Chopper (film)
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| Chopper | |
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 Movie poster for Chopper |
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| Directed by | Andrew Dominik |
| Produced by | Michele Bennett |
| Written by | Story: Mark Brandon Read Screenplay: Andrew Dominik |
| Starring | Eric Bana Simon Lyndon David Field |
| Music by | Mick Harvey |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Hall Kevin Hayward |
| Editing by | Ken Sallows |
| Distributed by | First Look Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  August 3, 2000 |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Chopper is an Australian 2000 drama-crime thriller-black comedy film written and directed by Andrew Dominik based on the semi-autobiographical books by Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read. Read is an infamous Australian criminal, convicted for wounding a man and attempting to kidnap a judge, and who has admitted to murdering many people.
Read donated all proceeds he earned from the film to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne [1].
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[edit] Plot
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 in Melbourne. He fails and is sentenced to 16 years in the very prison in which Loughnan is serving his time. To become leader of the division, he ignites a power struggle which gains him more enemies than admirers. Eventually, even his gang turn their backs on him, and he is stabbed by his childhood friend Loughnan. He voluntarily has his ears cut off by a fellow inmate in order to be transferred out of the H Division; this also gains him recognition in and out of the prison.
He is released in 1986, revisiting enemies and friends who he cannot 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 a "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 children 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 where he writes a book about his experiences in the underground crime scene in Melbourne. The book becomes a best-seller, and Read becomes a criminal legend and a cult figure.
[edit] Production
The biggest obstruction in the way of the production was the use 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 Read 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 Read frequented, was as plain and sterile as could be, and all the scenes in the second part, taking place in 1986 were overly coloured, 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 colours 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 Read to gain an insight into the role he was to play, and many of Read's friends, enemies, and old associates were interviewed.
[edit] Awards
Wins
- 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; 2000.
- Lexus If Awards: Best Independent Filmmaker; 2000.
- Stockholm International Film Festival: Best Actor; 2000.
- Cognac Festival du Film Policier; Grand Prize; 2001.
- Film Critics Circle of Australia: Best Actor, Best Director, Best Film, Best Supporting Actor (male); 2001.
[edit] Trivia
- In the prison yard scene where Jimmy stabs Chopper, Bluey acts shocked and vomits. Daniel Whyllie (Bluey) asked Andrew Dominik (director) if he would like him to vomit during the scene. Dominik thought it was a good idea so Whyllie actually forced himself to vomit for each take on cue.
- Eric Bana spent 2 days living with Mark "Chopper" Read so he could get a better understanding of how to play his character in the film.
- Mark "Chopper" Read suggested that Eric Bana play Chopper, after seeing him in the sketch comedy series "Full Frontal".
- Well-known Australian singer/songwriter Billy Thorpe was strongly opposed to the use of his version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in the opening credits. The makers chose to use "Don't Fence Me In" instead. Interest in the writers of the latter song was increased substantially by the song's use over shots of a prison.
- Eric Bana admitted to eating junk food for four weeks to put on the extra weight needed to play the 1986 Chopper.
- An important shot of Chopper walking down the street towards the camera smoking a cigarette in slow-motion, and with everyone else in the shot out of focus is filmed in exactly the same manner as a similarly important shot of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976).
[edit] See also
- Chopper, short animation spoof directed by Bernard Derriman.
- Chopper's bibliography
[edit] External links
- Chopper at the Internet Movie Database.
- Official Movie Website.
- Official Movie Website (French).
- BBC interview with Eric Bana on his role in Chopper.
- Chopper Read the Board Game - Never Plead Guilty.
 Cinema of Australia |
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Film chronology: 1890s-1930s • 1940s-1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s |
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