BRONSON
“My name is Charlie Bronson and all my life I wanted to be famous…”
These are the first words of Nicolas Winding Refn’s visceral opus, Bronson. Delivered directly into the camera by the titular character (played with unrelenting intensity by Tom Hardy), this one line sets us off on a journey in which England’s most violent inmate is our guide. “I can’t act or sing,” Bronson tells us, “but there was one particular thing I was good at.” And so, we watch from when Bronson was a boy (born Mickey Peterson), assaulting teachers by hurling entire desks at them to when he was finally incarcerated (in his early twenties) for robbing a post office. What was supposed to be a simple seven year bid (or as Bronson’s mom would tell him, “don’t worry son, you’ll be out in four”) turned into 34 years because of the man’s never-ending need to enact his “art” upon the guards.
One of the reasons the film works so beautifully (aside from containing the best male performance of last year) is Refn’s Kubrickian use of classical and pop music. Scored with a mixture of Wagner, Brahms and the Pet Shop Boys, the film’s violence is strangely hypnotic because the music lulls you into a trance. Take the opening scene, for instance, in which Bronson assaults a slew of guards while “The Electrician” by the Walker Brothers plays. It’s a brilliant use of music to create mood and also underscore how our trusty anti-hero views the world. Violence is his “performance”, his “fun”, his ticket to “fame” (or infamy, depending on how you look at it), and the fact that Refn uses an almost seductive piece to help introduce us to this hulking maniac helps you almost “admire” his work.
And Refn doesn’t rely solely on oldies like aforementioned track or New Order’s “Your Silent Face”. He also applies the creeping, Night Rider synths of ”Digital Versicolor” by Glass Candy (of the Italians Do It Better label) to great effect. This anachronistic use adds another layer to the film, bringing the story into the modern day and thus letting the viewer examine just why we watch men like Bronson do what they do.
See the film. It’s one of the best “under the radar” movies of last year and contains some of the best uses of music I’ve seen in some time. And, no offense to any of this year’s Best Actor nominees, but that statue belongs to one man.
