The True Story of Michael Peterson, who as a young man decided to attempt to rob a a post office with a sawn-off shotgun. He is however apprehended by the police and sentenced to seven years in prison. He would go on to spend 34 years behind bars, 30 of which were in solitary confinement due to violent crimes he committed while being incarcerated. All the while becoming renowned in the media for his volatile reputation and earning himself a dubious celebrity status.
The latest movie from Danish-born writer/director Nicolas Redn Refn who had made his name with his Pusher trilogy. Bronson marked his second English language feature after his 2003 psychological thriller Fear X. Based on the life of one of Britain's most infamous and divisive figures, who would earn the title of being one of the country's most violent criminals. He was responsible for a dozen hostage takings and assaults on prison guards while incarcerated. The movie invites comparisons with the Australian bio-pic Chopper, which detailed the life and times of the notorious Mark Brandon Read. However, unlike Read, although Bronson has been guilty of a series of violent crimes while behind bars he has never murdered anyone. Which is why to this day there have been calls for his release from prison.
The movie depicts the early childhood of a young Michael Peterson who unlike Read came from a fairly stable and loving middle-class family background. Even though his predilection for violence reared its ugly head as a child. Bronson is not short on an ample amount of style and verve, with the eponymous anti-hero narrating his life in front of a live audience within a vaudeville-style theatre in prison clothes. His story is told in a series of vignettes with interludes of his narration. Despite its fairly gritty subject matter, Winding Refn doesn't shy away from peppering the movie with some black humor, particularly Bronson's self-deprecating narration.
Hardy is as always compelling delivering a performance that is nothing short of chameleon in nature. Bulking up with a weight gain of 40lb in muscle, growing a trimmed mustache, and shaving his head he becomes barely recognizable. He deeply immerses himself within the role, having met Bronson on several occasions in high-security psychiatric hospitals having paid great dividends. He clearly manages to have gotten inside the man's head, mimicking his voice and mannerisms to an extent that is quite simply eerie. A feat also phenomenally pulled off by Australian actor Eric Bana, who himself had met Mark Brandon Read in preparation for his role portraying him in Chopper.
The stylistic nature of the movie as well as the fact that it is a biopic that casts a spotlight on a notorious convicted felon, has predictably raised a few eyebrows, courting controversy. Not helped by the fact that an audio recording of Bronson was played at the movie's premiere with no prior permission granted by officers at HM Prison service. Winding Refn is indeed evidently inspired in his directorial flourishes by Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange which itself was highly contentious and controversial upon its theatrical release in 1972. Scenes of violence perpetrated by the titular anti-hero shot with classical music playing over it as well as camera shots and angles being decidedly Kubrickian. Although, whether it in any way glorifies Bronson is entirely subjective. The director's intentions are to explore the concept of "Bronson" rather than Michael Peterson himself so that the line between the man and the myth is blurred. Something that Chopper's Andrew Dominik similarly set out to delve into with his own movie.
In this respect, it's that it is therefore most likely a misnomer to label it as a Biopic rather than a loose mythological retelling of his life. Winding Refn is at least truthful in that Bronson was eventually institutionalized in several mental hospitals, and art imitates life in so much that Psychiatrists discussed psychopathy and schizophrenia, but never agreed on what mental illnesses, if any, their criminal patient had. Meaning, that in life as in the movie, there has been ambiguity as to his very nature and humanity.
Bronson however is indeed a provocative and incendiary piece of filmmaking that has divided public opinion, as has been the case with people's overall perception of him. At just over an hour and a half in length, it is fairly short in length but due to Winding Refn's unconventional method of storytelling and his ultra-modern excesses, it may likely alienate mainstream filmgoers. It is visually striking and likely marked the career-making role for Tom Hardy, who arguably could be mentioned in the same sentence as fellow British actor Gary Oldman as one of the most formidable talents of his generation. Its brooding, intense tone is punctuated by an electrifying closing synth theme tune by Glass Candy. Bronson doesn't quite make the grade as being a classic of British cinema. It nevertheless will still stay with you long after the closing credits have ended.
