Chopper is an interesting biopic of Tasmania's least favourite son, Mark Brandon Read. It shows in unflinching detail why Mark is still one of Australia's most notorious criminals, as well as the fact that something is seriously wrong with Australia as a society. Australia likes to tell itself that it is the greatest country on Earth, and every citizen has everything they need. The mere existence of Mark Brandon Read, as well as the confirmable facts of his life story, is a direct slap in the face to people who buy this myth.
Kudos are also due director Andrew Dominik. A lesser director would have portrayed Read in more glowing terms for fear of angering the man himself, but this film elevates itself by sticking to the facts between certain birthdays that occurred and can be verified, portraying them with an objective viewpoint. The film is neither pro-Chopper nor anti-Chopper. It is just, as the title indicates, Chopper.
The film covers three distinct periods in Read's lifetime. The first is one of his early incarcerations as a young man. Here, a gang war turns nasty when Chopper kills a rival in the daily power struggles that constitute prison life. Anyone who thinks that Quentin Tarantino has a clue about depicting violence of any kind, leave alone an ear-removal, would be well-advised to catch this section of the film. The accuracy with which stab wounds and impromptu amputations are depicted is really quite frightening. The second part of the film depicts Chopper on the outside, and it is interesting to see how just because he doesn't live behind bars anymore doesn't mean he doesn't behave like a caged animal. The third phase shows Read back in prison, closing the film with a rather despairing shot of Read, as impersonated by Eric Bana, sitting el solitary in his prison cell. They say crime doesn't pay, but this is the first film to make the message so hard-hitting.
The only real problem of Chopper is that it doesn't go into enough detail about who the characters are and why they do the things they do. Everyone in the Australian audience knows who the title character is, but the other characters, and by extension the reasons why Chopper kills some of them, are left vague. This is okay if you know who these people are and what they did, but to understand that under any other circumstances, you would probably have to read the books. It is also important to remember that a lot of the characters in the films are combinations, rather than renditions, of different people from Chopper's accounts.
Still, if I can go through an Australian film and only find a single fault, it's amazing. Chopper is highly recommended as long as you don't take it seriously (as some of its critics seem to be doing). The man himself says never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn, and I am inclined to agree. I gave Chopper a seven out of ten.
Kudos are also due director Andrew Dominik. A lesser director would have portrayed Read in more glowing terms for fear of angering the man himself, but this film elevates itself by sticking to the facts between certain birthdays that occurred and can be verified, portraying them with an objective viewpoint. The film is neither pro-Chopper nor anti-Chopper. It is just, as the title indicates, Chopper.
The film covers three distinct periods in Read's lifetime. The first is one of his early incarcerations as a young man. Here, a gang war turns nasty when Chopper kills a rival in the daily power struggles that constitute prison life. Anyone who thinks that Quentin Tarantino has a clue about depicting violence of any kind, leave alone an ear-removal, would be well-advised to catch this section of the film. The accuracy with which stab wounds and impromptu amputations are depicted is really quite frightening. The second part of the film depicts Chopper on the outside, and it is interesting to see how just because he doesn't live behind bars anymore doesn't mean he doesn't behave like a caged animal. The third phase shows Read back in prison, closing the film with a rather despairing shot of Read, as impersonated by Eric Bana, sitting el solitary in his prison cell. They say crime doesn't pay, but this is the first film to make the message so hard-hitting.
The only real problem of Chopper is that it doesn't go into enough detail about who the characters are and why they do the things they do. Everyone in the Australian audience knows who the title character is, but the other characters, and by extension the reasons why Chopper kills some of them, are left vague. This is okay if you know who these people are and what they did, but to understand that under any other circumstances, you would probably have to read the books. It is also important to remember that a lot of the characters in the films are combinations, rather than renditions, of different people from Chopper's accounts.
Still, if I can go through an Australian film and only find a single fault, it's amazing. Chopper is highly recommended as long as you don't take it seriously (as some of its critics seem to be doing). The man himself says never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn, and I am inclined to agree. I gave Chopper a seven out of ten.