Chopper (2000)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Andrew Dominik

Writers:

Mark Brandon Read (books)
Andrew Dominik (written by)

Release Date:

3 August 2000 (Australia)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn.

Plot:

Chopper tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison. His book, "From the Inside", upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Criminal | Prison | Paranoia | Jail

Awards:

12 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Eric Bana	...	Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read
Simon Lyndon	...	Jimmy Loughnan
David Field	...	Keithy George
Daniel Wyllie	...	Bluey (as Dan Wyllie)
Bill Young	...	Detective Downie
Vince Colosimo	...	Neville Bartos
Kenny Graham	...	Keith Read
Kate Beahan	...	Tanya
Serge Liistro	...	Sammy the Turk
Pam Western	...	Tanya's Mother
Garry Waddell	...	Kevin Darcy
Brian Mannix	...	Ian James
Skye Wansey	...	Mandy
Annalise Emtsis	...	Shazzy
Johnnie Targhan	...	Paul the Bouncer (as Johnnie Targan)
Robert Rabiah	...	Nick
Sam Houli	...	Robbo
Caleb Cluff	...	Detective Creswell
Hilton Henderson	...	Detective Wyatt
Fred Barker	...	Governor Beasley
Peter Hardy	...	Detective Cooney
Marcus Taylor	...	Marcus - Jimmy's Mate
David Ross Paterson	...	Morris Jeffrey (as David Paterson)
Fletcher Humphrys	...	Bucky
Renée Brack	...	Television Interviewer
Gregory Pitt	...	Prison Officer 1
Richard Sutherland	...	Prison Officer 2
Andrew Dunn	...	Prison Officer 3
Alan Close	...	Medical Officer
Mark Stratford	...	Classification Officer
Carl Price	...	Brunswick Court Judge
Sarah Jane King	...	Glamour Queen
Ernie Gray	...	Crown Prosecutor
Terry Willesee	...	Current Affairs Show Host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eve Hannifer	...	(uncredited)
Jordan Janceski	...	Disco-Goer (uncredited)

Directed by
Andrew Dominik

Writing credits
Mark Brandon Read		(books)
Andrew Dominik		(written by)

Produced by
Michele Bennett	....	producer
Al Clark	....	executive producer
Yvonne Collins	....	line producer
Martin Fabinyi	....	executive producer
Michael Gudinski	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Mick Harvey

Cinematography by
Geoffrey Hall
Kevin Hayward

Film Editing by
Ken Sallows

Casting by
Gregory Apps

Production Design by
Paddy Reardon

Art Direction by
Ben Bauer
Jeffrey Thorp		(as Jeff Thorp)

Costume Design by
Terry Ryan

Makeup Department
Deborah Lester	....	makeup artist
Lindy MacLeod	....	hair assistant
Lindy MacLeod	....	makeup assistant
Bob McCarron	....	prosthetics makeup artist
Kirsten Veysey	....	key hair stylist
Kirsten Veysey	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Andy Pappas	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jason Faulkner	....	second assistant director
Emma Jamvold	....	third assistant director
Phil Jones	....	first assistant director
Rowan Woods	....	second unit director

Art Department
Ben Bauer	....	stand-by props
Mick Collis	....	painter
Ben Corless	....	carpenter
Mick Dempsey Jr.	....	casual construction laborer
Ric Haddon	....	carpenter
Hannah Knowlton	....	props buyer
Adam McGoldrick	....	set dresser
Gene McGuckin	....	graphic artist
Rebekah Anne Prole	....	art department assistant
Hugh Richards	....	stand-by props
Liam Siddel	....	scenic artist
Jan Van Olphen	....	construction coordinator
Scott Wiemels	....	graphic artist
Melanie Young	....	set painter

Sound Department
Matthew Archman	....	boom operator
Steve Burgess	....	foley recordist
Steve Burgess	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael Carden	....	sound editor
Frank Lipson	....	sound designer
Frank Lipson	....	supervising sound editor
Gerard Long	....	foley artist
Robert Mackenzie	....	sound mixing assistant
Glenn Newnham	....	dialogue editor
John Schiefelbein	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Jeff Little	....	special effects technician
Andrew McAllister	....	special effects technician
Tim O'Brien	....	special effects technician
Peter Stubbs	....	special effects supervisor
Kevin Turner	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Charlie Armstrong	....	digital compositor
Fiona Crawford	....	visual effects producer
Matthew Gidney	....	head digital artist: Animal Logic

Stunts
Zev Eleftheriou	....	stunt coordinator
Graham Jahne	....	stunts
Christine Wilson	....	stunts (as Chris Wilson)

Camera and Electrical Department
Wayne Aistrope	....	focus puller
Liz Baulch	....	video split operator
Karl Engeler	....	gaffer
Chris Hansford	....	third grip
Richard Hosking	....	director of photography: second unit (as Richard Hoskings)
Terry Howells	....	focus puller
Jo Johansen	....	key grip
Marin Johnson	....	assistant camera: second unit
Jonas Juhanson	....	key grip (as Jo Juhanson)
Trish Keating	....	focus puller
Michael Rich	....	grip
John Tsiavis	....	still photographer
Anthony Veith	....	third electrician
Murray Watt	....	clapper loader
Stacey Zarnick	....	video split operator

