Australia, 1992
Director(s): Geoffrey Wright
Producer(s): Ian Pringle, Daniel Scharf
Screenwriter(s): Geoffrey Wright
Cinematographer(s): Ron Hagen
Editor(s): Bill Murphy
Music: John Clifford White
Cast: Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie, Alex Scott, Leigh Russell
Print Source: Academy Entertainment
Sales Agent:
Film Length: 92 minutes
Awards:
Description:
Seattle International Film Festival 1993, Golden Needle Award Best Actor--Russell Crowe
Golden Space Needle Awards 1993 - Winner: Best Actor (Russel Crowe)
Romper Stomper is one of the most controversial films to hit the screen in years. Aggressively charting the exploits of a gang of white supremacist skinheads, it soared beyond explanation to tremendous success when it was released Down Under last year. Led by Hando (Russell Crowe), the gang engages in urban warfare with Vietnamese immigrants over territorial rights to the neighborhood bar. In the film's exploration of the skinheads' grim, tumultuous world, its breakneck, in-your-face energy is complimented by a high-octane rock soundtrack. Russell Crowe's performance is intensely accurate and makes him almost unrecognizable from his roles in Proof and Hammers over the Anvil. Romper Stomper provides neither easy choices nor a righteous tone in its uncompromising depictions of brutality and racism.
"Skin culture is bold and imposing. Skinheads have strong views and they know what they want, no matter how morally bankrupt they are. They want to belong because to belong is to have meaning and that's what they crave. The meaning is ugly and grotesque, but they derive a lot of strength from this sense of belonging. I wanted to be true to that mythology and true to that world, even though that mythology comes to rubbish in the end. In the film I show what they do, and say, 'Now its your turn to make up your minds about this.' "-- Geoffrey Wright