The latest film from Pusher director Nicolas Winding Refn, Bronson tells the story of Michael Peterson (aka Charles Bronson) the “most violent man” in British prison history. In what could be the best performance of the year, Tom Hardy plays Bronson, a lost soul who dreams of celebrity.

The framing of the film shows Bronson talking to an audience, an imagined scenario which rings closely to Scorsese’s King of Comedy. The moments are just as insane, and just as artful, as they were in that film. The desperation Hardy shows in these moments, bubbling just under the surface, the want of fame, of recognition is the core of the character.

Bronson bounces from prison to prison, no one wanting the man who was dubbed “Britain’s Most Expensive Prisoner”.

The look of the film is exceptional. Consisting almost entirely of interiors, the lighting and cinematography give the film an almost playful tone that really only disappears when confronted with the violence of the man called Bronson. The violence is both revolting and breathtaking. Much of the beauty of the film can be seen in the most violent sections. Shot from above, the carnage is depersonalized, by the observer position, but not cut away from, we are shown the fighting almost as if it were a dance.

At its heart, Bronson is the story of a man finding his place in the world, not with books, but with his fists, destroying everything to feel something.

The anger of man, the brutality of his actions, Bronson shines a light on those things kept in the dark. – [DVD]

Action/Biography/Drama/Thriller

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 2/9/10

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