Chopper (2000)

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:

Male Nudity | Profanity | Biographical | Australia | Criminal

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
Renee 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 and 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
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 S.A. (Argentina)
• 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 | 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:

An important shot of Chopper walking down the street towards the camera, 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).

Quotes:

Chopper: I hear you want to pay me a bit of money.
Robbo: Chopper there's no cash here.
Robbo: Here there's no cash.
Robbo: Cash NO.
Chopper: Robbo?
Robbo: No Cash

Movie Connections:

References Raging Bull (1980)

Soundtrack:

Forever Now

Bravura Film Making - With Aussies!!!!!

Mark Brandon Read (Bana) gains a fierce reputation as a hard man [and the sobriquet: Chopper] as a consequence of 'hitting people just to get himself a name'. A very accurate observation even if 'Chopper' himself maintains his only victims are 'low-life drug dealers' and their ilk.

Excellent example of film as story telling. I saw this 'indie' film on the same weekend as A Beautiful Mind and, my God, the lessons that shambles could have taken from this. Chopper is economically and crisply written with the sweetest doses of irony; marvellously directed with a plethora of techniques that only ever serve the film and it's grossly engrossing story and acted by an ensemble high on talent and clearly working for one another. Bana is a stand-out as the bright, troubled and dangerous hard man making a pathetic journey to emotional as well as physical incarceration; walking a dramatic tight-rope of comedian/homicidal-maniac as he does so with admirable skill and thoroughly believable integrity. Worth viewing by anyone who thinks they like all the ingredients of film and art to come together in the same project. Not worth viewing by anybody who thought the same things came together in A Beautiful Mind!