Casting Department
Rachel Bailey	....	additional casting
Kirsty McGregor	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Peter O'Halloran	....	costume stand-by (as Pete O'Halloran)
Keryn Ribbands	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Steve Evans	....	additional editor
Pamela Hammond	....	head of post-production
Ian Letcher	....	color grader
Julia MacLeod	....	negative matcher
Caroline Scott	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Ross Cockle	....	music score engineer
Jacqui Dennis	....	music supervisor
Chris Pettifer	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Zlatko Kasumovic	....	vehicle coordinator

Other crew
Sonia Bednar	....	producer attachment
Trevor Blainey	....	production accountant
Stephen Brett	....	location manager
John Fox	....	armorer
Victor Fukushima	....	unit assistant
Peter Gawler	....	script editor
Jim Hearn	....	script editor and additional dialogue
Billy Marshall-Stoneking	....	script editor
Joanne McLennan	....	continuity
Peter Neale	....	script editor
Stephen Sewell	....	script editor
Pip Smart	....	assistant production coordinator
Billy Stoneking	....	script editor
Jo Warren	....	production coordinator
Cameron Wood	....	production runner

Production Companies

• Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)
• Mushroom Pictures
• Pariah Entertainment Group

Distributors

• Barbar Film (2004) (Turkey) (all media)
• Beyond Films
• First Look International (2001) (USA)
• Image Entertainment
• Madman Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Palace Films
• Paradiso Entertainment (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Primer Plano Film Group (Argentina)
• SBP (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Sagittaire Films (France)
• Sociedad Anónima del Vídeo (S.A.V.) (Spain) (VHS)
• Vivarto (2007) (Poland) (all media)

Special Effects

• Animal Logic

Other Companies

• Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)  funding
• Cameraquip Australia  camera equipment provided by
• Luke's Canine & Animal Actors  dog wrangler
• Motion Picture Lighting  lighting
• New Generation Stunts  stunts
• Soundfirm  foley facilities
• Thundertracks  sound editing facilities

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Cinevex)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Germany:18 | Mexico:C | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Singapore:R21 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R (video rating) (cut) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Trivia:

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: At Tanya's house you see the car lights are on as Chopper goes to her front door. When he comes back and beats the car in frustration - they are off.

Quotes:

Neville Bartos: There's no cash here. Here there's no cash, alright? Cash *no*, Robbo?
Robbo: No cash.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "20 to 1: Magnificent Movies (#3.14)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Sweet Love

Fact or Fiction? The film is still great!

Mark Brandon Read, nicknamed "Chopper", was a notorious criminal in Australia who after spending most of his life in prison, went on publishing books with anecdotes of those years becoming a successful writer of Best-Sellers. While he has been accused of exaggerating things about his life in his books, the stories presented still are realistic and shocking, and give insight about the mind of this complex and often-troubled man, regardless if if they are real or fiction. "Chopper", the movie, is not based exactly on Read's life, but in the series of anecdotes he wrote in his first books.

Eric Bana plays Chopper and gives one of his best performances to date, capturing the very essence of the living legend Chopper has become now. It is not a surprise that this film gave him recognition out of Australia and turned him into an international star. but even when the movie is centered around Chopper, Simon Lyndon and Kate Beahan's performances shine in their roles as Chopper's cell mate Jimmy and Chopper's girlfriend Tanya respectively.

Like Read's books, the movie is not exactly a biography, but a collection of tales surrounding the now-mythical figure of "Chopper", presented in a way that perfectly mixes strange surrealism with harsh realism. The gritty semi-documentary look the film has enhances this feeling as well as the cold way the violence is presented. Like the real Chopper, the film walks the fine line between fact and fiction, and that's what makes it very appealing and interesting.

It could be said that Director Andrew Dominik painted an accurate portrait of "Chopper" the legend, not of the real person; and that's probably what the real Chopper may prefer. Domink plays with the moods, going from serious drama to awkwardly funny scenes in this character study that presents us a charming yet dangerous man, who probably has been through more than what we would like to do, yet less than what he would likes us to believe.

The film is very intense and "tough", and very good at it; Bana is perfect as Chopper and shows great promise as an actor. His characterization makes very difficult to don't like this common man with a very uncommon life. Director Dominik makes a straight-to-the-face film that stays true to Chopper's persona (fictional or not), and does it without being pretentious or manipulative. It basically lets Chopper's charisma speak for itself playing with the audience's fascination with crime and violence.

If as flaw was to be found, it would be that it never tries to go beyond its goal or push too much the envelope. It is not much of a flaw, as the results are still brilliant, but leaves one wondering at how far could it had gone considering the talent of those involved. Anyways, Eric Bana and Andrew Dominik are set to a bright future and this film is a brilliant start for these two new talents. 7/10