The latest movie from Danish-born writer/director Nicolas Redn Refn who had made his name with his Pusher trilogy. Bronson marked his second English language feature after his 2003 psychological thriller Fear X. Based on the life of one of Britain's most infamous and divisive figures, who would earn the title of being one of the country's most violent criminals. He was responsible for a dozen hostage takings and assaults on prison guards while incarcerated. The movie invites comparisons with the Australian bio-pic Chopper, which detailed the life and times of the notorious Mark Brandon Read. However, unlike Read, although Bronson has been guilty of a series of violent crimes while behind bars he has never murdered anyone. Which is why to this day there have been calls for his release from prison.
The movie depicts the early childhood of a young Michael Peterson who unlike Read came from a fairly stable and loving middle-class family background. Even though his predilection for violence reared its ugly head as a child. Bronson is not short on an ample amount of style and verve, with the eponymous anti-hero narrating his life in front of a live audience within a vaudeville-style theatre in prison clothes. His story is told in a series of vignettes with interludes of his narration. Despite its fairly gritty subject matter, Winding Refn doesn't shy away from peppering the movie with some black humor, particularly Bronson's self-deprecating narration.
Hardy is as always compelling delivering a performance that is nothing short of chameleon in nature. Bulking up with a weight gain of 40lb in muscle, growing a trimmed mustache, and shaving his head he becomes barely recognizable. He deeply immerses himself within the role, having met Bronson on several occasions in high-security psychiatric hospitals having paid great dividends. He clearly manages to have gotten inside the man's head, mimicking his voice and mannerisms to an extent that is quite simply eerie. A feat also phenomenally pulled off by Australian actor Eric Bana, who himself had met Mark Brandon Read in preparation for his role portraying him in Chopper.
The stylistic nature of the movie as well as the fact that it is a biopic that casts a spotlight on a notorious convicted felon, has predictably raised a few eyebrows, courting controversy. Not helped by the fact that an audio recording of Bronson was played at the movie's premiere with no prior permission granted by officers at HM Prison service. Winding Refn is indeed evidently inspired in his directorial flourishes by Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange which itself was highly contentious and controversial upon its theatrical release in 1972. Scenes of violence perpetrated by the titular anti-hero shot with classical music playing over it as well as camera shots and angles being decidedly Kubrickian. Although, whether it in any way glorifies Bronson is entirely subjective. The director's intentions are to explore the concept of "Bronson" rather than Michael Peterson himself so that the line between the man and the myth is blurred. Something that Chopper's Andrew Dominik similarly set out to delve into with his own movie.
In this respect, it's that it is therefore most likely a misnomer to label it as a Biopic rather than a loose mythological retelling of his life. Winding Refn is at least truthful in that Bronson was eventually institutionalized in several mental hospitals, and art imitates life in so much that Psychiatrists discussed psychopathy and schizophrenia, but never agreed on what mental illnesses, if any, their criminal patient had. Meaning, that in life as in the movie, there has been ambiguity as to his very nature and humanity.
Bronson however is indeed a provocative and incendiary piece of filmmaking that has divided public opinion, as has been the case with people's overall perception of him. At just over an hour and a half in length, it is fairly short in length but due to Winding Refn's unconventional method of storytelling and his ultra-modern excesses, it may likely alienate mainstream filmgoers. It is visually striking and likely marked the career-making role for Tom Hardy, who arguably could be mentioned in the same sentence as fellow British actor Gary Oldman as one of the most formidable talents of his generation. Its brooding, intense tone is punctuated by an electrifying closing synth theme tune by Glass Candy. Bronson doesn't quite make the grade as being a classic of British cinema. It nevertheless will still stay with you long after the closing credits have ended.