Chopper (film)
| Chopper | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Andrew Dominik |
| Produced by | Michele Bennett |
| Screenplay by | Andrew Dominik |
| Story by | Mark "Chopper" Read |
| Starring |
Eric Bana Vince Colosimo Simon Lyndon Kate Beahan David Field |
| Music by | Mick Harvey |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Hall Kevin Hayward |
| Edited by | Ken Sallows |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | First Look Pictures |
|
Release date
|
3 August 2000 |
|
Running time
|
90 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
Chopper is a 2000 Australian crime drama film written and directed by Andrew Dominik and based on the autobiographical books by Mark "Chopper" Read. The film stars Eric Bana as the title character and co-stars Vince Colosimo, Simon Lyndon, Kate Beahan and David Field. It has a cult following.
In and out of jail since he was 16, Melbourne standover man Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read (Eric Bana) is serving a 16-year sentence for kidnapping a supreme court judge to get his childhood friend, Jimmy Loughnan (Simon Lyndon), out of the notorious H Division of maximum security Pentridge Prison. 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 Loughnan stabs him several times in a failed assassination attempt. Chopper 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 whom 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). He tracks 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". When Chopper learns that he is now the target of a death-contract, he goes after his old friend Jimmy, only to find him worn out and poverty stricken by drugs with a daughter and a junkie fiancée who is pregnant with another child.
...
Wikipedia