flipsyde
Shutup!...that's why
Right well I know its a bit late for this and all but I dunno maybe you can stilluse it.. it was a college critique that I had to do. Now this doesnt focus on tchniques but rather the historica factors so aybe you guys can still use it I dunno..Excuse the typos here it is-
Film Critique: Romper Stomper (1992)
Directed by Geoffrey Wright
By Rebecca Walraven
Romper Stomper (1992), starring Russel Crowe, Jacqueline McKenzie and David Pollock, was directed and written by Australian film artist Geoffrey Wright and is perhaps one of the most controversial movies in the history of Australian film. Often this piece is compared to Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971), a story about a man whose hobbies include murder, violence, rape and classical symphonies such as Beethoven. Whilst Romper Stomper is moulded around the brutal violence that can be depicted in A Clockwork Orange, both the stories’ contents remain dissimilar. Romper Stomper, winning three awards including best actor, best achievement in sound and best original music, was originally denied a review due to its arguable content. This was, however, far from detrimental to the film; the press and curious individuals, due to this comment, were soon swamping into cinemas.
Romper Stomper is loosely based a neo-Nazi skinhead gang in Melbourne who declared ‘civil war’ on the Vietnamese immigrates that are threatening the pureness of Melbourne. Hando, (Crowe) the gang leader, his right hand man Dave (Pollock) and other gang members riot and steal by night. Wright, on his DVD interview, said that he wanted to create the characters as “Skinheads motivated by adrenaline pumping violence and physical extremes”. He also says that he makes ‘No apologies’ for this as he did not want to preach a message but rather tell a story of a path to destruction. Wright aimed to create only ‘authentic’ characters for the film, and rather that us pity them, we were to witness them. In order to do this he interviewed ex-skinheads and skinheads that were preparing to leave their gangs. The only criticism that Wright receives about the genuineness of his characters is the love triangle between Gabe (McKenzie), Dave and Hando. This relationship is on the other hand significant to the destruction of the skinhead gang and ultimately the hate-filled unrest in Richmond, Melbourne.
Due to the lack of funding Wright was forced to use 16mm film instead of the traditional 35mm adding a bigger granular effect when projected on a widescreen. This did, however, work as an advantage to depict the dull and lifeless essence of Melbourne in this time. During the filming of Romper Stomper there was an explosion of an oil refinery on an island near the filming site creating an eerie, cloudy blanket in the sky. Instead of putting the film on hiatus for a day, Wright decided to use this in the background for some of the scenes. This proved to be a successful decision in creating a better atmosphere for the movie.
The soundtrack was played entirely by one band called Master Ace; a band specifically created for this film and can only be described as an Australian bush beat rock come metal band. The soundtrack, winning them and award uses its own contemporary methods and styles, one song is even based on the children’s nursery rhyme Wee Willy Winky. Most of the scenes in the movie were shot to the music instead of the traditional way of making the music fit the scene. This included sometimes slow paced scenes verses fast cutting scenes, but all of the fight scenes, scoring the movie it’s R18+ rating, were done by hand held cameras. The camera men even ran with the camera on their shoulders to create the effect of the brutality of the violence and to make the audience feel apart of the scene. This technique is particularly evident in the second fight scene where the skinheads are forced to run form the Vietnamese people who are fighting back.
The fragility of the characters in the film is expressed through Gabe’s epileptic fit that she has back at the skinhead base. The film also uses historical refrence as a technique. The Railway hotel, where the skinheads liked to loiter around, is the actual place in which Australia’s own Ned Kelly was held in the basement before his trial making it a very powerful metaphor. Another metaphor in the movie is the WWII SS knife that Dave buys. It is a genuine knife with a swastika on the handle representing his, and the gangs racial ideals. This knife is later used to kill one of the Vietnamese immigrants. During the film Hando also reads a passage form the Adolf Hitler’s Mien Kamf, yet another refrence to this racial hatred. This book was also quoted in American History X, a controversial film made in 1998 about racial conflict.
