Bronson (2008)

 

Genre: Crime/ Action

Time: 1h 32mins

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Quick Summary: A young man who was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending three decades in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter-ego, Charles Bronson.

Absolutely golden film. How have I not watched this. British classic. Hidden gem. I am amazed. Brilliant

How I had never heard of this film I have no idea, I only watched this through a recommendation. This is actually amazing. It's so fun and captivating to watch, and to my surprise the main actor is Tom Hardy? I would have never guessed as he acts so well and is so unrecognisable. From the antic we see throughout, this personality would be hard to pin down or even mimic, but he's done incredible considering. 

Maybe it's due to my age but I had also never heard of Charles Bronson, as he was infamous back in the 90's mainly for his shenanigans, so this was brilliant to see the various things he got up to and all the chaos and havoc he reeked. He was an absolute nut case, wild as hell, truly british, and honestly a bit of an iconic dude if you ask me. I don't think he's someone I'm going to forget. We've got, holding people hostage and demanding for a helicopter and a cup of tea; wrestling prison guards while fully naked and covered in butter; being transferred from eight different prisons in one year because of his violent behaviour and all sorts; this film manages to cover almost everything really well. 

It's choppy and jumps around a lot in the timeline, but I can imagine the timeline of this guy is difficult to follow at times considering. Energetic and full of british charm, I was glued to this the entire time. Even though it was just a retelling of some guy's life (a very full life that is), it was so interesting and actually incredibly funny. From watching interviews with the actual Charles Bronson, they managed to write this so well as everything that is narrated sounds like it cam directly from his mouth. 

I love how funny this is. Not everyone will as it's your typical british humour with the overuse of the word c*nt (absolutely classic) and lots of sarcasm. You know this is actually british too and not just the stereotype of us all being classy. Violent, vulgar and crazy suits us very well. It's so bizarre and intoxicating as we rush through this story with amazement as more and more crazy stuff keeps happening. Of course we don't really get too much of an insight of Bronson as a person inside, but this is really about that. It touches on how he wanted to settle down and his love of the arts, trying to lean more towards that "Charles Bronson" may be more of a performance act than actually him. But this is just about the things this guys did and man is it entertaining to watch. I'll tell you what though, I wasn't expecting Tom Hardy to be naked as much as he was in this. Jumpscared me everytime.

Time flew by as I watched this as it's pure entertainment. Best way to watch this is go in without researching about him so you can experience the moments that happen in this perfectly. Bonkers man with a Bonkers history, with a brilliant film that tributes to him best it could do. 

10/10

"Charles Bronson: Now hang on to your fillings. Alright? 'Cause it's going to get fucking Leary."

"Prison Governor: [On phone to Charlie] Hello Charlie. Can you hear me?

Charles Bronson: 'Course I can fucking hear you, there's nothing wrong with MY hearing you cunt!"