The Pusher Trilogy: The Toughest Crime Movies You've Never Seen
I love talking about movies, but I've never been able to organize movie-night get-togethers. So this is the next best thing: On Tuesdays I'm going to spotlight a DVD and suggest some virtual-discussion starters.
This is a first. I'm recommending not one movie, but three: Danish writer-director
Nicolas Winding Refn's crime trilogy:
Pusher (1998),
Pusher II: With Blood on My Hands (2004) and
Pusher 3: I'm the Angel of Death (2005). Do you love the inconsistent number on the sequels? Things like that drive those of us who maintain databases insane but I digress.
Odds are, the only one you might have seen in a theater was
Pusher, which received an art-house release in 1999. It was re-released earlier this year in a handful of markets alongside with the other two, clearly in an effort drum up good reviews to promote the DVDs. All three are great stand alones, but together they're astonishing.
Less an original and two sequels than a set of interlocking stories spread over three films, the
Pusher pictures are a slice of life in Copenhagen's underbelly. The first revolves around Frank, a low-level drug dealer whose life goes to hell when he tries to square things with Serbian wholesaler Milo, to whom he's in debt, by buying additional dope on credit. Frank anticipates a quick, lucrative turnaround on the merchandise but gets busted instead; having dumped the drugs in a pond, he scrambles to make good on the cash and convince Milo that he didn't rat out his connection.
Pusher II picks up the story of Tonny (
Mads Mikkelson), one of Frank's pals. About to be released from jail, the fierce-looking, heavily tattooed Tonny is already being squeezed for money he borrowed before his arrest and must appeal to his father, a minor crime boss and major bastard with nothing but contempt for his son, for work. The same combination of bad decisions and bad luck that did in Frank undo Tonny, who has a fatal soft streak and a gift for turning gold into mud; it's the highlight of the series and ends on a note of pure heartbreak.
Pusher 3 focuses on Milo (
Zlatko Buric), who appeared in both of the previous installments. A veteran dealer, Milo's tough facade is undermined by middle age, the selfish, demanding daughter he adores and the habit he's trying to control through 12-step meetings. A high-pressure 25th-birthday party for his little girl is the catalyst for Milo's descent into the abyss.
Refn's influences are clear:
Martin Scorsese's
Mean Streets (1973),
John Mackenzie's underrated
The Long Good Friday (1982),
Abel Ferrara's
Bad Lieutenant (1992) and
Danny Boyle's
Trainspotting (1996), among others. But the sight of squeaky clean Copenhagen's mucky underbelly is fascinating, in part because of the particular confluence of nationalities, social policies and specific laws that dictate its form. Down and dirty in Copenhagen, London or New York -- the broad strokes are the same, but the devilish difference is in the details. And Refn both writes complex characters and elicits subtle, multifaceted performances: Without making excuses for Tonny, Frank, Milo or any of their associates, he allows his actors to reveal traits that make them more than anonymous thugs, drug dealers and all-around menaces to society.
Things to consider:
Pusher was Refn's first feature and bubbles over with freshman energy. He made the second and third films in a rush after the disastrous
Fear X (2004), his first English-language film, left him broke, and yet they're as richly imagined and vividly realized as Pusher. What role can adversity play in fueling creative energy?
Why would you want to make -- or watch -- a movie about people you'd never want to know?
How do you judge performance in a language you don't speak?
Does merely depicting criminal lives in movies inherently glamorize them? I'd say no, and the Pusher films would be my Exhibit A: Rarely has crime looked more demanding or less lucrative in fact, it looks like a miserable grind.
Remember: Send your movie questions to
FlickChick.
Previous DVD blogs:
Scarface
Slither
Sunset Blvd.
In Cold Blood
Brick
Also:
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