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Chopper
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IMDB Page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0221073/) (external link)
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| Writer: |
Mark Brandon Read (books) &
Andrew Dominik |
| Starring: |
Eric Bana,
Simon Lyndon,
David Field |
| Director: |
Andrew Dominik |
| Music by: |
Mick Harvey |
| Distributor: |
First Look Pictures |
| Release Date: |
3 August 2000 (Australia) |
| Runtime: |
94 min. |
| Language: |
English |
| Related movies: |
- Chopper (2001), short animation spoof directed by Bernard Derriman
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| Awards: |
2000 Australian Film Institute,
Best Achievement in Direction, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role;
2001 Cognac Festival du Film Policier,
Grand Prize;
2001 Film Critics Circle of Australia,
Best Actor, Best Director, Best Film, Best Supporting Actor (male);
2000 Lexus If Awards,
Best Independent Filmmaker;
Stockholm International Film Festival,
Best Actor |
Chopper is a 2000 drama / crime thriller / black comedy motion picture, written and directed by Andrew Dominik based on the autobiographical books by Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, an infamous Australian criminal, convicted for wounding a man, admitting to murder many. It was the film which caused worldwide recognition for Eric Bana who had earlier starred in and produced his own comedy shows on Australian national TV.
Production
The biggest obstruction in the way of the production was the using of the Pentridge Prison in Coburg, Victoria for the shooting. The prison was being closed down and while the negotiations were underway, the funding for production was delayed. This put off the starting of the shoot.
To show the sterility of the prison and to contrast it with the world that Chopper encounters after leaving prison 16 years later, the production was split into two. The first part, filmed at the H Division of Pentridge Prison, one of the actual prisons that Chopper frequented, was as plain and sterile as could be, and all the scenes in the second part, taking place in 1986 were overly colored, to achieve a paranoid and agoraphobic atmosphere, called "visual overload" by the director Andrew Dominik. This was attained by lighting, choice of film stock used and colors chosen for set decoration. Part one of the production ran from May 3 until May 26 with part two continuing from June 28 until July 21, 2000, although it took about 6 years for the whole process to complete.
Some extras were hired from former inmates and tattoo parlors. Eric Bana spent two days with Chopper to get an insight, and many of Chopper's friends, enemies and old associates were interviewed.
Cultural impact
This movie was a surprise box-office hit first in Australia and later in many international film festivals around the world. Being his first major international breakthrough, Eric Bana took a step further on to take on roles in films with bigger budgets such as Troy, and Mark "Chopper" Read who actually chose Bana to play himself, wrote a total of 12 books and became a painter, and was also recognized as a celebrity also outside of Australia. As a trivial note, Mark Read was cast as "Erik Bana" in a comedy called "Trojan Warrior" in 2002.
Plot summary
In and out of jail since he was 16, Melbourne standover man Mark Read kidnaps a judge to get his associate friend Jimmy Loughnan out of the notorious H Division of maximum security Pentridge Prison near Melbourne. He fails and is sentenced 16 years in the very prison his friend Jimmy is serving. To rise as the leader of the division, he ignites a power struggle which gains him more enemies than admirers. Eventually, even his gang turns their backs against him, and he is stabbed by his childhood friend Jimmy. He has his ears cut off by a fellow inmate to be transferred out of the H Division, which he succeeds; this also gains him recognition in and out of the prison.
He is released in 1986, researching enemies or friends who he can not differentiate anymore. He reunites with his former girlfriend Tanya, but suspects that she is involved with one of his old victims, Neville Bartos. In turn he proceeds to track Bartos down, shoots him and takes him to the hospital, unabashedly claiming that he has "green light" courtesy of the police "to exterminate scum". However the police are not as glad as he is and when Chopper learns that he is now the target of a contract, he goes after his old friend Jimmy, only to find him worn out by drugs, two kids and a junkie fiancée.
He kills a criminal known as "Sammy the Turk" at a bar, but gets away with his ability to make up stories or believing what he makes up. He eventually ends up in prison to write a book about his experiences in the underground crime scene in Melbourne. The book becomes a best-seller, and Chopper becomes a criminal legend and a cult figure.
External links
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