Although there may have been much protest on the release of Romper Stomper people have now days come to appreciate the worth and messages behind the film. Some have even referred to it when making films on similar issues. It is a great representation of a problem yet to be addressed in society and as the tagline says “You’ve never seen anything like it” and probably never will again.
Film Critique: Romper Stomper (1992)
Directed by Geoffrey Wright
By Rebecca Walraven
Romper Stomper (1992), starring Russel Crowe, Jacqueline McKenzie and David Pollock, was directed and written by Australian film artist Geoffrey Wright and is perhaps one of the most controversial movies in the history of Australian film. Often this piece is compared to Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971), a story about a man whose hobbies include murder, violence, rape and classical symphonies such as Beethoven. Whilst Romper Stomper is moulded around the brutal violence that can be depicted in A Clockwork Orange, both the stories’ contents remain dissimilar. Romper Stomper, winning three awards including best actor, best achievement in sound and best original music, was originally denied a review due to its arguable content. This was, however, far from detrimental to the film; the press and curious individuals, due to this comment, were soon swamping into cinemas.
Romper Stomper is loosely based a neo-Nazi skinhead gang in Melbourne who declared ‘civil war’ on the Vietnamese immigrates that are threatening the pureness of Melbourne. Hando, (Crowe) the gang leader, his right hand man Dave (Pollock) and other gang members riot and steal by night. Wright, on his DVD interview, said that he wanted to create the characters as “Skinheads motivated by adrenaline pumping violence and physical extremes”. He also says that he makes ‘No apologies’ for this as he did not want to preach a message but rather tell a story of a path to destruction. Wright aimed to create only ‘authentic’ characters for the film, and rather that us pity them, we were to witness them. In order to do this he interviewed ex-skinheads and skinheads that were preparing to leave their gangs. The only criticism that Wright receives about the genuineness of his characters is the love triangle between Gabe (McKenzie), Dave and Hando. This relationship is on the other hand significant to the destruction of the skinhead gang and ultimately the hate-filled unrest in Richmond, Melbourne.
Due to the lack of funding Wright was forced to use 16mm film instead of the traditional 35mm adding a bigger granular effect when projected on a widescreen. This did, however, work as an advantage to depict the dull and lifeless essence of Melbourne in this time. During the filming of Romper Stomper there was an explosion of an oil refinery on an island near the filming site creating an eerie, cloudy blanket in the sky. Instead of putting the film on hiatus for a day, Wright decided to use this in the background for some of the scenes. This proved to be a successful decision in creating a better atmosphere for the movie.
The soundtrack was played entirely by one band called Master Ace; a band specifically created for this film and can only be described as an Australian bush beat rock come metal band. The soundtrack, winning them and award uses its own contemporary methods and styles, one song is even based on the children’s nursery rhyme Wee Willy Winky. Most of the scenes in the movie were shot to the music instead of the traditional way of making the music fit the scene. This included sometimes slow paced scenes verses fast cutting scenes, but all of the fight scenes, scoring the movie it’s R18+ rating, were done by hand held cameras. The camera men even ran with the camera on their shoulders to create the effect of the brutality of the violence and to make the audience feel apart of the scene. This technique is particularly evident in the second fight scene where the skinheads are forced to run form the Vietnamese people who are fighting back.
The fragility of the characters in the film is expressed through Gabe’s epileptic fit that she has back at the skinhead base. The film also uses historical refrence as a technique. The Railway hotel, where the skinheads liked to loiter around, is the actual place in which Australia’s own Ned Kelly was held in the basement before his trial making it a very powerful metaphor. Another metaphor in the movie is the WWII SS knife that Dave buys. It is a genuine knife with a swastika on the handle representing his, and the gangs racial ideals. This knife is later used to kill one of the Vietnamese immigrants. During the film Hando also reads a passage form the Adolf Hitler’s Mien Kamf, yet another refrence to this racial hatred. This book was also quoted in American History X, a controversial film made in 1998 about racial conflict.
Although there may have been much protest on the release of Romper Stomper people have now days come to appreciate the worth and messages behind the film. Some have even referred to it when making films on similar issues. It is a great representation of a problem yet to be addressed in society and as the tagline says “You’ve never seen anything like it” and probably never will again.
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