Thanksgiving? NO. It's TOMS-GIVING. And we're giving you the first in a double bill of Tom Hardys with Nicolas Winding Refn's BRONSON
Whit ye sayin'?! (We can't actually write what he says without getting reported).
Yeah, that's right, SIT DOWN! Charlie Bronson is here and he's looking to cause some trouble. We're doing something quite majestic this November. A veritable TOM'S -GIVING! We're doing a Tom Hardy double-bill!
We're starting with Nicholas Winding Refn's BRONSON, the "true-ish" story of Britain's Most Violent Prisoner. What we have come to discover is that this breaks the ratio from the 90+ films we've covered so far. This is not one to miss!
From Solitary to Spotlight: The Enigma of Charles Bronson
Laura: Well, hello there. Welcome to on the BiTTE, the podcast that uncovers, um, full frontal male nudity in cinema. My name is Laura and I am joined by my turkey co host Gobble Gobble Ryan.
Ryan: Remember when we went to go see Oldboy?
Laura: Yes.
Ryan: And there was that really uncomfortable interview with Park Chan Wook that Nicholas Renth did.
Laura: Nicholas Winding Refn.
Ryan: Yes. Uh, he did it with Park Chan Wook and he did it with like little shorts on.
Laura: He had really little shorts.
Ryan: Yeah, tiny little shorts like to the middle of his thighs and could uh, have been shorter. I don't know. I think like Park Chan was just like looking at, I'm just trying, trying to be like, look, I'm trying to remember this film that I made back in like 2002. Um, it's been 20 something years or something, um, since it was released. I think that's what it was. It was like 20 year release and they re released it in cinemas and we saw it and we got that treat at the end of it.
Laura: Well, we only have to wait four more years for a 20 year anniversary of this 2008 biographical question mark. Prison drama. Bronson.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: I love this movie. This movie stars Tom Hardy as Michael Gordon Peterson. Slash, Charles Bronson. Matt King is also in this movie.
Ryan: Slash. Charles Salvador, as he also likes to be go by now.
Laura: Oh yeah. Because he loves Salvador Dali.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: He's uh, an artist.
Ryan: Yeah, he is an artist. He's got like over 10,000 different pieces of art that he's made since he's, he's become a born again artist.
Laura: He has a lot of time on his hands.
Ryan: He definitely does. When he's not kicking someone's cunt in. He's doing a painting, he's doing a piece of art.
Laura: I'm going to throw the synopsis at you.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: And then we'll get into Nicholas and his little shorts.
Ryan: Yep.
Laura: The synopsis pulled from letterboxd. Fabronson is a young man who was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbing a post office. Ends up spending 30 years in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter ego, Charles Bronson. And the tagline is the man, the myth, the celebrity.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: Um, it's a weird synopsis because I feel like. I don't know, I don't know.
Ryan: It's a weird synopsis because it blames the system for basically creating him. But what the system did was it kind of nurtured his underlying like he's deep down like behavior.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Because he just like he says it in the movie and he definitely says it in his, in his books. Like anything that's like describing his life is that he was brought up well. He just didn't. It was just in his nature. Like, it was just in his nature to behave this way, to punch pretty much. Like the guy liked to scrap. Like, that's the thing. And he, you know, he was, he was, uh, you know, he robbed the post office. He did this. He got into crime. And I don't know like how, how you get into crime or at least kind of my, you know, you either get into crime for, for a couple of reasons. One, because your, your behavior predicates that, that's the sort of, that's the sort of line of you know what you want to do or you feel disenfranchised. Because Certainly during the 70s in the UK there was a lot of that going on.
Laura: I mean, maybe also for friendship, potentially.
Ryan: You end up with the wrong crowd.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Um, and the other reason is obviously for, to, for your habits, say like drugs or whatever. Um, but yeah, he's, he's an interesting and fascinating individual. He is still alive. He is currently, as of last year, he is currently looking for, ah, at least a date for his release or at least for parole.
Laura: Um, he is one of the most famous prisoners in the uk And I don't know if his story traveled that far. I didn't know who he was until I watched this film.
Ryan: Yeah, I think he, Yeah, I knew of them. I knew of the man from the papers because he would be in the papers periodically. Um, you know, because he would, he, he wrote, he's written tons of books. He has a fitness
00:05:00
Ryan: book. Um, to basically tell you is like, well, I've been in solitary confinement, I can still work out, so can you, you know, that sort of thing. Um, and also obviously the art is ah, the thing that kind of piqued my interest. I find that stuff to be fascinating. Um, and obviously he comes from a long line of criminals who've tried to profit at least from having some sort of creative outlet. Like John Wayne Gacy did, uh, paintings that were basically, um, of Disney characters, um, and he would try and sell them. But again, like, I think this, there's a moral and there's an ethical ground there where it's like you can't, you can't really find their artwork anywhere. Like, there's, you know, you can Google it and it's there, but you can't find like compilations and stuff because while those individuals, alive or dead, um, you don't want anyone profiting from people who are known to be either a killer or a, uh, violent criminal, which is what Michael, uh, Pearson is.
Laura: That's true.
Ryan: So that's the thing. But he is, he is fascinating. I liken him a lot to Mark, uh, Reid, uh, Mark Chopper Reed, if anyone's kind of familiar with that. Uh, and obviously there's the film adaption, uh, of Chopper where Eric Bana plays Mark Reid, who effectively became a celebrity again based on the fact that he was a gangster. And you know, he committed a lot of violent crimes himself. And you know, he kind of captured the spirit, the psyche, like the zeitgeist of people at the time, um, as he was quite a big personality. And I think the same kind of goes for, uh. I think the same goes for, uh, Charlie Bronson as well.
Laura: Do you want to tell us about Nicholas Winding Refn?
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: Whose filmography I really. It's interesting and there's a lot I need to watch still. I didn't realize, um, not as caught up as I thought I was.
