Romper Stomper (1992)

Director:

Geoffrey Wright

Writer:

Geoffrey Wright (writer)

Release Date:

12 November 1992 (Australia)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

You've never seen anything like it.

Plot:

A group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.

Plot Keywords:

Skinhead | Vietnamese | Nazi | Medication | Dance Scene

Awards:

8 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Russell Crowe	...	Hando
Daniel Pollock	...	Davey
Jacqueline McKenzie	...	Gabe
Alex Scott	...	Martin
Leigh Russell	...	Sonny Jim
Daniel Wyllie	...	Cackles
James McKenna	...	Bubs
Eric Mueck	...	Champ
Frank Magree	...	Brett
Christopher McLean	...	Luke
Josephine Keen	...	Megan
Samantha Bladon	...	Tracy
Tony Lee	...	Tiger
John Brumpton	...	Magoo
Don Bridges	...	Harold

Runtime:

94 min | South Korea:88 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English | Vietnamese | German | Japanese | Portuguese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | Germany:18 (cut version) | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | Australia:R | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | France:-12 | Germany:18 (nf) | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (cut) | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 | USA:R (cut) | Finland:K-18 (2003) | Finland:(Banned) (1993) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Footscray, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

Trivia:

The words "Deutschland Erwache" on the Nazi banner in Hando's room is German for "Germany wake up". The banner looks exactly as they did in the Third Reich and was also originally designed by Adolf Hitler.

Quotes:

Flea: Nice p-party mate. I got to get the first bus back to base
Hando: You enjoy being cannon fodder for the system?
Flea: [Shrugs] ... It's a job. See you Hando

Movie Connections:

Featured in "20 to 1: Great Aussie Movies (#3.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Les pecheurs de perles

Boisterous rough and ready assault on your senses- perfectly timed

Boisterous rough and ready assault on your senses- perfectly timed and utterly sharp and not boring. Random violence explodes as post- Nazi punks/skinheads glorifying Hitler's racial superiority fantasies rattle the bones of society's apathetic navel- not with some political and social conscience but with some "I'm bored/I'm a misfit/Hmm. Nazism? Sounds interesting" truism.

What they lack in vision (with the exception of Davey and Hando, who are bestfriends and the core leaders of the group) and reasoning they make up for in compulsive, frantic rioting and clumsily lashing out at the "gooks"- the Vietnamese people who they believe are "contaminating" the purity of their all-white community.

For a veritable walking time bomb, Rusell Crowe as Hando the gang leader is super charming and hot. He exudes raw, magnetic power- he's exactly the kind of guy that could skin a cat alive without the pussy knowing it. Add some dangerous visions in his mind- and you have a frightening body count of "dead gooks".

I guarantee that you will never find a dull moment in this movie. The plot just tightens; and you just pity these poor, insecure, hapless but blustering, armed kids. Helen, sexually harassed by her father and another misfit, is bewildered and tender- and she pulls the story together, right when there's no more sympathy left for Hando. The wide shots of the frenzied fighting capture the pulsing desperation of the moment/s; and the music video to "skinheads skinheads" is a classic- one that Quentin Tarantino probably envies.

The twisted ending is ferocious and perfect. It's actually a love story set amidst a society fuelled with hate and boredom and angst; or perhaps it's just a story about three lost souls navigating their squalid community- caught up, vindictive against societal ills (broken families, having "no future", wasted lives looming ahead), eager to lay the blame on something, ready to embrace any brotherhood or credo that will give authenticity to their defiant rage.