Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Directors: Geoffrey Wright, Daina Reid, James Napier Robertson, Roadshow Entertainment.
Cast: Toby Wallace, Sophie Lowe, Lachy Hulme, Nicole Chamoun, Julian Maroun.
Set more than two decades after the events of the 1992 film, Romper Stomper is the television series sequel that is ‘bold, compelling storytelling’.
A new generation of ultra-right activists and anti-fascist counterparts emerge as the level of hatred, fear, vengeance and political unrest grows.
The point of origin for this story is the film created by Geoffrey Wright. It’s an obvious progression that he directs two episodes.
Reality and exaggeration go hand-in-hand with this small screen drama. The six-part
series follows a new generation of fictional far-right activists and their far-left, anti-fascist counterparts. The story focuses on a fictional far-right anti-Islamic group led by Blake Farron (Hulme) known as Patriot Blue.
Jacqueline McKenzie, Dan Wyllie and John Brumpton reprise their roles from the original film.
When the series starts we see Kane (Wallace) and his friend Stix (Kaden Hartcher) rescue Farron after he comes under attack from an anti-fascist group while protesting at a halal festival in St Kilda. A grateful Blake takes the boys under his wing, offering them jobs as truck drivers for his recycling business.
A woman at the festival, Laila Taheer, risks being targeted when she speaks out against Farron on the TV news. Kane begins an affair with Blake’s wife, Zoe, and bashes her former partner. Kane’s sister, Cindi, escapes with two friends from a juvenile detention centre. Later Kane approaches his mother, Gabe Jordan, saying he knows who his father is.
The impact of this determined fast-paced drama is full-on. Media hunger and politically motivated agendas are reminiscent of modern-day Australia. Then there’s obsession and obstinacy in copious doses.
It’s robust, defying and opportune. Some aspects may not work in its entirety, but the impact of this brisk piece of TV drama lingers, indefinitely, after Blu-ray viewing.
