101. Bronson (2008)

Bronson was a bit of a different film. It chronicles the prison life of Britain’s most violent criminal Charlie Bronson. Throughout the film we see him beat up guards, get put in solitary confinement, then beat up more guards, go back to solitary and then try and become a sort of artist somewhere in between.

The story was ok. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t overly captivating. The director, Nicolas Winding Refn, was a big fan of color, shooting some scenes entirely in red or blue for dramatic effect. That was about the exent of the directorial contribution that caught my eye. Bronson’s character didn’t appear to grow all that much either. We see him delve into art later on but that’s about it. His most intriguing line is in the beginning of the film when he says, “All my life I’ve wanted to be famous,” then explains how he’s not good at anything so fighting was the only to get there. That sets up the remaining two hours of him beating up guards. There is one break in the film in which he is locked up in a mental institution. While watching the film this part seemed to be a change in gears and I expected the rest of the movie to be in the institution. Rather it is just a small break before he goes back to beating up officers in a prison. The intrigue to the viewer comes from wondering if Bronson will ever calm down, if he’ll ever give up his life of violence.

Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Bronson was the high point of this film. He did an incredible job of seeming to be completely out of his mind. You never knew when he was going to snap or what was really going through his mind. Throughout the film there are these scenes of him on a stage in front of the audience as if he is telling them the story of his life while we are seeing it on screen. During one of the scenes he has half of his face painted as if he is a crazy female teacher. While speaking he flips from one side to the other portraying each character as he switches. It is a really impressive piece of acting for him to change attitude and tone in an instant. In the end the film is worth watching if it’s on because of Hardy’s performance but I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to see it.