Minor spoilers contained herein.
Romper Stomper is a visceral story, an almost-incendiary-but-not-quite piece of raw meat that begs to be chewed upon. The comparisons between it and American History X are unfair, since the two encompass two very different worlds. While AHX is polished commentary, Romper Stomper is jaded and ambiguous, unwilling to sacrifice truth for character evolution. The ending is doused in irony, wedding it and AHX as sleeping partners in the cultural quest to understand and represent neonazism.
Australian skinheads battle against the “Gooks” to reclaim historically white neighborhoods and establishments. Hando (Russell Crowe) is the leader of a small neonazi group embroiled in a particularly violent conflict with Vietnamese restaurant owners. In a street fight, the skinheads are overwhelmed by seemingly endless numbers of Asians, a none too subtle hint that immigration is a key issue for the skinheads. The girl who isn’t quite a woman, but is also no longer a girl, Gabe (Jacqueline McKenzie), becomes caught up with Hando. She suffers from epilepsy–a taint of the pure blood Hando has dedicated his life to preserving. Davey (Daniel Pollock), Hando’s lieutenant, is introspective as he finds himself attracted to Gabe.
The film operates on several levels, most prominently the distal relationship between blind ideology and quality of living. That the skinheads live day to day in relative filth, or that they are largely disorganized and rowdy, is inconsequential to the group. Indeed, that Hando blames racial impurity for the decline of civilization is both subtly critical of the “melting pot” mentality of non-fringe civilization and an ironic poke at the ideology that spawns such curious denial of self-reflection. Hando’s worldview is entirely focused on the external. Gabe notes the seething underbelly of self-hatred and social weakness–by living in squalid conditions, they merely perpetrate the myth of the overrunning foreigner and deny that social conditions are a product of their own rebellion and anarchism.
Romper Stomper is refreshing in that it does not shove the “Nazis are bad” message down your throat. Unlike American History X, it exists on its own terms, painting a critical, yet sympathetic picture of skinhead life, from their youthful exuberance and mass criminal malfeasance to their blubbery escape from the Asian gang and their ultimate downfall at the hands of the police.
Crowe is engaging, but not overpowering; I would like to have seen him boil over. He is characterized as very animalistic, further evidenced by the soundtrack of roaring beasts in his moments of rage, and yet he is gentle at times–a fiercely misguided lion of youth. Pollock is quiet and one senses a bit of remorse, but never full apology, behind his eyes. He respects and fears Hando, yet is willing to forego both to prove his love to Gabe. The Hitler youth knife proves to be a strange standard upon which to place his rebellious flag, but he does so in a manner that brings fewer answers than resolution. At the end, Davey may not be different, but he has definitely changed.
Romper Stomper wins points for its raw portrayal of skinhead life, its subtle premises and unartistic vision. What it lacks in production design is made up for in characterization and memorable situations. It feels real, something AHX seems to lack, and which greatly aids in understanding what it has to say.