The Thousands

Your film is called Bronson and it is not about movie legend Charles Bronson? How can you make this up to me, movie? By being an absorbing biopic of a real life criminal that I had not heard of, that’s how! Britain’s most violent prisoner, Michael Petersen, took the name Charlie Bronson to further elevate his notoriety. Although Petersen/Bronson already cut a memorable figure with his bald head, handlebar moustache and devilish grin, resembling nothing more than a demonic circus strong-man.

Director Nicholas Winding Refn introduces us to Bronson suited up on stage, telling his life story to a hall of tuxedoed audience members, and then cuts to Bronson in action, a caged animal beating up the prison guards sent in to pacify him (all the while a Walker Brothers tune mournfully plays). Bronson was imprisoned on account of a small-time robbery but where he excelled criminally was in being a prisoner, viewing the cells as “hotels” and channelling his rage into punch-ups with “the screws” every chance he could.

Key to the film is Tom Hardy, who brings a menacing charm to the role of Bronson, reminiscent of Eric Bana’s performance in Chopper. Refn’s direction aims for the grandiose, orchestrating stark Kubrickesque screen compositions to a soundtrack that alternates between classical music and pulsating electro-pop to brilliant effect. The only issue now is what would we call the Charles Bronson biopic?