Hello this is Jake Winters for Eye on the Triangle this is Snowverated and this week I will be taking a look at Bronson.

Bronson is about a man Michael Peterson, Played by Tom Hardy, who goes by the name of Charlie Bronson in his head as it is his alter ego. The movie follows him through his troubles inside the prison system of Great Britain and focuses on the psychological impacts that living in solitary confinement for thirty years has on a man. This movie is based on a true story.

Bronson is to say the least an interesting film. The first thing that comes to mind when trying to find another movie to compare this one to is a Wes Anderson Film but it is far from one. The one thing that did make me think of Wes Anderson when I was watching it was the style of filming. It uses symmetry and repeated shots throughout which is a staple to many of Wes Anderson’s film.

The story of the film is disjointed. Bronson is moving around from prison to prison and sometimes he is out of prison. It is never explicitly said that Bronson is actually making all of these stories up in his head but it becomes obvious due to the nature of many of the scenes in the film. I liked seeing these stories for a time but as the movie goes on there is no order. He is in and out of prison doing different odd jobs, getting married, getting in fights, and trying to make a name for himself. If the stories had been a little less odd it may have been more relatable as a story but I feel the intent of this movie was to give a look into how solitary confinement can affect a man. The stories are of his ideal life and just of struggles he could have. He doesn’t imagine perfect situations though. He can’t find someone who will love him and he isn’t living gloriously. It could be thought of as a representation of his life through his eyes as he began to lose his mind.

There is an overload of symbolism in this movie which could be seen as either good or bad. In this case I would say it was bad. The symbols were right in front of your face and they obscured any actual story that could have existed. What I mean by this is that I feel the director spent too much time trying to send a message with his metaphors and symbols and not enough time making interesting scenes that made clear statements about the insanity of an inmate living in solitary confinement. I’d say this film is good to watch if you are hoping to dissect a film. It provides ample opportunity to try and dig meaning out of the shots it provides. I find this to be something that a movie should leave as an option. The movie should be able to exist without its symbolism. In other words the symbolism that lies within a movie should only serve to amplify the ideas that it is attempting to present.

This movie is not something I would recommend watching if you cannot handle graphic content because Bronson is in a battered state for almost the entire film and nudity becomes a norm throughout. I think this use of harsh material serves its purpose very well throughout the film. It shows what prison life can be like for misbehaved inmates and while the way they treat him is only reciprocation of the way he treats them it is brutal.

This movie feels like a distorted and more graphic version of One Flew the Cuckoo’s nest. It shows a man on the outside who is discontent with his life and is constantly seeking attention and he ends up in an insane asylum for acting out. It sends far different messages about the institution but when he does eventually end up in an insane asylum it sends a very similar vibe to One Flew the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Bronson is more of an intellectual movie than an entertainment movie. It is like abstract art compared to realism. It does what it intended to well, but I did not find it entertaining. It didn’t grip me and give me any emotional responses beside repulsion at points but if I were to go back and try to write an essay describing even just one scene from the movie I don’t think there would be a shortage of material available to me to analyze. If this movie were really going to be considered entertaining it would have to shift its focus slightly more towards the story. The story seems to just drift along with no real conflict within. The conflict could be said to be Bronson against the Institution but he has no goal so it is more of an Internal Struggle. I felt the film over emphasized violence. In almost every scene and certainly every other scene Bronson is physically hurting someone. It is filler content and it gets old very fast. The redeeming side of this is that it is proving a point of the excessive violence that pervades in a criminally insane person’s mind. Bronson proves it’s point but it goes on to prove it continuously as though it had run out of ideas.

You can rent this movie on Amazon Prime, iTunes, or Flixter online for three dollars. Thank you for tuning in to this week’s movie review. Feel free to send any suggestions or comments to the email address public affairs at W-K-N-C DOT ORG I am always glad to hear feedback and opinions. Thank you for tuning into Snowverated, This is Jake Winters for Eye on the Triangle have a good night.