Chopper, the debut feature from New Zealand born director Andrew
Dominik (Jesse James, Killing them Softly) is a semi
biographical tale of notorious Australian criminal Mark ‘Chopper’ Read. The
story is based on the autobiographic works of Read which when published became
best sellers in the author’s home country. A pre title disclaimer makes it
clear though that the film is not a biography of the man and that some scenes
are invented. Chopper (Eric Bana) made a name for himself as a tough guy-extortionist
and boasted to having committed several murders but was never convicted of any.
Inside prison he was a vicious inmate, responsible for several brutal assaults,
some of which are played out on screen. When out of prison, Chopper has to keep
his wits about him and with several contracts out on his life, he becomes ever
more paranoid and sadistically violent.
Chopper was the sort of cult film which a lot of people would talk
about at school. “Ah, mate. You seen that Chopper?
It’s wicked” Because the film was liked by the same sort of people who enjoyed
Guy Ritchie and other films I had no interest in, I took their enthusiasm with
a pinch of salt. Over a decade later though, I thought I’d give the film ago
and when I saw it was on TV one night, I decided to record it. I hadn’t
realised how long ago that night was though until I noticed that the ad breaks
I was fast-forwarding through were Christmas themed. Today is May the 27th.
