Australian Penthouse

Thanks to Control Entertainment, Australian Penthouse is giving you the chance to win one of five Fatbelly, Chopper… Unchopped DVDs. Click on the link for the winners!

Congratulations to our winners!

Shane McLoughlin, Ferntree Gully, Vic

Kelly Hodges, Light Pass, SA

Samantha Taylor, Slade Point, Qld

Dean Mackie, Bundaberg, Qld

Nicole White, Metford, NSW

In 2000, the iconic Australian film Chopper was released, based on semi-autobiographical books by the ex-prisoner convicted murderer, Mark ‘Chopper’ Read. For those who want to see the real Read, Control Entertainment’s new DVD documentary Fatbelly, Chopper…Unchopped features Australia’s most iconic crim giving a raw, personal account of his life, in his own words.

Followed by a camera crew and interviewer while Chopper goes about his daily life, including getting a haircut, having a beer at the pub with friends – the documentary is both personal and raw.

When Chopper delves into his past, discussing his unstable upbringing, including being bullied at school and his time spent in various mental institutions receiving shock therapy, one cannot help but feel a great deal of sympathy for the murderer.

What’s confronting about Fatbelly, Chopper…Unchopped is the ease in which Chopper talks about the methods he used to kill and maim people. At the pub, he explains how to slice a guy’s skull in half, at home, he talks about how he kneecapped a guy with a shovel. Although extremely interesting, it’s sickening just how seemingly proud he is about inflicting violence on others – deserved or not and it is the ‘no bullshit’ Chopper that we see at the beginning of the documentary talking about his upbringing has now changed to the big-headed Chopper attempting to show off just how violent and skilled he was. This is highlighted in the scene where he tells about the killings, the torture he inflicted upon others he states, “I wouldn’t recommend my life to anybody,” he says with a smirk, which says otherwise.

An interesting element of this documentary is how the viewer is left feeling like they have watched something light hearted. Chopper laughs and ridicules the interviewer several times in the documentary, including when the interviewer asks, “What would do if someone hurt your feelings?” to which Chopper sniggers, “What are you talking about? What a stupid question. What are they going to say to offend me? You have no ears?” and with answers about why did he kill a person turning out to be a laugh and “because I didn’t like him,” in Fatbelly, Chopper…Unchopped, Read leaves you feeling conflicted, and a little guilty, for feeling that such a vicious man can also be so charming.

For your chance to win one of five Fatbelly, Chopper… Unchopped DVDs, simply answer the question below, add your name, postal address, and click ‘send’.

[form 59 "Win a Fatbelly, Chopper... Unchopped DVD"]

Competition commences on 3/12/09 and concludes on 20/01/10. Entry is open to all residents of Australia over the age of 18, but excludes all employees of Australian Penthouse. Entrants must provide their contact details and an answer to the question, “tell us what part of your body would you chop off, and why?” in 25 words or less. This is a game of skill which contains no element of chance, and which will be judged by members of the Australian Penthouse staff on 25/01/10. Three winners will receive one Fatbelly, Chopper…Unchopped DVD. Prizes will be mailed to winners at the address nominated in their entry. The promoters take no responsibility for lost or misdirected entries, and no correspondence will be entered into.

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