Chopper (film)

Chopper is a 2000 Australian film, written and directed by Andrew Dominik and based on the semi-autobiographical books by Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read. The film stars Eric Bana as the eponymous "Chopper" Read, and co-stars Vince Colosimo, Simon Lyndon,Bill Young and David Field.

Plot

In and out of jail since he was 16, Melbourne standover man Mark Read (Eric Bana) kidnaps a judge to get his associate friend Jimmy Loughnan (Simon Lyndon) out of the notorious H Division of maximum security Pentridge Prison in Melbourne. He fails and is sentenced to 16 and a half 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 (Kate Beahan), but suspects that she is involved with one of his old victims, Neville Bartos (Vince Colosimo). 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, (Bill Young as Detective Downie) 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 (based on real-life criminal Siam Ozerkam, who Chopper allegedly killed) at a bar, but gets away with it by claiming it was self defence. 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.

The film ends with Chopper in his prison cell in 1992, watching himself being interviewed on television. He is proud of the interview among those watching with him, but when they leave he goes quiet, and the film ends with Chopper sitting in his cell alone.

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 months 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.

Response

Reviews

Chopper was received with generally positive reviews. Review-based rating site Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 71% "Fresh" rating Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 stars out of 4, praising Eric Bana for his performance, saying "He has a quality no acting school can teach and few actors can match".

Reaction from Mark "Chopper" Read

It was Mark Read himself who suggested that Eric Bana play Chopper, after seeing him in the sketch comedy series Full Frontal. Bana spent two days living with Chopper to help him practice for the role. Chopper later praised Bana's performance on the 20 to 1 episode Great Aussie Films, where Chopper came 17th. Several of Bana's meetings with Chopper can be viewed in the DVD Special Features.

Awards

• 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.

Trivia

• Read donated all proceeds he earned from the film to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne
• Vince Colosimo character, "Wog" gangster, Neville Bartos, is based on Nicholas "Golden Greek" Apostolidis, a Melbourne convicted gangland goon and Mark Read's rival in crime.
• In the prison yard scene where Jimmy stabs Chopper, Bluey acts shocked and vomits. Actor Daniel Whyllie volunteered to actually vomit for the scene, and vomited on cue for each take.
• Eric Bana maintained a poor diet for a month in order to gain the extra weight needed to play Chopper.
• One shot early in the film depicts Chopper walking down the street towards the camera smoking a cigarette in slow-motion, with everyone else in the shot out of focus. This is a homage to the 1976 Scorsese film Taxi Driver.
• Australian singer/songwriter Billy Thorpe was strongly opposed to the use of his version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in the opening credits. The director opted to use "Don't Fence Me In" instead. Interest in "Don't Fence Me In" was increased after the release of the film.

See also

• Mark Brandon Read

External links

• Official webpage Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read
• .
• BBC interview with Eric Bana on his role in Chopper
• Chopper at the National Film and Sound Archive