Amazon.com video review:
The burning intensity of Russell Crowe (L.A. Confidential) first
lit up screens as a
hate-filled, Mein Kampf-spouting skinhead in this brutal Australian
drama.
Crowe glowers from under his deep-set eyes as Hando, the creepy but
charismatic leader of a racist gang who declares war on the Asian
immigrants pouring into Melbourne. His rage erupts in violent attacks on
the local Vietnamese community, but when his victims fight back his gang
breaks up, and Hando flees the city with his best buddy Davey (Daniel
Pollock) and redheaded hellion Gabe (Jacqueline McKenzie), a rich girl
runaway who turns the dynamic duo into a splintered love triangle.
Writer-director Geoffrey Wright's matter-of-fact treatment of this
subculture eschews social commentary for visceral immediacy. His portrait
of
white supremacist punks living like squatters on the fringes of Australian
society is powered by coiled anger and simmering frustration, which finds
its outlet in brutal fights and murderous rampages (the intense violence
earned the film an NC-17 rating). The lack of moral position may bother
some
people, especially in light of Wright's sympathetic treatment of particular
members of Hando's racist army, and the cold, hate-driven violence is
sometimes hard to watch, but his vivid characters and richly drawn world
create a compelling drama for adventurous filmgoers. --Sean Axmaker
