How Long Is “Bronson”?

Tom Hardy stars in Nicolas Winding Refn's disturbing, stylised biopic, which recounts the ignoble, incarcerated life of the man who has been dubbed Britain's longest-serving and most violent prisoner: Charles Bronson. Though from a good background, Michael Peterson quickly developed a gourmand's taste for violence and illegality. He changed his name to Charles Bronson at the behest of a bare-knuckle boxing promoter, and was imprisoned for seven years in 1974 for his part in an armed robbery. Since then he's had a total of four months of liberty; the rest of his time has been behind bars, mostly in solitary confinement; ever-extending his sentence through persistent brutal attacks on prison guards, hostage-taking, and attempts to kill and maim. Hardy's central performance is a tour de force, a frighteningly convincing portrayal of a sociopath, whose long, long time spent inside has given him monumental self-regard, and a warped philosophy that he's only too happy to share in a jovial manner that sits uncomfortably with his vicious behaviour.