Review of Bronson (2009) by Harry W — 28 Sep 2014

With Charles Bronson in the starring role, Bronson sounded great from the get go.

All in all Bronson ended up as an interesting film, but it was a very flawed one.

The atmosphere in Bronson is very engaging because it is appropriately fast moving and gritty yet with a clear tone of black comedy at the same time. The large mix of genders and themes makes the experience a very trippy one which capitalises on director Nicolas Winding Refn's stylish talents as a filmmaker. The visual style of Bronson is great because it echoes memories of the great 2000 Australian crime biopic Chopper, although with more energetic movement this time. The storytelling in the film echoes memories of both this and the crime classic A Clockwork Orange. The structure of the film is becuase of how it emphasizes Charles Bronson's insanity in having an atmosphere which constantly matches his frame of mind. The intergration of both film styles is very interesting. Both of the aforementioned films are ones that I am fond of, so an amalgamation of both in the form of Bronson comes off as entertaining to me. And particularly considering the low budget nature of Bronson, it is able to go a long way which is impressive. It is a simple film and a stylish one, and even though the visual style of the film may exceed its narrative qualities, Bronson is still an entertaining piece of cinema. It is the kind of film which turns violence into art without glamourising it, and a lot of the imagery in the film is easily memorable. Bronson serves as a medium for Nicolas Winding Refn to reveal his keen eye for strong imagery. His role as director of Bronson is mostly effective, although at times it is weighed down by the fact that his storytelling and screenplay is not ready for the screen. While the script in Bronson has a lot of well crafted dialogue, it doesn't exactly bring an appropriately strong story in to justify it.

The stoytelling in Bronson is what comes across as its central problem. Despite being named Bronson, the film hardly has any emphasis on Michael Gordon Peterson as his alter ego. It depicts him as a criminal and the man he really is, but it doesn't get onto being about Charles Bronson until he adapts to the title halfway through the film. Bronson is only loosely based on the life of Michael Gordon Peterson, and so the amount of depth that it actually gets into is limited. It is a style-over-substance fare and although it does depict the insanity of Michael Gordon Peterson and his pathological urge for violence, but aside from the amount of work Tom Hardy puts into the role, Bronson really ends up being an ambitious but shallow film. Bronson never goes as far as differentiating between Michael Gordon Peterson and his alter ego Charles Bronson and just makes hints about things without ever going as far as to explain it. The tone in Bronson essentially seems to be nihilistic and repetitive as it suggests that there is no end in sight to the insanity of Charles Bronson, and in the process it gets repetitive. The shocking effect of the film which is prevalent at the beginning gradually begins to wear down as it progresses. The effect of the film felt at the beginning of Bronson wears off as the soty progressesw because its development is limited, and while the plot dynamics may change, the general feel of the film does not and so the effect gradually deteriorates. As a whole, Bronson is an effective film with a lot of good moments. But as a whole, there is no escaping the fact that it is burdened by lackluster storytelling and repetition.

The only thing in Bronson which is great nonstop from start to finish is the leading performance of Tom Hardy.

For the role of the titular Charles Bronson, also known as Michael Gordon Peterson, Tom Hardy looks the part perfectly. With a similar facial structure topped off by the man's iconic moustache as well as a physical frame of which Tom Hardy bulked up for the role, he looks perfect for the part. And beginning from there, Tom Hardy just gets better because his performance is one of his greatest to date. The role is such an interesting one, and Tom Hardy engages with it incredibly. He captures the insane energy in the part easily which gives him the appropriately maniacal edge for the part, and he maintains that consistently both physically and emotionally. He is so involved in the role that it is easy to forget he is acting in the part. Tom Hardy engages with the role of Charles Bronson so deeply in Bronson and never steps out of the part for a second. He says ever word with twisted aggression and throws every punch without the slighest fear of who it is hitting or precisely how hard the impact will be Tom Hardy is so deeply involved in the part that he is unforgettable, and he has never given a great performance as a criminal in his long career as an actor because his ambition in Bronson is absolutely fearless, fitting the profile for the notorious criminal easily.

So Bronson is a flawed film due to the fact that the narrative focus is rather rough and the story gets repetitive and its impact gradually decreases, but the visual style of the film is terrific and the leading performance from Tom Hardy is just perfect.