Films I Watched This Week — Nov 11–17, 2024
Romper Stomper (1992)
Romper Stomper is a gritty and powerful Australian crime film that made Russell Crowe into an international star. He plays Hando, a leader of a racist youth gang who spends their nights attacking Asian immigrants in a rough section of Melbourne. The film's violent content sparked heavy controversy. In March 2000, British prisoner Robert Stewart bludgeoned his Asian cellmate to death with a wooden table leg at the Feltham Young Offenders' Institution. In 2004, Stewart was found guilty of the racially motivated murder and was jailed for life. Stewart compared himself to Hando in Romper Stomper as well as Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange. An inquiry heard that Stewart had watched Romper Stomper two days before the killing. "He saw himself in the film Romper Stomper as a racist thug attacking gooks", the inquiry was told. The Anti-Nazi League protested against the film's London premiere.
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