Ryan: Yeah, there's a couple of outliers I've seen most of them and most of them I like. Certainly we could watch the Pusher trilogy again, um, because I've seen that and I have those films on dvd. Um, and a lot of these films I do. I do enjoy. Um, but yeah, there's a handful of that I haven't seen. I think a lot of this, A lot of the things that I haven't seen have kind of been down to choice. But he's not, um. They're not. There's not a huge amount of stuff there anyway. But Nicholas, ah, Winding, uh, Refen is a Danish director, screenwriter and producer. Um, a couple of little fun facts here. He has colorblindness. Um, he can't see mid colors. So certainly if you look at his films and you see how they are colored and shot in very particular ways, that's probably due to the fact that he is. He is reacting to his colorblindness, which I think is quite interesting. He's also an individual. He's, uh. You know how, like I've seen him more. If you. If anyone follows, uh, Hideo Kojima, the Metal Gear Solid guy who's now kind of traveled more and more into his weird world of obscurity with some of his more recent games and stuff like that. He's a friend, uh, of Nicholas Refence. So yeah, he kind of. He's a little bit of a star, it looks like. But yeah, you see him with photos with him all the time. And also when you see that he's also in some of his video games as well, I think, playing characters because he's acted small roles before. Um, he likes to shoot films in chronological order. And the only reasoning I could get to it was that he thought it was cool because John Cassavetes did it. And I think Cassavetes. There's a very. I think there's a. There's a feeling like there's a. There's a reason why that happens, is that. But certainly with John Cassavete stuff, it's all very dramatic, and, you know, people are living in the life, and it's very true to life. So life is in chronological order. So when drama happens, it's happening naturally, but over the course of the story. But, yeah, at least Refn's at least tried to do that with, you know, to a point, you know, 90 to, you know, 100%. Even his more recent films, he's even tried to do that. But, yeah, whether you see the difference or not, I'm not too sure. Oh, dear.
Laura: I feel like you've been talking through a burp for the last four minutes.
Ryan: I think. I just. I just don't know. Anyway, I think, oh, I'm alive again. Um, he cites Texas Chainsaw Massacre as an influence. Um, and I think the only thing that I kind of bleed into question here is that he dedicated
00:10:00
Ryan: Only God Forgives to Alejandro Jodorowsky. Um, which I find kind of odd. But, yeah, he does like Jodorowsky's stuff as well.
Laura: Yeah, he was in that Dune documentary.
Ryan: Yeah. And I think, you know, I think as a creative individual, I think Jodorowsky's interesting. As for his behaviors, I don't know if I can fully agree with some of the things that he's done there. But anyway, um, in terms of his films, uh, Refn's got pusher in 96, bleeder in 99, fear X from 2003, pusher 2, 2004, pusher 3 from 2005, then Bronson in 2008, Valhalla rising, 2009, drive 2011, only God forgives, 2013, and the neon demon from 2016. He's, uh, he's done a bunch of TV as well. So basically, after Neon Demon, you have Too Old to Die Young, which was in, uh, 2019, Copenhagen Cowboy, which came out last year, and also Famous Five, that came out last year. And the thing is, what I find quite interesting is he also directs segments for Agatha Christie's Marple like that TV show from back in the day as well. So that was interesting. But, yeah, that covers Nicholas Rethen.
Laura: He shot. He was kind of working on Valhalla and Bronson at the same time. So, like, he would kind of go back and forth and a lot of the same crew from Valhalla would be on Bronson. Vice versa.
Ryan: Yeah, Mads Mikkelsen is quite a big. He's quite a big, uh, He's a big name now, but certainly he got his start in films, uh, with, uh, Nicholas Refin. Because, uh, Mads Mikkelsen's in, uh, the pusher films.
Laura: Sure is. And Valhalla and Valhalla Rising.
Ryan: Um, obviously now. Now that Nicholas has kind of gotten a little bit more famous, he's got, you know, Ryan Gosling to kind of lean on. But I will say, other than Drive, which I still enjoy, even though it's kind of been taken by the Sigma Male crowd, uh, Only God Forgives, I think is a work of fucking genius. And I feel like I'm there with maybe a handful of other people, and that's about it, really.
Laura: I don't remember loving it. I think I was bored. But the colors are nice. He's good at colors.
Ryan: He's very good at colors. Even though he can't see me. Most of them.
Laura: Yeah. Charles Bronson, birth name Michael Gordon Peterson. We've gone over that. He's been dubbed Britain's most violent prisoner. He was first incarcerated in 1974 for armed robbery, and they stayed in prison until 1987 because of his attacks on guards and other prisoners, as you see in the film. Yeah, when he was released, he adopted the name Charles Bronson after the actor during his bare knuckle boxing days. But he was sent right back to prison within three months of his release after he was convicted of another robbery. M. But he stayed in jail just because he keeps on attacking the guards. And it seems like a lot of these things he's doing just out of boredom to me. And he's been assigned to all three different psychiatric hospitals in England because they don't know. They didn't know what to do with him.
Ryan: Yes. No, I mean that he. He was, he was a. He was a mainstay in the. The British papers for a very, very, very long time. Um, I think there's actual, real footage of the riot that happened at Broadmoor. Um, that's in the film, which I kind of. I like as it's like. Yeah, that shows to me that there was budget restraints, but it's actually funnier that way. Um, by showing the riot at Broadmoor. Um, but, yeah, no, I think. I think the system didn't know what to do with Charlie Bronson. And then, yeah, they put him m. In the loony bin, as it were.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Um, because they. They hadn't really dealt with anybody like this before then. That's not to say that, like, you know, the UK Was not accustomed to, you know, the violent criminals and gangsters and then obviously, serial killers and things like that. But for the most part, when you incarcerate them, they cause you little to no grief because they're put behind bars. Charlie Bronson is a, uh. Is what I would refer to as a menace, an absolute menace.
Laura: Um, the crimes for which he is incarcerated are crimes against guards that he committed in prison. He's never killed a man or a human being.
Ryan: No.
Laura: And the crimes that he committed outside of prison were just robberies. So it's. He's a violent criminal, but he wasn't a violent necess. Well, he never got caught being a violent criminal necessarily outside of jail. He's a weird. He's a weird case.
Ryan: Well, the thing is, is that he got his life
00:15:00
Ryan: sentence after he abducted. He kidnapped that teacher, um, that you also see in the movie, because he did have a habit of, uh, abducting and kidnapping guards and holding people hostage, um, to instigate violent outbursts, basically, and all that stuff is true. But, yeah, he did get his. He got his life sentence purely based on the. On the, uh. That final abduction, so to speak, of the, uh, the art teacher that you also see in the film.
Laura: That part's so good.
Ryan: Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty. It's pretty hilarious. I. I don't know if I find this film as funny as maybe some of you guys do.
Laura: I don't know if I find it funny. I do find some parts very funny.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: But I just find it incredibly interesting. And I think the film is so well done that I just like it.
Ryan: Yeah. Yeah. I do think it's interesting. And it is. It is a slight against the UK Prison system because it's just, like. It's not geared towards dealing with people like this because Charlie Bronson is not looking to be reformed. Like, there's no part of him that's like, I'm gonna. I'm like, look, I've learned my lesson. I'm gonna. I'm gonna do that. It feels like he accidentally stumbles into writing books. He accidentally stumbles into doing artwork, and it's like an outlet for his uh, the misery that he keeps kind of bottled up. But then, yeah, he does like a scrap. He does like to fight. So you know, it's kind of, he, he is an interesting person to, to a certain degree certainly, you know, criminologists and stuff would study a man like Charlie Bronson to, you know, to kind of get into the mindset of what he's going through and what he's trying to do. But uh, yeah, I don't think there's any level of me that's like sympathetic towards an either because I don't think the film does that either.
