Charles Bronson at his very best

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript" src="Config?Configid=43376741"></script></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="77.5%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><a href="javascript:popUp(&quot1;photopop?msid=160306&type=0&quot1;)"> <img border="0" align="left" src="/cms.dll/thumb?height=148&width=148&photoID=160306" hspace="12"" /></a></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">Click to enlarge picture</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <div class="Normal">Forget The Great Escape.Forget the vigilante Death Wish series, which soon degenerated into macho farce. Without doubt, Hard Times (subsequently re-released under the literally punchier title of Street Fighter) is the best film Charles Bronson ever made. Not excluding the much-hyped Magnificent Seven, in which he plays a gunfighter with a yearning for the lost innocence of childhood. <br /><br />A minor cult classic, Hard Times is set in the deep south during the depths of the American Depression. A stranger rides into a small town, travelling ticketless on a freight train. From the local grapevine, he quickly finds out where the action is from which he makes his livelihood, fighting bare-knuckled on the streets. A smooth-talking gambler, played by James Coburn, takes him under his wing and Bronson takes on tougher and tougher opponents while his manager and he rake in money through bets. His final encounter is with the bare-knuckled champion of the country, the nameless Man from Chicago. <br /><br />Though the overt theme of the film is physical violence, it is far from being an exploitative guts n gore flick. <br /><br />On the contrary, through the metaphor of gladiatorial contest, director Walter Hill explores complex themes like the nature of greed, capitalism, and the struggle of the individual to master his or her own destiny. There''s an unforgettable scene, set against the backdrop of a community picnic, with families laughing and chatting and kids scampering about, where Bronson comes across a caged bear. Through the intervening bars, man and beast stare at each other. Is there a hint of mutual sympathy? And is it only the animal that the bars hem in? <br /><br />Many movies have been made before and since, depicting the individual at odds with the system and eventually rising above it. What sets Hard Times apart is Bronson''s deliberately underplayed characterisation of being a man of action against his will. There are no rousing heroics or histrionics. Just a gritty realism, as uncompromising and direct as a fist in the face. <br /><br />The end is left directly ambiguous. Having made enough money to tide him over his hard times, the protagonist fades away into the obscurity he came from, as quietly as he emerged from it. The message: survival is its own triumph — provided the survival is on the terms of the survivor. <br /><br />If you''re a movie buff, the best tribute you could pay to Bronson is to go and get a copy of this video and watch it. <br /><br />And if you do watch it, I promise you''ll watch it wide-eyed and talk about it for years to come. As I still do.<br /></div> </div>