“Bronson,” Nicolas Winding Refn’s wild biography of Britain’s most violent prisoner, finally comes out at the end of this next week in select cities (October 16). Hope and pray that you’re one of those selected cities, because this movie, one of our favorites of the year so far, is deliriously arresting. Yes, it’s “bad-ass” enough to suck in the geeks, and there’s a demented frightening quality that’s very Kubrick-ian (many have called the film this century’s “Clockwork Orange”), but it’s also an acute portrait of male psychology, and the duress endured by being alone. For those that aren’t familiar with his work yet (this will soon change), “Bronson,” announces the arrival of a bold and striking new filmmaker. For those of us that are longtime fans, it’s a feverish culmination of all his already great achievements.
We spoke to Nicolas Winding Refn last week and had to ask him some Playlist-y questions about “Bronson’s” music, and what he’s got planned next.
“Originally, when I make a movie, I conceive it to a piece of music. And I wanted to make a movie that was like the Pet Shop Boys’ music. I played the Pet Shop Boys constantly when I was writing it and even when I was shooting it. But when I was in post, I realized that it didn’t add anything anymore. How do you show Charlie’s life? I thought of putting opera music in, because Charlie sees his life as an opera. So the classical music became a really important part of the whole process.”
When asked about the original soundtrack, chock full of house-pop Pet Shop Boys jams (one Pet Shop Boys song remains in the film, memorably – “It’s a Sin” – which is sort of operatic in its own right), he said that “Yes, in fact, I even met with them, talking about making the music for the film. It didn’t work out, thank god.”
Hmmmm… show of hands who would still want to hear this Pet Shop Boys alterna-score to “Bronson?” Keep them raised.
He also talked briefly about some upcoming projects he has in the works — one is his neo-Western, “Only God Forgives” (great fucking title), which he says is a “modern western in Bangkok. I get to combine my three favorite things in the world,” he says of “Only God Forgives” — “Thai food, horses, and making a movie.”
And then there’s “The Dying of the Light,” which is listed on his IMDB page and written by “Taxi Driver” scribe and filmmaker Paul Schrader. “It’s a beautiful script about an ex-CIA agent [rumored to be played by Robert De Niro] tracking down the man who pulled out his eye.” Sounds awesome. As we all know, he’s also got the “Jekyll & Hyde” remake, “Jekyll,” coming out with Keanu Reeves, and the Gore Verbinski-produced heist movie. Both of these he really didn’t mention, probably because they’re the furthest down the production line.
He sounded very excited about “Valhalla Rising,” his Malick-ian and ghostly Viking movie that played at Toronto and was picked up by IFC. He says they’ll be putting it out next spring. We can’t wait to see it again. — Drew Taylor
Here’s that gloriously absurd moment in “Bronson,” with the Pet Shop Boys song (yes, it’s been out in the U.K. seemingly forever now so lots of it is out there; but trust us when we say see it on the big screen). The film hits U.S. theaters in limited release on October 9. 16.