Institute History
Description
What happens when you take the toughest guy you can imagine and make him Australian? He gets even tougher. Mark "Chopper" Read, best-selling author and underworld executioner, is Australia's most infamous and self-promoting criminal. His knack for killing and storytelling set him on an unlikely path toward the fame he has always dreamed of attaining.
The film begins in a maximum-security prison, where Chopper's erratic behavior and dishonesty lead his "friend" to stab him repeatedly. Fearing further retribution, he cuts off his ears to obtain a transfer. The story then jumps eight years. Chopper, who's now on the fast track to a place where fact and fiction are increasingly blurred, is released. Filled with resentment and guilt and searching desperately for his hidden enemy, he kills a minor criminal in a fit of paranoia but manages to beat the charge by virtue of his now well-honed fabricating ability. However, he's charged with another offense and returned to jail where he writes an exaggerated account of his life of crime.
Writer/director Andrew Dominik brilliantly recreates the outrageous antics of the dichotomous "Chopper," capturing the horror of his actions along with the humor of his demeanor. Gorgeous cinematography radiates the seedy underbelly of Australia's crime world in abnormally rich hues that visually capture the headspace of the deranged criminal/comedian. The magnificent performance by Eric Bana as the antihero brings everything together. His body language, speech patterns, and subtle glances breathe life into the deplorable, yet entertaining Chopper.