Bronson

On paper, the idea of making a biopic based on the life of Britain’s most violent prisoner, Charles Bronson, seems almost certainly to be a bad idea. The potential pitfalls are endless. First off, there is the problem of not only who would be best suited to the role, but also, who would want to take on such a risky role? Then there is also the balancing act of allowing enough insight into the acts and crimes of such a character, whilst maintaining a safe enough distance as to not glorify or glamorise the violence or the dangerous nature of such a man.

Thankfully, Nicolas Winding Refn’s ’Bronson’ strikes just about the perfect balance, being one of the most interesting biopics I have seen in recent years. For anyone who has seen the equally brilliant ‘Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll’, the biopic of Ian Dury, you may well recognise a very similar style of narrative exposition and stylistic subversions.

As is the case with ‘Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll’, ‘Bronson’ tells its protagonist's story through a series of fictional performance sequences. We see various incarnations of a manic Charles Bronson speaking and performing the key moments of his story to an imaginary, silhouetted audience, whom laugh and applaud the often appalling tales being recounted. While on the surface this may sound as though his acts are being glorified, they always maintain a dream-like distance from reality, clearly denoting that such reactions exist only in Bronson’s head.

With regards to the starring role, Tom Hardy gives, in my opinion, an Oscar worthy performance. Providing moments of extreme brutality and terrifying volatility, Hardy is near flawless as Bronson. The disturbing insanity of Hardy’s portrayal is beautifully offset by occasional moments of vulnerability, in a performance of extraordinary versatility. One example being the scene in which he is reunited with his parents on release from prison. The scenes of violence and assault are dealt with unflinchingly yet not gratuitously. We are shown enough to suggest just how dangerous and animalistic Bronson can be without the need for lingering scenes of violence or the use of needless shock tactics. Equal praise should be heaped on Refn’s distinctive direction, as he beautifully balances violence, structural experimentation and narrative exposition to such engaging and informative effect.