Romper Stomper

Saw Romper Stomper, a film that follows a gang of Australian neonazis. At the top of the film they are living the high life, intimidating bar owners and partying in their squat. Soon however they are beset by troubles which force them to retreat and retreat and retreat, their numbers dwindling as the remaining members become more desperate and dangerous. In this way, the film offsets the glamorization of the gang in the first half with their feral desperation in the second half. I noticed that all of their problems were both self-inflicted and entirely avoidable. The film follows them into a self-destruction that is literally filmed and spectated by fat, idle Asian tourists. It doesn't have to be read this way however.

This film doesn't really condemn the neonazi idiology. They get revenge on a pedophile. They shake their heads as they talk about what vibrant neighborhood this once was. Because we shadow them we inevitably have to sympathize with them. When they beat people their shouts are replaced by animal roars on the soundtrack. They project an aura of confidence and power. I imagine that to a teenage outcast who has not yet distinguished fear from respect this is an attractive group of people who would maybe be neat to hang out with. Even the ending can be read not as the self-destruction of the neonazis but as the self-destruction of "white culture". The bored tourists come off not as the ironic consequence of their self-destruction but as partly culpable, voyeuristic.

This is an entertaining film and not a careless one, however the message of a film is sometimes in the eye of the beholder and I don't think this film takes many pains to avoid being misread. At any rate it is beloved by some neonazis. One of those neonazis also compared himself to the protagonist of Clockwork Orange, a film that this film owes a debt to for its visual style. The film is luridly colorful, full of trashy plastic colors, garishly made-up women and graffiti. There's even a few Kubrick stares midway through.

This was definitely an entertaining film. It's heart is in the right place but I couldn't shake the feeling that its message was too artful, too subtly ironic. Perhaps I'm just being paranoid.