STOMPING ON CONTROVERSY
Preview Magazine

December 1992

by: UNKNOWN

The more one sees of two-time AFI Award-winner Russell Crowe, the more one is increasingly impressed by the power of his screen presence. Crowe gives an electrifying performance in the controversial Australian movie Romper Stomper, which opened last month to strong box office business. Though the film has been heavily criticized for being racist and overly violent, Crowe strongly defends the film, of which he is extremely proud. He talks in-depth to Preview’s Paul Fischer about the controversial movie.

Paul Fischer: The President of the N.S.W. Jewish Board of Deputies wrote a letter to the Anti-Discrimination Board expressing concern that "Romper Stomper may incite racial hatred towards Asian Australians." What are your thoughts?

RC: Of course I disagree with that. Romper Stomper doesn’t glorify any ideology and it certainly doesn’t glorify the results of racial hatred. Therefore, it’s not a film that people jump up at the end and say: Right, I’m going out to hit somebody. By the end of the film, you’re generally a little too drained to even contemplate anything like that. This is not a film about heroes or skinhead role models.

PF: Film critic David Stratton has accused Romper Stomper of being racist because "the audience is given no positive characters to root for" and "misgivings about the pic’s effect on impressionable audiences seems justified." How do you respond to that?

RC: David Stratton is talking on behalf of an imaginary, intellectual middle-class (although he probably sounds more upper-class), and he’s really putting himself above the rest of us, as if there’s some mass army out there who is going to go into the cinema, see Romper Stomper and suddenly be activated, because they are mentally incompetent. And David’s just pushing things a little far here. He’s not actually being honest with himself about his own reactions to this film.

P.F.: Romper Stomper has also come under a bit of flack because of its violence. To what extent is the violence in the film justified?

R.C.: This is a truthful display of the way these guys choose to live. There’s no massive use of firearms but this is what they do. I think the way the film is shot makes it more confronting, because the camera makes you be right there with it. The scariest thing for audiences about this film is the truth.

P.F.: Do you agree that it’s healthier for a movie like Romper Stomper to polarize public opinion, as opposed to it being ignored?

R.C.: Yes of course. The Nazis rose to power through people ignoring them; put the subject up to popular debate. I mean, every single bloody person in the whole world has at some point in their lifetime, done, thought or said something that is racist, and the majority would feel guilty for doing so. It’s a relatively natural thing to be aware of one’s own culture and color. Hopefully people are excited by multiculturalism, by new and fresh things and discovering things. The world is migrating so fast now, we’re mixing so much more together.

P.F.: Do you have problems, as an actor, getting into a character whom you obviously oppose?

R.C.: No. It presents problems to me as a person, but not as an actor.

P.F: What one aspect of him can you relate to?

R.C.: His very strong sense of family.

P.F.: Our of all the characters you’ve played, was he the most difficult to divorce yourself from upon completing the film?

R.C.: He possibly would have in another circumstance, but within a very short time after completing that character, I was sleeping in a car outside a stable for 2 weeks, becoming Driscoll in Hammers Over the Anvil, so I was lucky to have something immediately to go on to which was totally different. The bottom line is, it’s only a job; my profession is to change character and take on different characters, and then tap into their emotions.

P.F.: You’ve often predicted the commercial success of Romper Stomper. Given the film’s toughness, how broad is the film in your view?

R.C.: I looked through the Top 10 box office films recently, and there is a trend to light-hearted films, but also on that list were things like Lethal Weapon 3 and Universal Soldier, and I don’t see that Romper Stomper is much removed from the subject matter, as far as its filmic concerns are in those films. There is certainly a difference in terms of the depth to which the film explores its subject matter and its style.

P.F.: So what’s your best definition of the film?

R.C.: I don’t know if I have a simple definition for it, but I would say it’s compelling and demanding. In a Los Angeles sense, I see it as, let me say, Love Story meets Shampoo (that’s to cover the haircuts) meets Superman.

P.F.: Is this your best work so far?

R.C.: No, that’s yet to come.

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