There must be something in the air because there is a veritable flood of biopics being released this winter in UK cinemas. Bronson beefs up the British representation with a stylish dramatization of the incarcerated life of Charlie Bronson, Britain’s most notorious prisoner.
We rarely move beyond the confines of various prison cells and the violence contained within them but when we do we are given moving glimpses of the real Charlie Bronson who has spent most of his life in prison evolving different personas.
Tom Hardy’s performance is as mesmerizing as it is menacing. The Danish director comes to this UK indie with a track record of low budget urban thrillers (Pusher trilogy) and certainly some of the scenes in Bronson are reminiscent of these earlier films.
Unlike the Pusher films, Bronson isn’t a thriller, more a study of a troubled mind with a theatricality and eccentricity that although a little incongruous with the subject matter, boldly sets it apart from all the other biopics on screens this winter.