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My thoughts....
A demented surrealist pantomime salted with brutal violence, tragedy, madness and the foulest and funniest of language.
All of which is used to tell the fascinating tale of a small time thug who got a 7 year sentence for armed robbery but ended up spending 34 (and counting) years in prison...30 in solitary(!!)...for his constant assaults and kidnappings on Prison Service staff.
34 years where he gave birth to his alta-ego 'Charles Bronson' and became the most violent, costly, dangerous and ultimately famous prisoner in British penal history. And an accomplished artist and writer to boot.
As the mad, smart, sad, whimsical, tragic, charismatic, farcical and super scary Human art installation Bronson, Tom Hardy is simply outstanding.
Channeling the utterly unique personage and unforgettable physicality that is the real 'Charles Bronson' (whatever indeed THAT means!) Hardy still manages to deliver a tour de force of serious acting that kills stone dead any criticism he's just doing an impersonation.
And physically it's a truly unforgettable performance as well.
The hard as nails Bronson physique, mad moustache, wonderful vocal weirdness, the facial gymnastics and almost primordial brutality and razor sharp wit and artistic vitality of the man are all present and correct.
As is a gloriously unfettered attitude to full male nudity, the two sequences of which are truly brilliant and memorable, as Hardy even puts Harvey Keitel to shame in the swinging artistic penis stakes.
The movie is part bio, part art show, part acid trip, part parody and part shockingly realistic drama.
With faux stage act scenes, camera tricks, delightfully eclectic soundtrack, hyperrealism, surrealist fantasy, intentional camp and astute psychological study give us a very personal, utterly abstract, painfully grim and wildly entertaining portrait of a man who has become a bizarre British icon.
But the film never glamourises or makes excuses for a man of extreme, unpredictable (though never actually lethal) violence, demented thoughts, inexcusable actions and sociopathic danger.
Yet it also shows the unique mind at work, the raw artistic skill, the sharp brain, the social awareness and fascinating personality of a man who literally re-invented himself through art and writing.
It has still been accused of lauding the man and glamorising the violence in him.
But it is telling that the film does not end on the 'mime' make-up covered, wildly grinning Bronson commanding his fantasy audience on the psychological stage of fame and infamy he loves so much...But instead ends on the shocking image of a blood covered, wild eyed, lacerated Bronson painfully trying to stand up in a metal cage not much bigger than himself.
And aurally , it does not end on the sound of celebrity Bronson laughing on stage...but end on the very real, physical plain bound Bronson screaming, rasping and moaning as he tries to push aside the cage walls that hem him in as he stands clothed in nothing but his own blood.
He would never have been the man, yes even the infamous celebrity and lauded artiste, he is without that 35 odd years of extreme incarceration...and yet would any of us really want to pay such a gigantic price?
Stunning!
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