Romper Stomper

REVIEW
Romper Stomper impacts like a smartly landed fist, using the unbridled fury of its protagonists to propell this story of disenfranchised adolescents lost in a squalid urban wasteland, as abandoned as the empty factories in which they squat. They affect skinhead trappings and bemoan the decline of White Power; the film opens with a horrific gang war scene, as Hando (Crowe) takes his cronies to stomp a group of young Vietnamese in a subway station. The violence is its own reward, getting it as gratifying as giving it. The introduction of a poor little rich girl (McKenzie) into the group, and especially her impact on the relationship between Hando and his lieutenant Davey (Pollock), occupies much of the later storyline; but the film will be remembered for the emotional toll it demands of the viewer. A remarkable piece of filmmaking.