FILM CHALLENGE: 30) Bronson

30) Bronson

Director: Nicholas Winding Refn

Year: 2009

Plot Summary: In 1974, a hot-headed 19 year old named Michael Peterson decided he wanted to make a name for himself and so, with a homemade sawn-off shotgun and a head full of dreams he attempted to rob a post office. Swiftly apprehended and originally sentenced to 7 years in jail, Peterson has subsequently been behind bars for 34 years, 30 of which have been spent in solitary confinement. During that time, Michael Petersen, the boy, faded away and 'Charles Bronson,' his superstar alter ego, took center stage.

Maybe it's because I have recently watched Grizzly Man and The Killer Inside Me, two deep examinations into the mind of troubled individuals, or maybe it's because I have recently watched On The Waterfront and The Big Lebowski, two films with strong messages and themes, but I found Bronson to be a little empty.

At first, the film is a good study of our celebrity culture and examines how many people will stop at nothing to make themselves famous. The narration is interestingly told as if Bronson is talking to an audience who are listening to him speak about his life. These scenes are done in a surreal style in which the people worship him and admire him and Bronson performs to them like an entertainer or a rock star. It all adds to the idea that Bronson is an alter ego created by Michael Peterson who fights, kills and assaults everyone around him for fame.

But as the film progresses it becomes apparent that the director isn't all that interested in the 'why'. Unlike a movie with a similar theme, The Assassination Of Jesse James, in which Robert Ford's decision to kill Jesse James is explored over 2 hours, the reason why Bronson creates this alter ego, why he feels the need to attack people to achieve it and where this violence comes from isn't at all touched on. Therefore, Bronson simply becomes a narrative that shows a compilation of events that the famous prisoner has been a part of with no real connection to each other. Looking back on the film I don't really see what, after the first 20 minutes, the movie is trying to say or achieve. It all feels a little bit pointless.

Moreover, it's quite monotonous. Once we've seen one outburst of violence against a prison guard, we've seen them all. None of them add anything to the plot or the character. It's not helped by the fact that much of the same music, many of the same shots and many of the same lines are repeated throughout the film over and over again.

However, it's all nearly saved by the intentionally over the top and incredibly psychotic performance by Tom Hardy. But, in the end, all I feel is sadness in the fact we'll never see what Hardy could have done with a stronger role written for him. With that extra depth that is needed in Bronson, it would have been a role guaranteed to propel him to fame.

2/5

By Daniel Sarath with 1 comment