Laura: No. And they said over and over again, Tom Hardy and Nicholas Refn said over and over again that this isn't a free Charlie movie. This is just kind of a character study.
Ryan: There's definitely that movement, that movement exists even to this day.
Laura: What, to free him or to free prisoners in general?
Ryan: To free Charlie Bronson. But I think a lot of it is down to either people who are far too young to have even read the, the huge amount is that, I mean they look at someone who's a, ah, who's a creative force now. Um, because he is, he is again, in his own words, he's a born again artists. And like I said, as of last year he was, he was looking to get, get parole. He's now 70 as of last year, so.
Laura: Wow.
Ryan: Yeah, the, the, the mainstay was that he was gonna die in prison. Basically. They didn't, they weren't going to let him out. So I don't know what's happening with his case now.
Laura: Well, we should look it up.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: Uh, so Charles Bronson had a few people involved in the production. Some of his family, some of his close friends would be there to try because you know, he's very a strong headed man and he wanted to make sure that he was done right.
Ryan: Yeah, of course.
Laura: And his friend Mark was on set every day to make sure of just that. And Charles Bronson would call Mark three times a week to make sure that everything was on track. He didn't like the initial idea of Tom Hardy playing him until after he met him because he goes, how's he going to get big? And then he was impressed of how Tom Hardy was able to transform his body to look like him. Yeah, uh, there was about a three year buildup before Tom Hardy actually got to meet Charles Bronson in prison though, because they talked on the phone quite a bit. But he, Tom Hardy remarked on how going to prison to meet him felt so pedestrian. He said it was like going into a municipal building. He thought it was going to be so much more different. But the first thing that he noticed when he saw Bronson was he was so white. He was, like, blue, like a fish that had been under the water for so long and had never seen the sun.
Ryan: Yeah. So that's also the reason for. Because people. People comment on. On Bronson's look, the small sunglasses. It looks a little bit like, uh, Dr. Robotniks. He's got bald head and he got the mustache and stuff. But the reason he has those. Those sunglasses is that he spent so long in solitary, he barely saw the sun. So now that his eyes. When they see the sun, it flares out. So those are prescription
00:20:00
Ryan: sunglasses.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: To help him, um, go outside and see the sun? Pretty much, yeah.
Laura: That's terrible.
Ryan: Yeah, it's pretty. Yeah, it's pretty awful.
Laura: There were a few people that were in talks for the Bronson role, but it was really, really important to have someone. The movie lies on the shoulders of that main character, so you have to have someone that can really encapsulate Bronson. Jason Statham was one of the first people to be approached and was offered the role, but he turned it down. He didn't. He wanted to do a prison movie. He was excited about doing a prison movie, which he eventually got to do. No worries. Of course, the nude scenes got him. He's like, I don't know about that. Another person who was approached was Guy Pierce. Same thing. Tom Hardy was considered, uh, quite early, but they kind of put it on the back burner and then came back to him eventually, so. And that's a good thing.
Ryan: Yeah, I don't. Yeah, I can't see anybody else other than Tom Hardy playing this role. Also. I think Tom Hardy, as much as, like, we've know. I think you were. We were discussing it off podcast, but Tom Hardy has. He's also a fighter. Um, he's a trained. He's a trained professional fighter.
Laura: He does jiu jitsu.
Ryan: He does jiu jitsu. He also, you know, he also performs, obviously, his own stunts and things. He did a lot of that stuff for Warrior. He has an air about him. Um, that makes him. Makes him quite intimidating. Um, and I think that's something that just underlying with Tom Hardy would have just made him good for the role. Just, Just. Just because, um. And I think this is. I mean, this is. This is his probably in, like, in my opinion, this is, like, career best. I don't know if he'll ever do anything better than Bronson And I don't know if he'd made anything better before Bronson. Bronson to me is like career best. This is like his Chopper, basically. And I'm going to make a lot of like, references to Chopper because I think they're very. I think they're very similar. I prefer Chopper over Bronson. But they are very, very similar in the way that they're told and structurally how they're laid out.
Laura: So in a fight between Bronson and Chopper, Bronson's gonna win for me because Eric Bana wouldn't take his wiener out. So. Boo.
Ryan: I mean, that's fine, Big Boo. But then Chopper would just shoot him like this.
Laura: Well, Bronson's not a killer. Okay.
Ryan: No. Uh, yeah, well, Mark, Chopper Reed is definitely a killer to the point where he was owning up to murders that the cops were like, you didn't commit this murder?
Laura: Well, I think that says something a little bit different about him.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Well, Tom Hardy had a fascination with Charles Bronson, as I'm sure a lot of people did growing up in the uk and he was incredibly intimidated when he met him. He was wondering, am I good enough? Should I even be here? He didn't want to shake his hand, but he knew if he didn't, he'd be in big trouble. And it ended up working out really well. But he said he was absolutely just he. Out of. I don't know, he just was intimidated. Super intimidating when he met him because he's got those big old arms.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And he's such an imposing presence.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: That he just, he was like, I don't know if I can do this, you know?
Ryan: Yeah, no, I mean, I would, I would feel, I would. I mean anyone would feel slight. I mean, he, he was, he was Britain's most violent prisoner for a reason, you know?
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: He's beating the shit out of everybody, you know, um, and he was, ah, he was a pit fighter for, for a long time. It's uh. Yeah, no, I think it would be intimidating. I was interested to hear if he met, if Tom Hardy met Bronson. Um, because there's weird like, interview segments in the special edition of uh, of Chopper where it's Eric Banner and Andrew Dominic in, uh, in Mark. The real Mark Reed's like, trailer. And it's like kind of weirdly shot. It's like, it's like the camera's been hidden and they're just like sitting there talking about things that happened and stuff like that.
Laura: So Nicholas Refn didn't meet Charles Bronson, but, uh, Tom Hardy did okay.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Nicholas Refn didn't care. Like, it wasn't about. He didn't have any affinity for the story necessarily. He was like, how can I tell this story better? Because when he got this script, he said it wasn't good. Someone gave him the script. He's like, I like the idea of this. He goes, I don't know who this Charles Bronson is,
00:25:00
Laura: but I think I can work with this. And at the point that he got that script, he was trying to stay away from violent men in film because he had done so many.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Up to that point. But there was something in this particular story that intrigued him. And he rewrote the script with the help of Tom Hardy and Kelly Marcel. Kelly Marcel, who, if you remember, just directed her first feature.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: She did the Last Dance.
Ryan: Oh, fuck.
Laura: But she helped because she and Tom Hardy are old friends. She helped, uh, with the rewrites, with the director.
Ryan: Right. Yeah. That's interesting.
Laura: Thank you.
