Review of Bronson (2009) by Andrew H — 12 Oct 2012

Bronson is one of the best movies I've ever seen. I think the story's fascinating, and Refn's fantastic direction, Hardy's brilliant performance, the beautiful cinematography, and wonderful score only make it better.

It reminded me a lot of Trainspotting in terms of style and quality. Refn is a very assured director, and he moves at not a fast but a confident pace. He focuses on things, lingers on moments, lets the audience think for themselves while simultaneously pummeling them with incredibly thought provoking imagery.

I saw Charlie Bronson as a man yearning to be free, and strangely the place he felt this the most was a prison cell. It doesn't matter how he got there, it just matters that he did. Refn doesn't go super in depth with the reasons.

It doesn't matter. Most prisoners hate the prison lifestyle, but once they've been there for a certain amount of time, they can't function any other way and turn to suicide. Bronson loves the lifestyle.

If he beats the shit out of him, where are they gonna send him? Where he already is? Or just transfer him to a different prison? I think the reason that he fights is a combination of the need for liberation and the need for fame and recognition.

These two go hand in hand. Prisoners look up to him as a badass. He loves the way things are. But once he's wrongly transferred to the looney bin, he can't function. He doesn't belong there.

They give him a ton of drugs because they're scared of him. He's not himself. So he has to do something drastic to get back on his feet. When he's in the real world again, he falls in love, and this is another thing in his life that is liberating.

But when she loves another man, life outside of prison becomes pointless, so he goes back. He discovers art. It's another way of expressing himself. I don't think he ever fought because he had bottled up rage inside of him, he had what seemed to be a pleasant upbringing.

He fought because it felt good and gave him notoriety. This is also why he makes art. When they threaten to take that away from him, he creates his masterpiece, a self portrait, painted on the man who introduced him to his new love.

Then he beats the shit out of the guards. He's achieved fame, he got what he wanted, but the consequences aren't quite worth it. Sure, he's Britain's most famous prisoner, but he's going to have to spend the rest of his life (or an indefinite amount of time) in solidarity.

The shot of him in this situation is devastatingly sad. He's in a tiny holding cell that's slightly taller and wider than he is. He can't comfortably lie down. He has no art supplies. He has no one to fight.

He is trapped. Caged. The only person he can fight now is himself.