As ferocious in its humor as in its violence, Chopper follows the widely talked about journey of a colorful character.
A sort of big-hearted brutish lout, Mark Chopper has been a popular figure in Australia since his biography became a best-seller. The man who built his reputation as a die-hard behind bars after killing a mob boss and having his ears voluntarily cut off, continued his public career as a free man while tackling the underworld. While his excesses of anger sent him back to jail for a while, he now lives peacefully on an Australian farm.
With such a subject it would have been easy to overdo such a character or to contrarily transform him into a modern Robin Hood. Indeed, contemporary cinema too often has a tendency to glorify fictionalized heroes who when looked at through the magnifying glass of history appear not to be such exemplary beings; one remembers The Patriot with Mel Gibson, The Hurricane with Denzel Washington and more recently Black Hawk Down where the name of the character Ewan McGregor played was changed in extremis after some not very flattering discoveries.
For his first film, director Andrew Dominik successfully creates a portrait of Chopper while remaining objective: the eye of the camera never allows the right to judge his acts nor to sink into compassion. The film offers a succession of episodes of his life that showa a character of contrasts. The adopted tone is obviously a dark humor that not only defuses the violence but above all makes this film enjoyable. One often laughs at this atypical hero who is nonetheless a monster. Visually, the director is also creative and approaches certain passages in the manner of a cartoon.
The film wouldn't work without the impressive acting of Eric Bana who fits into the role with an astonishing interpretation. The actor is fearless and makes a genuine tour de force by accurately reproducing all the facets of the character (and they are numerous).
With Chopper , Andrew Dominik has made a film as corrosive as its subject.
*A priceless bonus, the DVD offers a weekend with the real Chopper, that in addition to being informative and entertaining allows for a better appreciation of Eric Bana's performance.
Fred Thom
Cult Films: Reviews 2012 - present
Cult Films: 1998 - 2011 Reviews
New Foreign Movies Reviews
