Club on the banks of the Yarra River in the
heart of the city. Faux signage has transformed
the club into Vancliffe College and the revellers
are here to celebrate 140 years of the fake
educational establishment. To further enhance
the idyllic soirée, long boats silently glide past.
It’s the sight of veteran actor John Brumpton
that shatters the serenity and remindsEmpire
why we are here. In a long coat and ill-fitting suit,
his neck tattoos poke up above his starchy shirt
collar; his closely shaved hair revealing more ink
behind his ears. They may be faded but they are
a shocking reminder that Brumpton is revisiting
the role of Magoo, one of the few surviving
characters from Geoffrey Wright’s 1992 all too
prescient classic,Romper Stomper.Romper Stomperwas a kick in the guts for
the Australian film industry — a raging war cry
with a ferocious performance by Russell Crowe
at its core playing neo-Nazi Hando. Wright’s fi lm
was famously ignored by David Stratton who
couldn’t deal with the fi lm’s characters’ rancid
rhetoric, but it was hailed by many as an
important political statement and a fi lm that had
to be made. Now, as Aussie streaming service
Stan prepares to unleash a continuation of the
story 25 years on, and inspired by the far right
that has found a place for itself somewhere in the
mainstream (and a far left that has done the
same), all eyes are on the characters — those who
survived the original film, anyway — and where
their lives have led them over the past two decades.25 years afterRomper Stomper
tore up Aussie cinema screens
and introduced the world to
Russell Crowe, the story
continues on Stan.Empirewas on
set to witness the resurrection...
WORDSDAVID MICHAEL BROWN
THE COLD NIGHT AIR is heavy with
the sound of clinking champagne glasses and
hushed chatter. Extras, resplendent in dinner
jackets and ballgowns, are braving the inclement
Melbourne weather at the Richmond Rowing