Ryan: Because that Venom script is terrible.
Laura: It's so bad, but, man, is it good?
Ryan: It's very funny, but not for the reasons that it should be funny.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Um, it's. Because it's awful.
Laura: I love those Venom movies. They are bad. It's so great.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah. Uh, we saw the Last Dance the other night.
Laura: Yeah. It's Tom's giving.
Ryan: It's Tom's giving. He is giving. He's maybe giving too much. Maybe a little too much in this film. I have to laugh. You say, like, Nicholas is wanting to stay away from films with violent men in them, but, like, he does drive Valhalla Rising, Only God Forgives and the Neon Demon. And I'm like, well, hold on. He obviously didn't learn his lesson.
Laura: No.
Ryan: Yeah. So, okay.
Laura: You write what you know, you direct what you know.
Ryan: That's true.
Laura: That's true. If you notice, the music of the Pet Shop Boys, uh, in this film is quite prominent in one of the big scenes of this film. Uh, that was the background music that Nicholas was listening to when he was writing the film. Oh.
Ryan: Um. I mean, it would be a sin not to.
Laura: It is a sin. Ha ha, ha. And another bit of inspiration for this film was the 1963 film Scorpio Rising by Kenneth Anger.
Ryan: Oh, okay.
Laura: Is it Kenneth Angers? I'm just kidding. I watched that film today, and it's great. And I just opened up a brand new thing that I didn't know existed. A bunch of leather boys and motorcycles. You know, I like the leather boys.
Ryan: Oh, I know. Yeah, I know.
Laura: Thoma Finlan half of this film was reshoots. Huh.
Ryan: Huh. Interesting.
Laura: He would film something. Um, for example, the last, uh. The last scene of the film or the last main scene with the art teacher. Uh, they filmed it. He did not like it. He rewrote it from scratch that night, refilmed it the next day.
Ryan: Okay. Okay.
Laura: So although they did film it chronologically, he also refilmed the whole, like half of the film.
Ryan: Right, okay.
Laura: Which is wild. On their budget, they had 600,000 pound budget.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: So under a million.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And to be able to do what they did on that budget is pretty. Pretty great.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And to have the caliber of crew and cast that they had is pretty cool too.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Um.
Ryan: Yeah, no, I mean, that is. That is pretty cool. That kind of. Yeah, it kind of throws into judgment his. His interest in shooting things in chronological order, though. It's kind of just.
Laura: That's fair.
Ryan: It's like. Yeah, it's like. But it doesn't really make. It doesn't really make any sense if you then just go back to reshoot it again. It's kind of like, uh, you know, it's meant to be like a one and done sort of. Sort of ideas that if you do it in chronological order.
Laura: Um, well, just. I mean, I'm jumping back to like the crew. The DP on this film also worked with Kubrick, and there's a lot of Kubrick kind of nods in the film as well. And. Oh, did you have something going?
Ryan: Well, that's. That's a reffin thing, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Like, you can. You can tell that there's a. What's the word I would use? Like a vacancy to some of the way that he shoots certain things. Is that kind of like Kubrick there. There's like a vacancy to the characters where it's kind of. Um. I wouldn't. I wouldn't like to say that things are empty, but like characters themselves are like in state. And like some of those frames in those movies, you know, where they're looking directly down their lens or they're in.
Laura: Right.
Ryan: They're in a kind of. Yeah. They have like a vacant look on themselves where they're kind of like. You think they're in thought. Um, so that's kind of. Yeah, I would liken that sort of thing to like, what Refn does with some of his films.
Laura: He also. Well. Oh, well, Refn said, if you're gonna steal, steal from the best. And I think that's. It's true. Why not?
Ryan: It's slightly more palatable. Than, uh, like what Tarantino says where he's like, just steal. All it is is just stealing. And it's like, okay. I was like, yeah, no worries. I was like, yeah, it only worked out twice for you, sunshine. So
00:30:00
Ryan: that's fine.
Laura: Yeah. Another great person that they got on the cruise, Julian Spencer, who was the stunt coordinator, who also happened to be the stunt coordinator on Eastern Promises, if we remember. A very special naked fight scene in Eastern Promises.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: That scene inspired Nicholas to hire him for this one because he goes, I love the bathhouse scene. Yeah, I want something like that. Hence we've got some amazing fight scenes where your bare knuckle boxing scenes. I mean the whole movie is not the whole movie, but got a lot of fighting. Got some naked fighting. Quite a bit of naked fighting.
Ryan: Yeah. Lubing yourself up with butter double, make yourself slippery.
Laura: He double and tripled down on the naked fighting in this.
Ryan: Yes, there's a lot of naked fighting. I mean, to be fair, that's. That's where predominantly the, the dick scenes are in these movies is a lot of. It's the preamble stripping off before the naked fighting and then the naked fighting. Um, yeah, no, I think, uh. Yeah, he has like. Yeah, there is a stacked crew to this movie which is kind of very interesting because it's like. Yeah, because no one thought like, I don't know if anyone really had high hopes for this thing like at all at any point, you know. Yeah, I think it. And it just kind of. I don't know if it. I don't know if the film did well. I'm sure you'll tell me that. Um. Yeah, kind of. To me, like, personally, I felt like it kind of flew a little bit under the radar because I didn't even see it in cinemas at all. So.
Laura: No.
Ryan: Um, yeah.
Laura: So you would have had a better chance to see it than me.
Ryan: Yeah, well, it would have been out in the uk. I mean it just, it feels like to me like, you know, other than the pusher films, Refn didn't really come into his own personally for me, like in terms of like within the mainstream, like within. You know, I had like a steady gaze on him until drive in, like 2011. Cuz Drive was a bit of a phenomenon when it came out. Um, and then I think that's where it was like, oh, let's look at this guy's other stuff, you know, and then that's when he gets to make crazy things like the Neon Demon and Only God forgives and stuff like that. For the streaming platform. So, you know.
Laura: Yeah, this film definitely pushed Tom Hardy into another arena.
Ryan: A sphere.
Laura: Another sphere.
Ryan: Another sphere. Um, you shut the up. You can't. It's like.
Laura: Oh, speaking of, apparently instead of saying action, Nicholas says, let's okay. Which is why in the film, do you remember when he meets. Oh, gosh. Or, uh, when he sees Matt King at that. At that bar.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And he's like, you let's.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: That's just a nod to Nicholas and his.
Ryan: Oh, yeah. Super hands.
Laura: Super hands.
Ryan: Yeah, super hands. When you see.
Laura: When we see super hands at the club.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah, he's. He's like boxing manager. Yeah. No, it's like crack. It's really Moorish. Um, yeah, no, we'll do a peep.
Laura: Show podcast one day.
