Bronson Review 2009Nicolas Winding Refn (The Pusher trilogy) directs this drama about Britain's most notorious prisoner, Charles Bronson.
A performer: to be a performer, in British underworld slang, is to have a relish, a flair for violence; to be particularly skilled at putting on the frighteners. It's a term applied to James Fox's gangland enforcer in Nic Roeg and Donald Cammell's Performance - and it could also be applied to Charles Bronson aka "Britain's most violent man" as portrayed by Tom Hardy in this bizarre and bracing character study from Nicolas Winding Refn.
We know Bronson, if at all, through tabloid headlines, chronicling his hostage-taking, rooftop protests and distinction as Britain's 'longest serving prisoner'. Refn makes a virtue of his relative anonymity. But even those who thought they knew Bronson might be surprised to learn that the man born Michael Gordon Peterson couldn't have had a more respectable start. Born into an upper-middle class family in Aberystwyth, his uncle was mayor and his parents ran the local Conservative club.
We know Bronson, if at all, through tabloid headlines, chronicling his hostage-taking, rooftop protests and distinction as Britain's 'longest serving prisoner'. Refn makes a virtue of his relative anonymity. But even those who thought they knew Bronson might be surprised to learn that the man born Michael Gordon Peterson couldn't have had a more respectable start. Born into an upper-middle class family in Aberystwyth, his uncle was mayor and his parents ran the local Conservative club.
But something went wrong. The bright, gentle boy fell in with a bad lot; he became a bare-knuckle boxer; he robbed a post office for £26.18p. The bungled armed robbery put him in jail for seven years. Initially. For many, a lengthy prison stretch would be the undoing of life as they knew it. But it was the making of Bronson. Everybody's good at something, and in prison he discovered his calling: a gift for chaos.
As shown here, the man is completely unsocialised. The opening scene, a tableau which will be repeated over and over again, features him spattered in blood, feral and naked, cock quivering like a spring, playing human pinball with terrified prison warders until he's eventually overpowered; a bound Promethean. Much of the time, the film resembles one of those panels from 'The Beano', in which whirling fists and feet are glimpsed in a cloud of dust. He travels from prison to prison as if on eternal vacation. Parkhust is "well worth a visit". At Wormwood Scrubs, "the staff ensure your stay is as memorable as possible". Hostage-taking is just a prescription against boredom. "What do I want...?" he wonders. "Well, what have you got?" Those who've been banged up with him say it's an accurate depiction; although the matter of whether prolonged incarceration exacerbated his behaviour, institutionalised him, is never addressed.
As shown here, the man is completely unsocialised. The opening scene, a tableau which will be repeated over and over again, features him spattered in blood, feral and naked, cock quivering like a spring, playing human pinball with terrified prison warders until he's eventually overpowered; a bound Promethean. Much of the time, the film resembles one of those panels from 'The Beano', in which whirling fists and feet are glimpsed in a cloud of dust. He travels from prison to prison as if on eternal vacation. Parkhust is "well worth a visit". At Wormwood Scrubs, "the staff ensure your stay is as memorable as possible". Hostage-taking is just a prescription against boredom. "What do I want...?" he wonders. "Well, what have you got?" Those who've been banged up with him say it's an accurate depiction; although the matter of whether prolonged incarceration exacerbated his behaviour, institutionalised him, is never addressed.
