Assault, it doesn’t appear to work.
There can be no argument that the themes of racism, crime and a sense of belonging are important, and they have been tackled in films many times over, but the problem here is the lack of depth. Writer and star George Basha has claimed that the events told are based on reality, and that they are powerful in themselves cannot be denied, however, there is a lack of emotional involvement here that means the drama and power is lost. It is not enough to portray true events on film if there is a lack of sympathy and, in the case of the many plot threads, cohesion.
The central characters are of Lebanese descent, and we are told repeatedly that their culture is important to them, and yet we never feel as though we are immersed in their world, and there is little in the way of insight into what is undoubtedly a rich and interesting culture. There is more to their culture than food and dancing, but to watch Aggravated Assault you wouldn’t really know it. This makes the film feel shallow, and misses what could have been the one aspect to separate this from the countless other films that deal with similar issues.
As we move towards the climax, we are told of the tensions between white and Lebanese Australians via a news report, but this underlying tension is not sufficiently portrayed throughout the course of the film, as we are given such a narrow view. When combined with the support the central character receives from white Australians when he confronts a major criminal the message feels confused.
The central romance between John and Sydney, while played well by the two actors, never meaningfully explores the difficulties they face being from two different backgrounds. In a confrontation between the two of them, Sydney screams at John that it’s all about his culture, never about hers. This is a valid point, but again, the lack of any attachment to the characters means the message feels confused, and the lack of any meaningful attention to either culture leaves the exchange feeling like an excuse for drama, rather than a truly emotional scene. Any tensions related to a difference in culture feel superficial and contrived, rather than natural and realistic.
The film also suffers in terms of storytelling. John’s relationship with Sydney, his attempts to stop Charlie making the same mistakes, an unexplored career as a boxer, Charlie’s life of crime, racism in school, the grooming of young Lebanese by a drug baron, and the overall racism faced by Lebanese-Australians. These are the main threads of the film, and each one suffers at the hands of the others, with a lack of development of the important aspects. Racial tension that should simmer throughout the film is only pointed at randomly. The tensions between white and Lebanese in Charlie’s school is limited to one white bully, though towards the end it is hinted that the entire school is hostile to him, with no explanation in between that makes this plausible or affecting.
Lack of development leaves moments such as the face-off between Zeus, head of the Lebanese gang, and Scott, the white antagonist, feeling forced, rather than inevitable. The resulting violence is neither sufficiently shocking enough to rock the viewer into believing the moment to be of any meaning, nor is it restrained enough to convey any real emotion or drama, and the over-use of slow motion detracts from any visceral impact, turning the scene into melodrama.
There are positives to the film. George Basha in the role of John is watchable enough to carry the bulk of the film, and Claire Bowen as Sydney is very convincing. As younger brother Charlie, Firass Dirani has some difficult scenes, and fares well as a vulnerable young man unsure of what he should do but facing it with convincing youthful arrogance. Also, the cinematography is excellent, creating an Australian feel, and nearly making up for a lack of interesting shots.
There is not enough depth to raise Aggravated Assault to the level of the films with which is shares many of its themes, such as American History X and Once Were Warriors. The themes it tackles, while undoubtedly of great importance, not just in Australia but worldwide, don’t translate sufficiently enough into dramatic cinema for the messages to get across, and ultimately the film feels confused and lacks the power one would expect from such a sensitive and important subject. RM
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