Ryan: We should do a peep show podcast at one point. Just from everything. That show is easily one of the best things that's ever been made. Um. But yes, I know. He shows up. He shows up. There's some notable UK names and stuff in this film, um, that kind of flies. Even, uh, Bronson's mother is in it. And, ah, she was a staple for British TV for a very, very long time.
Laura: Amanda Burton.
Ryan: Yeah. Um, very, very famous, uh, TV star Amanda Burton.
Laura: Yeah. James Lance also, who's the art teacher.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: But he was in a lot of Steve Coogan stuff.
Ryan: Yeah. He's also in a bunch of, like, sitcomy things as well.
Laura: Alan Partridge in Saxon.
Ryan: Yeah, I fucking.
Laura: That's where I know him.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Speaking of great, let's jump into penis scene number one. We have three.
Ryan: We have three. I thought we only had two.
Laura: Well, I didn't notice this one. It's in the very beginning. We can. It's the very opening of the film. It's 1 minute and 30 seconds into the film.
Ryan: Did not notice this. No. So, I mean, it's a fight, though.
Laura: It's before.
Ryan: It's right.
Laura: It's just before the fight, which I think. I think it's a. The beginning of the film is the end of the film because he's all painted black still, and he's really bloody. In the very beginning, red lights. He's in a cage and he gets the shit beat out of him by the. By the guards.
Ryan: Well, the film opens with, um, a select, like a montage of some of the select shots with that kind of. That.
00:35:00
Ryan: Those vacant shots that kind of permeate the film at, like, certain points in this man's story, basically. And that. Yeah, that's one of them.
Laura: Yeah. And also the first Line of the film. My name's Charles Bronson. In all my life I've wanted to be famous.
Ryan: Yep.
Laura: That was the last thing they shot on the last day. He wrote it. Nicholas Refn wrote that. On the last day he goes, I think I need something.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: Because he goes, it's all about fame and what you'll do for fame and what fame does to you. M And so he wrote that and that's the first line of the film.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: But yeah, this scene that I'm talking about, he's obviously in prison. He's pacing in his kind of cell, he's airboxing and then he's like doing push ups and stuff with the red lights.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And that's when the guards come in and they turn on the lights and he's only wearing sneakers covered in blood, but he's naked. But I think that this is just a um, foreshadowing of the end of the film.
Ryan: Yeah, I, yeah, that's pretty much. Yes, pretty much what happens. Um. Yeah, because he's all in, he's all in black. But yeah, all of. Yeah, all of those moments. Yeah, that's. I mean I watched the film on my phone so it would have been very easy for me to not see that because the minute you watch it on our 75 inch TV like everything becomes clear.
Laura: Why do you mention that every time you're really proud of it.
Ryan: I'm so impressed by how big it is.
Laura: We spend money on the things that are important to us.
Ryan: Yes, we do.
Laura: Like Taco Bell and. Mhm.
Ryan: Television and a big fucking TV going to eat Taco Bell in front of um.
Laura: Hooray.
Ryan: Yeah. So yeah, we can. Let's move on to the next one.
Laura: Oh, you want to move on to the next one? I was going to talk about the guy who poops in his hand, but that's cool.
Ryan: Yeah. I felt like I was back in San Francisco.
Laura: Exactly. Well, I mean, sure. I mean we can jump right to it. It's really, it's an hour further in.
Ryan: Also it's going to be difficult for us to really like hammer down the through line for Bronson anyway. I think it's, it's something that is more of an experience, uh, for us. Explaining I think is kind of null and void.
Laura: We definitely explain what the film's about and so fighting prison guards and stuff.
Ryan: Yeah, exactly. Which is ironically what this next scene.
Laura: Is as the last one. So this one comes in in an hour, four minutes and about 41 seconds. And I just wrote butter really big Butter.
Ryan: This is the one where Andy love, right, the librarian who comes just people.
Laura: Just being so nice to him. And he's like, you know what? I feel like fucking someone up right now. Which. He doesn't fight the librarian.
Ryan: No, no, you would.
Laura: But he does make him put butter on his butt.
Ryan: It is skitty. He's like, yeah. He's like, quicker, quicker, quicker, quicker.
Laura: He's like, not in my butt. On my butt.
Ryan: My butt, you homo.
Laura: So, yeah, he holds the prison librarian hostage, and he doesn't know what he wants. He just is like, I'm gonna do this.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: You know, the prison boss calls him. He's like, what do you want? And he goes, yeah, what do you got? He goes, it's really kind of up to you. And he goes, well, you know. And he gets all angry.
Ryan: Yeah. He's like, fuck it. Well, that's the thing. It's like that's kind of the. That's kind of the tragedy of he doesn't want anything, like, as a person. Yeah. Cause it's just like he's a creature of habit. And this is. This is his. This is his habit. And it's like he just can't stop himself m. From doing it. And it's just about antagonizing the forces around him. So for me, like, I find a lot. Like, I find that conversation to be a little bit, like, it's quite sad. Like, he's just on the phone and he's just like, well, yeah, no, it's literally up to you. Like, what you want. And he doesn't know what he wants. And there's been certain points over the course of this story where it's just like, he's been referred to as, like, he's not very ambitious. Like, he doesn't have any goals in life. Like, he doesn't have something that, like, motivates him to. To propel himself forward. Because most of us have, like, something that drives us that. That's our passion and things. And for him, it's like this. This mechanical need to. I get, I guess, like, just generate chaos and just obliterate everything in his path. Like, just be a. Just be a, you know, a model of destruction and just breaking things down. And that's kind of what drives him.
Laura: Um, you're absolutely right, though. That motif or that idea of ambition and need
00:40:00
Laura: really does kind of go through the whole film. Because the girl that he wants to propose to, who's already engaged to someone else, she's like, you don't have any ambition. What Are you going to do the prison guard asking, what do you want? And he just doesn't really have an answer. At the very end as well, the art teacher is like, I, you know, I know what you want. He goes, how the fuck do you know what I want?
Ryan: Yeah, because at the end of the day, like, his. The whole premise of the film is that he just wants to be famous. But famous for What? We're not 100% sure. And I don't think. I think it's purely because he doesn't even know, you know? Yeah, it's kind of like. It's kind of like the beginning of Goodfellas, you know, where. Where Henry just says, oh, ever since I was. Ever since I was. I was a kid, I always wanted to be a gangster.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: And it's like, okay. Like, that's, like, that's a choice. Like, that's something that you can aspire to be, but it's not like, it's not like, um. Yeah, I think. I think that. I think those two. Those two ideas are very similar where it's kind of just like, yeah, but that's not. It's not a healthy. Like, it's not a healthy choice that you are making.
Laura: It's, uh, like, yeah, how are you gonna do it? Like, what. How are you going to be famous? What kind of gangster are you gonna be? Like, what are you going to do to achieve that goal?
