Cast:
Eric Bana...............Mark "Chopper" Read
Simon Lyndon............Jimmy Loughnan
David Field.............Keithy George
Daniel Wyllie...........Bluey
Bill Young..............Det. Downie
Vince Colosimo..........Neville Bartos
Kenny Graham............Keith Read
Kate Beahan.............Tanya
Serge Liistro...........Sammy the Turk
Pam Western.............Tanya's Mother
Garry Waddell...........Kevin Darcy
Brian Mannix............Ian James
Skye Wansey.............Mandy
Annalise Emtsis.........Shazzy
Johnnie Targhan.........Paul the Bouncer
Directed by: Andrew Dominik
Written
by: Andrew Dominik
Not
Rated
Running
Time: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Reviewed
by Michael Brendan
www.criticallyill.net
Mark
"Chopper" Read is Australia's most notorious career
criminal. He has also achieved status as one of his country's
best selling authors. His autobiography, called "From
the Inside", has sold over 250,000 copies and he possesses
an unusually strong cult following. Read currently lives in
rural Tasmania.
Based
upon the aforementioned book, Andrew Dominik's movie about
the infamous serial killer isn't so much a biography as a
blistering satire showcasing a man who inexplicably meshes
sadism and charm. He commits heinous acts, can somehow endear
himself to a jury, and pens books with titles like "How
To Shoot Friends and Influence People".
I've
heard and read comments from individuals who decry the film
for its depiction of Chopper Read, showing him more as an
engaging eccentric than a vicious murderer. One reviewer claimed
the movie attempts to justify his fame. However, Read was
already well-known in his native Australia long before Andrew
Dominik's darkly comic script began to materialize. Based
on that, the approach taken here is actually rather optimistic,
as it tries to uncover the source of what makes him fascinating
to so many. A more cynical take would simply dismiss his "fans"
as bloodthirsty pinheads. There has to be a reason, Dominik
seems to be arguing, so let's try to find it.
Australian
stand-up comic Eric Bana portrays Chopper as inherently vicious,
but also funny ... and charming, and sad, and angry, and histrionic,
and even brooding and introspective at times. His performance
is a multi-faceted masterpiece, daring a viewer to formulate
an opinion, then challenging that opinion, then challenging
it some more.
The
movie consists of two main segments. The first half takes
place in 1978 and shows Read serving time for kidnapping a
judge presiding over the trial of his best friend, Jimmy (Simon
Lyndon). After being taunted by a fellow inmate, Chopper seeks
revenge (and gets it in bloody fashion.) He is subsequently
betrayed by a close ally, survives the attack, but now realizes
he needs to watch his back. To obtain a transfer into a separate
wing, he engages in a skin crawling bout of self-mutilation.
The
film's second half follows Chopper after his release years
later. He's a few pounds heavier, is decorated with mounds
of tattoos, and has lost several teeth but not his unusual
sense of humor. He is still seeking vengeance for the prison
betrayal, but finds time to spend with his hooker girlfriend,
Tanya (Kate Beahan). Her attraction toward drug dealer Neville
Bartos (Vince Colosimo) places both of them into the crosshairs
of Chopper's fury.
The
movie's genius lies in its resistance to bowl an audience
over with a clear cut message. Instead, Dominik and Bana have
created a film that invites strong opinions and facilitates
even stronger discussions. The movie, like its lead character,
is a gleeful contradiction. At various points in the story,
Chopper seems to feel genuine remorse for his violent acts,
yet he still wastes no time in committing them if he feels
the need. (One scene has him firing a bullet into the belly
of an enemy, then curiously driving him to the hospital.)
His proclivity for killing isn't the result of self-loathing
or a retaliation against a painful childhood; it just makes
sense to him. The man can be a tornado of ferocity one second,
witty and charming the next. He can be remorseful sometimes,
and can manage broad smiles for tv cameras at other times.
The man is a true enigma, impossible to comprehend, and the
movie wisely doesn't make an effort. To make a definitive
statement about Chopper Read would rob the film of its ability
to bend and twist a viewer's perception.
I
get a kick out of people who convey their shock at the nation's
fascination with killing. A cloud of pomposity hovers over
such statements. Saying you're shocked at young people's interest
in such things doesn't make you moral, it just makes you blind.
And it doesn't make young people killers, either. If anyone
reading these words can think back through their entire lives
and not come up with a person or two whose eradication wouldn't
have been a tremendous societal loss, then you're a better
human being than me. When I compare the number of people who
actually die with the number of intolerable asinine twits
roaming around the world, the greater volume always seems
to rest with the latter. Yes, murder is immoral, illegal,
and sickening. Yes, Read was perhaps the most ferocious of
criminals. And yes, I believe if we lived in a bizarre parallel
universe where killing wasn't illegal, guys like Mark "Chopper"
Read would be the life of the party.
Copyright
2001 Michael Brendan McLarney
Critically
Ill
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