Thursday, April 22, 2010

Bronson: Britain's Most Violent Prisoner




You know how people say that love will hit you as soon as you stop looking for it?

I could not agree more. I had given up all hope. Resigned myself to the sad fact that I would never again feel that special feeling. I had even asked around and attempted to be matched in order to find that certain connection. But nothing seemed to do it for me.

I mean I was seeing everyone from Oscar winners and nominees to indies and still I felt nothing.
Until now. My love came to me in the form of a twist on a true life story of Britain's most notorious prisoner, Charles Bronson. Renamed by his bare knuckle boxing manager, after the very famous star of the Death Wish movies, Charley Bronson is a total loon. The film had been sitting at the top of my Netflix for a few months now and only because I knew that it starred Tom Hardy.
* Sigh * Tom Hardy, whom I first fell in love with as Heathcliff in a Masterpiece Theater version of Wuthering Heights (also known as the most depressing and sadly relate-able story ever told). Then discovered that he had gone unnoticed by me in two movies that I have seen multiple times and basically adore, L4yer Cake and Rock n Rolla. He also has a brief and confusing role in a movie called Scenes of a Sexual Nature, which despite the title, is really only meh.
But in BRONSON, he is a God. I later read that he visited 'the queen's most expensive prisoner' when preparing for the role. And what a role it is. The man has been in prison for most of his adult life, 35 years. 30 of those years has been spent in solitary. And basically it seems as though he is just completely off the reservation.
In the film, psychosis and caveman-like qualities reign supreme. Not to mention, Hardy has added about 35 lbs of pure muscle to his build. And oh so British. So very British. Wonderful and British in that special 'I don't give a fuck' kind of British way.
Director Nicholas Winding Refn picks the perfect music and has impeccable timing. As a visual person, I even greatly appreciated the strange dedication to Bronson's prison drawings.
If you like Guy Ritchie movies, ultraviolence in the form of bare knuckle boxing, bad ass Brits, cool as shit music, or full frontal male nudity, you will like this movie. Really if you just like one of the aforementioned traits you should see it. But if you like them all then you will fall in love the way that I have.

Bronson = my kind of chick flick.


Article about Nicholas Winding Refn's newest movie Valhalla Rising

1 comment:

  1. i have neither posted nor read anything in forever. forgive me soulmate.
    this movie sounds pretty awesome, and i had a good chuckle after realizing that my bad pre-read skim led me to believe that charles bronson, the actor, was actually britains' most dangeous criminal. you have to see at least one of the death wish movies, they are absurd. drug yourself to have some laughs.i get enough full frontal nudity in the mirror everyday, but i can get past that, i'll try to download it or something.

    ReplyDelete