Ryan: And it's like, I'm a gangster because I get treated like a movie star. And it's like, well, then become a movie star. Like, you don't have to do the criminal element to maintain a level of, like, what justifies you and what defines you as a person, which I find fascinating in Bronson because he just doesn't know. All he is is that he loves the fact that he's, like, the most violent prisoner in the uk, and he likes the attention that it brings. And I think that's also another reason why he does. He does the books and he likes to write about himself, he likes to talk about himself, which is similarly the same thing with Mark Chopper Reed as well, is that he loved the attention that it gave him, albeit, uh, negative attention that it gave him. So for me, like, that, to me, is. It's kind of crucial element in that scene that kind of permeates the rest of the film is that, like, he kind of just. He's not really doing it for any reason other than he's just doing it, basically.
Laura: This butter scene is really great. I know we're still in the butter scene, but the. The librarian is told to sit down and he's trying to figure out what to do. And then he decides, you know what, when he knows that the prison guards are going to come, because he's definitely taken this dude hostage.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: He's like, all right, Takes off his tank top, tanks off his trousers, gets fully naked, which I cannot even imagine how terrifying that would be for a prison card, to just be locked in a room with your most violent inmate who's just stripped naked in front of you.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: You're like, oh, no. Because there's a lot of homoerotic themes running through the film, but that has to be there because it is a prison film for the most part. So that happens in prison. Luckily for this guy, it doesn't happen for him. That doesn't happen at all in the movie. At all.
Ryan: No. And also kind of the point out is like, there's homoerotic undertones in the film and there are definitely canon that are more out of the closet than in it. But certainly I would not say by any way, shape or form that Bronson, uh, is gay. I would also kind of point out that that would be like a massive insult to him because he also. He also points out during this scene as well. So.
Laura: Yes, of course, he makes that very clear.
Ryan: Yeah, he does. He's like, don't you dare put that in my arse.
Laura: Yeah, but yeah, this scene is great because he. I think he calls it his body armor.
Ryan: Yeah, he does, yeah. Yeah.
Laura: He calls the butter his body armor. And he puts it all over. All over him. He gets the guard to put it all over him again, like you said, quicker, quicker, quicker.
Ryan: It's to make him slippier. Like, he makes him slippery for when they all come in and they rush in. He can, like, get an arm out, so he can, like, swing a fist and stuff like that. Um, yeah, because it's. It's like. Well, there's this moment where, you know, he covers himself in a substance that makes him a little bit slippier, but for me, it's like his war paint.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: You know, it's like, yeah, no, this is it. I'm ready to. I'm ready to fuck some shit up. And he's. He's putting on his war paint. Um, but yeah, we see, like, obviously pertaining to this scene in particular, we see the entire process and then, you know, for the most part, it's all in a pretty, you know, wide mid shot.
00:45:00
Ryan: Um, you know, I think they do their best with the lenses that they have. Because. Yeah, I don't think these rooms are set so much as, uh, they are actual cells that they are shooting in. And Refn does like to use, um, very short, wide lenses for his films.
Laura: Uh, they didn't get to shoot in an actual prison or anything. So. Yeah, some of these rooms are sets made of cardboard, but this one is not.
Ryan: Okay, cool. Well, you can tell because there's certain. Yeah, there's certain elements. There's certain scenes. Like, there's a lot of shots of, say, Tom Hardy pacing in his cell and stuff like that. Um, and you can tell from the way that the frame itself is warped that they're using a really, really, really short lens.
Laura: So what I'm trying to remember the part where they said that they used cardboard and they made sure not to shoot so you could see the ceiling. They avoided showing the ceiling. I think it was the scene where he is in, uh. Like, he's bonded up and he's got that kind of, like, belt gag in his mouth.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: I wasn't sure if it was right after the butter or right after the very final scene.
Ryan: That's after the butterfly.
Laura: After that.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: Uh, so it's just after this.
Ryan: So.
Laura: Yeah. That they made sure not to show the ceiling because it was like there was no ceiling.
Ryan: Yeah. Okay, I see. Yeah. Because I don't know if a lot of those locations would probably still exist. Also, they're kind of slightly nightmarish, those prisons. They sort of look like, uh. Like Jacob's Ladders, like Incarnation of Hell, sort of like. Sort of prison location. So, you know.
Laura: Yeah. Well, we get to this point where Bronson's kind of found himself in prison. He's calmed down quite a bit and found his place in the art room. And he's drawing. He has a really flamboyant art instructor who's learning espanol who is incredibly irritating, but he seems to be okay with it.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Because he's doing what he likes to do, and he's kind of found a place of Zen for himself, I guess.
Ryan: Yeah. But I think for. For me, at least the way that I saw it. Because if you look at his artwork. His artworks, like, they're like cries for help. Like, they're very, um. They're very.
Laura: They could do the same for yours, Ryan.
Ryan: They're very vocal, I would say. Yeah. Ah, don't throw me under the fucking.
Laura: It's not a bus. It's an observation.
Ryan: Yeah. But I do think that, like, they are kind of more cries for. They are more cries for help than they are for, like, attention. Um, and I do find his work to be fascinating. I'm into, like, that sort of graphic illustration style, and it's. They say, like, he uses, like, pencils and crayons and stuff like that. So it's very. It's odd to have that kind of childish, childlike style to something that's then juxtaposed to, like, the darkness of, like, an adult prison environment, which is super. Um, but, yeah, his. Ah, yeah, his artwork is definitely interesting. And I think if you. I think if you read too much into it, you kind of just, like, you're getting an eye fool into that man's psyche as well. So.
Laura: So this scene happens at an hour, 19 minutes and about 50 seconds. 5o and 5 0. Oh, lock the doors.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So Bronson has found out that his beloved art program might be defunded and they're not going to have it anymore. And it is really, really, really important to him. And he has his art teacher saying, you know, you're going to get out of here. We're going to find a way for you to get out of here. You're so talented, you're so clever. You're so good. And he's getting a little bit too informal, I think, for Bronson's taste. And he's getting a little angry at the fact that he's not going to be able to spend his time doing what he enjoys doing. And this is when the art teacher is making assumptions about what he might want, like, what is his ultimate goal? And that's when Bronson goes, how do you know about what I fucking want?
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: And it all crumbles into insanity and chaos at this moment, where essentially Bronson creates art from his teacher.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: He creates essentially like a, um, Magritte painting. You've seen that famous painting with the apple in the mouth and little hat.
Ryan: Oh, I'm. I know I'm cultured. I put down Rennie Magritte in my notes.
Laura: Wonderful. We got that. You know, and I, uh, you know, I. I'm not an artist. I don't. I wouldn't consider myself an artist. But you. You work and work and you
00:50:00
Laura: change and change things until you get it quite perfect. So he's working on making his art teacher look just perfect while Bronson has stripped completely naked and has painted himself fully black. I don't know what he used. I doubt they had shoe polish down there. He just probably used whatever they had down there.
