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Pusher Trilogy

Written by Nobuhiro Hosoki

 

In 1996, when Nicolas Winding Refn cooked up an incredibly gritty criminal lifestyle for Pusher,a doc-style film he wrote and directed, he definitely breathed new life into the crime genre. Now, a decade later, we have the pleasure of seeing all three of his movies simultaneously released as a trilogy in the United States.

In a grim part of Copenhagen, a week in the life of a small-time drug dealer is no ordinary situation.  Meet Frank (Kim Bodnia),a down-spiraling petty thug whose operation went terribly wrong, particularly as he buddies up with low-life scum like Tony (MadsMikkelsen). Tony had been approached by an old prison mate who offered him a part in a huge heroin deal. He seems this as a great opportunity to pay off his debt to Milo (Zlatko Buric), a top mobster. Unfortunately, their life starts to crumble when some anonymous guy tips off the police, creating massive chaos that makes Milo demand immediate compensation. As time goes by the tension runs higher, and Frank tries to squeeze every penny out of his associates and even some customers.  This only leads to the destination called bloodshed. In this film, Bodnia's performance stands out. He has been embraced as a European treasure who plays an intriguing stoic character and shows a drop of sentiment to reveal inner feeling, both of which transcend a powerful message in its content.

The sequel to pusher picks up Tony's life from the time he is released from jail. After the disaster of previously having his head bashed in, he makes an effort in this film to bring some order into his life and get back where he left off, but faces the harsh reality of a society in which no one wants such an unreliable scumbag.  He'll soon realize that the "Respect" tattoo carved into the back of his head is something that he needs to earn.  Much to the surprise of Duke, his disapproving father, Tony does make some attempt at redemption, even when he foolishly attempts a car theft (a Ferrari), attempting to make a few bucks to bring bck to the warehouse that his father owns. Duke scolds Tony for his incompetence in making them an easy target for the police. Though his mishaps go on and on, Tony must attend to his new-born baby, which may not even be his own because of his loose-legged girlfriend.  But we still feel sympathy and cheer for his redemption.  The flm does present us with unsuspecting surprise moments that make us chuckle.  Well, there are losers on every continent.

One last epic of eye-popping violence is captured in Pusher 3, which is centered around the top mobster Milo, who joined Narcotics Anonymous to fight off his long-standing demon, all while organizing a big birthday bash for his daughter and while trying, in a few hours, to sell off a shipment of ecstasy he mistakenly received instead of heroin. He soon gets into uncharted territory in facing off the next generation of drugs. This time he takes great risk in handing stuff over to an Albanian dealer for an unseen buyer. When his mission goes sour, his rage brings one of the goriest scenes in film history--not only dismemberment of body parts, but also involving the removal organs and washing them off with the sink.

A rare, hard-rock soundtrack of hard rock keeps the adrenaline pumping and the blood curdling. Throughout the film, things are always one step away from explosion, and all of the scenes offer us a consistent look. Director Nicolas uses a hand-held camera that never succumbs to te temptation to make this a pretty-looking stylized flick. He employs a natural setting, and it stands on its  own as a gangster film. Compared to this daily slice of vile criminal film to a TV show, like The Sopranos, Film makes the Sopranos look like a slack whack job.

Pusher |

Written (in Danish, with English subtitles) and directed by Nicolas Winding
Written by Refn and Jens Dahl
Director of photography: Morten Soborg
Edited by Anne Osterud
Music by Peter Peter and Povl Kristian Mortensen
Production designer: Kim Lovetand Julebaek
Produced by Henrik Danstrup
Released by First Run Features.
Running time: 105 minutes.
This film is not rated.

Cast: Kim Bodnia (Frank), Zlatko Buric (Milo), Laura Drasbaek (Vic),
Slavko Labovic (Radovan), Mads Mikkelsen (Tonny) and Peter Anderson (Hasse).

Pusher ||

Written (in Danish, with English subtitles) and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Director of photography, Morten Soborg
Edited by Anne Osterud and Janus Billeskov Jansen
Music by Peter Peter
Production designer: Rasmus Thjellesen
Produced by Henrik Danstrup
Released by Magnolia Pictures.
Running time: 96 minutes.
This film is not rated.

Cast: Mads Mikkelsen (Tonny), Leif Sylvester Petersen (Smeden),
Anne Sorensen (Charlotte), Kurt Nielsen (Kusse Kurt),
Oyvind Hagen-Traberg (O), Maria Erwolter (Gry) and Karsten Schroder (Rode).

Pusher |||

Written (in Danish, with English subtitles) and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Director of photography: Morten Soborg
Edited by Anne Osterud and Miriam Norgaard
Music by Peter Peter
Production designer: Rasmus Thjellesen
Produced by Henrik Danstrup
Released by Magnolia Pictures.
Running time: 102 minutes.
This film is not rated.

Cast: Zlatko Buric (Milo), Ilyas Agac (Little Mohammed), Marinela Dekic (Milena),
Kujtim Loki (Luan), Ramadan Huseini (Rexho), Slavko Labovic (Radovan),
and Vasilije Bojicic (Branco).