Bronson is the type of film that will either stand or fall by it's main performer as he is on film 99% of the time often narrating straight in to the camera. Fortunately Nicolas Winding Refn did a masterful job of casting Tom Hardy in the lead who carries the whole film on his massive ass kicking shoulders.
Bronson tells the story of one Michael Peterson, a petty criminal who rose to infamy as a brawler and having the distinction of being Britain's most expensive criminal later on. We follow his story in a series of vignettes, narrated by Bronson on stage often in disturbing clown makeup, on how he became this infamous personality who later changed his name to Charlie Bronson as he tried to make a name for himself as an underground fighter. He doesn't seem like a bad lad all in all, he loves his mum, but his distain for authority and explosive temper is what leads him astray and to prison early on and where he would spend most of his adult life locked away.
What seems to divide audiences with this film is its "stageyness" (seeing how Bronson the narrator is on an actual theater stage in makeup telling his story to his own audience) , how stylized it is and how it doesn't follow the rules in terms of storytelling.
It never dwells on why he acts the way he acts, doesn't go in to some psycho babble or tries to find a cataclysm that started this behavior. He just wanted to be famous he says. Simple as that. We see him interact with a handful of characters throughout his life but mostly it's just him rebelling against prison authority.
For most that would spell doom for the project as the main actor has to have the charisma to hold an audience attention for more than 90 minutes of what essentially are sketches from his life. Tom Hardy fortunately delivers the goods for sure with an amazing performance.
I'm sure not many people expected Refn to create a film that would be so stylized and theatrical after his Pusher series. Especially since it's a director-for-hire job for him and what could easily have been Pusher 4 set in the UK.
Here we hardly see a hand held shot but smooth dolly's and perfect framing. The film has been called Kubrik like and I can see that in a way, especially the use of classical music that might make some think of A Clockwork Orange.
Comparisons to Chopper however I feel end at a film about a famous criminal told through his eyes.
Bronson is a great little film about a larger than life character that manages to charm his audience even if he is a person you would never want to be associated with in real life.
Bronson screens again here at Fantastic Fest today Monday the 28th at 4:30 PM
More from Bronson
- Reviews: Bronson review
- Reviews: BRONSON Review
- Reviews: IFFR 2009: BRONSON Review
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