Bronson chronicles the life of infamous British prisoner Michael Peterson, a.k.a. Charles Bronson in an artistic way you wouldn’t expect for a prison movie.
This biographical movie shows pieces of Bronson’s life in unchronological order of how he grew up, his family life, how he became a criminal, his irrepressible aggression, his life in prison (and the rare moments outside of it as he spent most of his life inside). Bronson has been held in solitary confinement for most of his sentence due to his extremely aggressive behavior which is portrayed extensively throughout the movie, though it does not often go into the motivations behind it. The biography is interluded now and then with an imaginary stage performance for an imaginary audience, with Bronson dressed in a fancy outfit but his face painted, in black and white, as a clown.
Danish director Refn could have chosen to portray Bronson’s life as any simple prison movie. Instead, he made it more than just that. The movie became an artistic piece of work when he took it beyond realism – and it makes sense in relation to the main character’s story. Bronson’s life, at least in the way Refn portrayed it, is such a chaotic mishmash of (aggressive) happenings (in either very bleak or very colorful settings), seemingly, without any motivation behind it at all. The movie’s surrealism adds to the idea of Bronson as a man with severe mental issues (especially since psychiatrists have considered him to be schizophrenic, although he was never actually diagnosed). The interludes of Bronson as clown, narrating his life, are particularly interesting, it’s not something I have seen in movies done this way before, and I can commend Refn for stepping outside of the box on that one.
The star of the movie, of course, is Tom Hardy as Bronson. The moments the movie moves a little slower, Hardy still knows to hold the audience’s attention as the growling and prowling bestial creature that is Bronson. The moments the movie does hurtle forward, he delivers an onslaught of energy. Even Charles Bronson was happy with the casting of Hardy to play him, the two met a few times and Bronson was impressed with how Hardy managed to change his appearance (he put on a lot of weight and muscles) and his behavioral mannerisms to match his. Hardy’s dedication to his role is palpable (the psychoness radiating from him is actually a little frightening), and his performance is truly captivating.
As a final note, I’d like to mention the music in this movie. A few 80’s tracks have been used to score the movie (among which the Pet Shop Boys’ “It’s a Sin” and New Order’s “Your Silent Face”) which are both very cheerful – these tracks add to the strange, contradictory artfulness of the movie, and have been very well chosen to that end. In the same vein, the sweetness of some of the classical pieces used offer great contrast for the movie’s violence.
Discussion
Bronson has been said to be “the 21st century’s A Clockwork Orange“ (1971). It even says so on the DVD cover (as a quote from a review). I can understand the wish for the link to that movie (from the makers’ side), as it’s such a well-known (and infamous) movie. Honestly though, I would never equate the two as much as others have (even if the two main characters are dressed up as clown-like figures at some point in the movies).
A Clockwork Orange is a movie that, in my opinion, primarily focuses on (and criticizes) the relationship between the prison system and the prisoner and the power the state has over its imprisoned subjects (it didn’t even necessarily have to be Alex, his character could have been replaced with any other type of criminal – he was just a vehicle, bluntly put). Bronson, though, is about Bronson, and the criticism on the prison system, although it’s there, is on the background. Of course, he is treated poorly, inhumanely so, perhaps, but Bronson is mostly a movie that tries to convey the weirdness of Bronson’s life and the waste of life in prison and perhaps the impotence of the prison system to deal with a figure like Bronson (whereas the prison system in A Clockwork Orange is portrayed as an all-powerful institution that’s capable even to “cure” crime).
What fascinated me about Bronson particularly is that Refn and co. made it seem as if the man is inherently violent, as if it’s something in his nature, and there is no way for him to not be criminal. However, they hint at the idea that prison isn’t the right place for him to be either.
Bronson is definitely a film I can recommend if you want to watch an artful prison movie that does not glorify violence or the criminal. It’s unlike any other prison movie out there at the moment.
What did you think of Bronson, if you’ve seen it? What did you think about its strange artfulness?
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