Ryan: Probably just paint or whatever.
Laura: And as soon as he is done making his art teacher look just exactly how he wants. And he admires his work. He's like, all right, I'm done. Get in here. Get this guy out of here. Because he's tied up. And they, by the way, had him, the actor, tied up really, actually really tight. Because when they had him tied up initially, Refn's like, it's not tight enough. You can tell that it's loose. He doesn't look uncomfortable. He has to look uncomfortable. Okay, so they tight. I mean, you can see how tight it is in that shot. I mean it is really. He's really cinched in there.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So he calls the guards to come down and release the dear art teacher. And this is when the final battle, the naked in black paint battle ensues with him and the guards.
Ryan: Yeah. Because this is also like, in terms of the way the story is and the true to life. This is the moment in his life where, oh, he's not getting out of prison now. Like, this is it, uh, like that. That window is effectively closed because of this moment in his life, basically.
Laura: Yeah. So they shot this scene in slow mo, as you can tell, to kind of elevate the feelings of it all with the music in the back, the classical music.
Ryan: There is a lot of that in this film where there's a lot more focus on the soundtrack to visual companionship, basically. Um, and obviously that's ah. That's, that's ah. Again, like sighting Scorsese. Like, this is kind of where Refen kind of brings it into his own. I feel like this is where we start to see what effectively the modern refn take is going to be.
Laura: It's. The scene is long and slow and really beautiful and strange.
Ryan: It's balletic, I would guess. It's balletic. It's comedic. It's. It's aggressive.
Laura: It's violent too.
Ryan: It's a little sad. Yeah. Because this is like. Again, like I said, this is the turning point and this is where it's like, well, there's no turning back. Like, this is it the last stand. This is the last stand, basically. Um, so, yeah, this is like where he seals his fate effectively. So it is quite, quite sad.
Laura: Uh, just punching, kicking. And when we were speaking about the bathhouse fight scene in Eastern Promises, this is just another level. I mean, that is an incredible scene because it's so wide in Eastern Promises. This one's a little different. This one's quite different.
Ryan: This is very different. There's a lot more, I guess there's a Lot more meaning behind this in Bronson than I say, maybe there is in Eastern Promises. Eastern Promises. It's more a moment that's just like. It's keen on, like, survival. And.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: You know, it's a fight sequence, and you've got, like, your. You know, you've got your heavy gangster and stuff like that, and you're like, he's, like, trying to survive to continue the story, basically. Um, whereas in this case, it's a little bit more balletic, it's a little bit more graceful, but it also has a lot more meaning and weight behind, like, the actual truth behind the story.
Laura: So after watching this again, it really makes me think that Tom Hardy might be the most nude man that we've covered so far. Just in terms of screen time.
Ryan: Naked to minute ratio. Yeah, probably.
Laura: Yeah. Because when you watch that final scene, you go, gee whiz, this is quite a bit of nudity. And it's none, uh, of the nudity in this film has anything to do with anything sexual whatsoever at all.
Ryan: No.
Laura: And I think that's a really beautiful thing.
Ryan: Yeah, it's basically like. I'm pretty sure he's naked because he has less stuff for folk to grab onto.
Laura: Yeah. I mean, that's why he gets all.
Ryan: Pretty much, uh, slick. Yeah. And that's not to say they're like, oh, they're gonna grab his dick. It's like. Well, that's not really the case. Makes him a little bit more slippery if he's. If he's completely nude.
Laura: I don't think that the guards are gonna do that anyway.
Ryan: No, that'd be weird.
Laura: Twist his dick.
Ryan: Twist that dick. Goal dick twist.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah. They're not. Yeah, they're not allowed to do that in fights. It's not very honorable. That or fish hooking, you
00:55:00
Ryan: know.
Laura: Uh.
Ryan: But, yeah, they're not allowed to do that sort of thing.
Laura: Well, the last thing I had was kind of at the end, I already told you what the budget of the film was, which was £600,000. And as far as I could tell, the box office gross was 2 million. Just over $2 million. You don't need to know it by the dollar.
Ryan: Success. A success at, uh, the old box office.
Laura: They did it. And I'm sure it's made a lot more since then because it has acquired a bit of a cult following. And, uh, in the commentary, the man doing the commentary was saying, oh, wow, this is where I'm sure a lot of people will get their screenshots. And I'm like, My God, you really said that to the director. M. Interesting.
Ryan: Um, well, what was the screenshot in question, though, where they'll get. Oh, the butter. Yeah, the butter. Oh, okay.
Laura: They were getting their naked screenshots of Tom Hardy.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Tom Hardy does not care. The nudity for him was never something he had any qualms about. He was not nervous about it. He's just a dude who does his job.
Ryan: I think. I think the main thing comes down to the fact that, like, it's not so much that it's. It's about a truthfulness towards the story. If you can get someone to do those scenes and they're not being truthful towards the character and the actual truth in the story, then I'm, um, like, not for you. It's not for you. Then that's. That's perfectly fine. You don't have to do that.
Laura: Imagine Jason Statham, though. Like, if Jason Statham had really thrown himself into it.
Ryan: Um, yeah, but I just. He doesn't have the. Like, he'd be. He'd be a. He's. Here's the thing. Like, he's a great fighter, but he's way too graceful. He's like way too, um, like, he's way too refined.
Laura: You don't think that he would sit around eating steaks and chicken and ruining his body because.
Ryan: Oh, it's a bulk up.
Laura: Yeah, probably.
Ryan: But I don't think Jason Statham doesn't have the same acting chops that like a Tom Hardy does.
Laura: No. You know, I mean, he really. Tom Hardy said he ruined his body for this movie.
Ryan: Yeah. Well, I'm not surprised.
Laura: M. He weighed more when he did Warrior, but that's because he was all muscle, this one. He goes, I had to be fat and muscle. He goes, I needed a brawler's body.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Uh, and that's what he got.
Ryan: Yeah. It's like your dad's pal at the pub who likes to punch people.
Laura: It's really scary. Yeah.
Ryan: Uh, it's like that sort of. That sort of look.
Laura: Yeah. If you want to know how to look like Bronson or look like Tom Hardy in this movie, you can either read Charles Bronson's book about working out like you mentioned, or watch the Blu Ray comment. It might be on the DVD as well, but the Blu Ray commentary or the special features has a whole thing about it. How to work out in prison.
Ryan: Oh, cool. Awesome. Or just go to prison.
Laura: Absolutely. Yes. That is absolutely your choice as a human being to go to prison if you want.
Ryan: Go rob the posties. And then just become famous.
Laura: Like Charlie Bronson did yourself to jail.
Ryan: Did Charles Bronson, like, the actual actor Charles Bronson, like Death Wish Charles Bronson, did he ever attempt to try and sue Charlie Bronson at any point?
Laura: Not that I saw in any of my research, but that's not a particular question I looked up.
Ryan: Yeah. Yeah. I wonder if he tried to or not. But then I guess.
Laura: How are you gonna sue a guy in jail?
Ryan: I mean, I don't know. Take the. Take the. Take the cunt to court, because obviously that's how that. That's how that works. I mean, at least you know what he is. Um. Yeah, I wonder. I wonder if that was ever a thing. I was just curious because, like, that's. Yeah, because that's the thing. Like, he became. He became well known off the back of an already quite well known, like, action movie star.
Laura: Well, at least by the time this film came out, the actor Charles Bronson had already passed away.
Ryan: Oh, yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's correct. So, uh, so he couldn't have done any suing or his estate probably wouldn't even. Wouldn't even bother touching it. It's like they'll make the distinction, you know, they'll remember Death Wish 4, you know, and the countless other Charles Bronson movies that exist out there.
Laura: I think now is the time. Unless you have anything else to add, I would like to ask you for your ratings on visibility and context.
Ryan: Oh, well, visibility and context. I'm gonna keep it real simple. Just say five.
Laura: Absolutely.
Ryan: And I don't even need to explain myself.
Laura: If you've seen this movie, which you should have because I posted it on our Instagram where you can watch, and it's literally everywhere. It's almost as. It's almost as available, or might be as available as stepfather.
Ryan: You can literally watch Bronson for free.
Laura: Yes, you can.
Ryan: Yeah, you can. Just watch it for free.
Laura: Just be forever.
Ryan: Yeah, just get tubi. And it's there and it's. It's free. Yeah, yeah, just watch it right now.
Laura: I already. I watched it last night and I watched it this morning.
01:00:00
Laura: I love this movie. It's on my top four now. Anyway, five stars, visibility and context. You get a guy who is naked for a reason, and it makes total sense. And they shot it as such. And Refn wasn't going to have anyone's bullshit about not getting naked for this movie. He's like Jason Statham. Fuck you, Guy Pierce. Fuck out of here, Tom. Um, Hardy.
Ryan: Yeah, Guy Pierce, why don't you go and do some film called the Heart Locker or something.
Laura: Yeah. Get out of here.
Ryan: Wins the Oscar for Best Picture and is actually a cracking film and you're only in it for the first five minutes. But anyway, doesn't matter.
Laura: Five stars. I don't know. It's. It's.
Ryan: Well, Jason Statham's done all right. He didn't. He didn't need Bronson.
Laura: I love the Meg part, too.
Ryan: Um, well, I thought that.
Laura: That's not a joke.
Ryan: Fast and furious. Beekeeper.
Laura: Oh, a beekeeper.
Ryan: There's so many.
Laura: He's so many.
Ryan: Well, he just talks real slow, like he's got a little softness in his voice.
Laura: Okay, rate the film, Ryan.
Ryan: Four and a. Uh, half.
Laura: Why half? So what is wrong? Why isn't it perfect? Tell me.
Ryan: Well, I don't. I don't think. I don't think Bronson is perfect. I really don't. There's a couple of little things in it that I don't particularly like. Um, and I just. Yeah, there's just that. I compare it again, I compare it a lot to Chopper. Chopper's five stars. For me. Bronson is a four and a half. I've seen Bronson twice, and the second time I saw it was last night. And to be honest, I kind of forgotten about most of Bronson. So, you know, I like it. I like it a lot. And I like it because Refn's, you know, I think Refn's done better works since Bronson, but. Yeah, there's something in it that I can't pin down, but it gets four and a half for me personally, so.
Laura: Okay, that's fine. I'm not too mad about it. I gave it five stars. I love this movie a lot. I think it looks great. You're not wrong. Tom Hardy. This is like a career level high. This is. He is incredible. He's in his element. He goes for it. He gets the accent down. He gets the movements down. He's amazing in this film. And he's. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that he was so fascinated by Charles Bronson at the beginning. Refn came in, he goes, I don't know anything. Tom Hardy's like, hell, yeah, I know this. Give it to me.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: I'm gonna knock it out of the park.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Five stars.
Ryan: Yeah. Cause it's like, it is a career best, but I also kind of feel like, um, I'm thinking about other things that Tom Hardy has been in and stuff like that. Like, I wish he went back to doing stuff more like this.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: I mean, hopefully Venom's like, done and we don't have to ever see another one of those fucking things again.
Laura: The fact that those movies span like, what, actual 10 years or something like that from when they started making a Venom to now.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And then the story itself is only supposed to be within a year. And I'm like, tom Hardy looks completely different.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: He was like a little baby when they started making Venom.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: And if you look at the behind the scenes of Tom Hardy for this film, he also looks like a little baby.
Ryan: Yeah, no, he's definitely younger.
Laura: He doesn't get enough credit for like these body transformations that he's able to achieve, I guess.
Ryan: Yeah. I mean, that's the one thing about. About Dark Knight Rises is that he's. He's even bigger in that movie.
Laura: Yeah. Traps. Four days. What does he do? His traps are huge.
Ryan: Yeah, well, he doesn't, he doesn't give a. I mean, he's, uh. I mean, Dark Knight Rises is a terrible film.
Laura: Correct.
Ryan: But at least like, he looks cool as. Being. Minute he opens his mouth, it's just like. And it's like. No, no, this, um. Terrible Bane. Terrible Bane. But, uh, yeah, he's big.
Laura: He's big.
Ryan: He's a. He's a big boy in those movies. Um, but yeah, no, I think, yeah, he knocks out the fucking park with this one, honestly.
Laura: And this is why we're here for Tom's giving on this November episode. There will be another.
Ryan: There will be another.
Laura: We're gonna go slightly back in time for the next one, but.
Ryan: Mhm.
Laura: It's a good one anyway.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Uh, not as violent. Well, yeah, it's a little violent.
Ryan: I've not seen it. So we will find out.
Laura: What a treat. And everyone else will find out soon what it is.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: And well, make sure to follow us on social media, on letterboxd. You can find all that information on our Instagram, which is at. On the BiTTE Bite. And that's it. I hope everyone's having a nice November and Tom's giving and
01:05:00
Laura: coming to you from a not so solitary confinement, AKA our podcasting room. I have been. Laura.
Ryan: You fucking what?
Laura: You sit down, you fucking cat.
Ryan: Who's in the fucking cause? Are you cat?
Laura: Thank you, Ryan.
Ryan: Yeah, well, that's the thing. He does actually say, you fucking what? Like when the. The teacher starts speaking Spanish. Yeah. You fucking what? And then. Yeah, because that. That's a Danny Dyer thing.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: You fucking what? Goodbye.
01:05:34