Theory on his filmography

I think your theory has merrit. However perhaps not in a completely perfect pattern like the one you propose. For instanse I don't think Pusher 3 is all that experimental. And I think Bronson is pretty weird.

However Fear X, Valhalla Rising and Only God Forgives are out of this world strange. So there is definitely a pattern like the one you describe.

It's like he, every time his career gains momentum, feels the need to do a complete left turn. Perhaps because he fears bing viewed upon as a sell out. So he has to balance it out with artsy weirdness once in a while. Or perhaps the weird movies is what he really likes to do, and simply recognize that they are impossible to finance without a couple of resent commercial successes.

For instanse Only God Forgives had a relatively straight forward script (after Refn standard). He used that script for financing. And the investors probably thought in view of the resent success of Drive that they had gold in hand. However once filming started Refn tossed the script and went bonkers crazy.

Now maybe his career is once again stalled. I don't know precisely how it works. But you could imagine that some money men would have gotten nervous after seeing Only God Forgives. So perhaps he will have to "whore" himself for a couple of movies until his reputation is once again restored, thus giving him the oportunity to go bonkers again. And thus the pattern continues.

I think the only mainstream film he's ever made has been Drive. He kinda just does whatever he wants. He doesn't conform to the basic Hollywood model that soooo many films follow today.

Personally, he is one of my favorite directors today. I've seen everything except for Fear X (it looks pretty awful) and I'm dying to see Only God Forgives. I loved Bronson and enjoyed Drive and the Pushers, Bleeder was okay, and I have no clue what he was doing with Valhalla. While I don't love everything he's done, I can say that his movies are all intriguing and unique. He's a pretty eccentric dude to say the least. I hope he keeps it up.

Bronson is pretty weird, but I would argue that it is a pretty easily accessible compared to some of his more experimental films.

they cured him alright

I'm not sure he's really doing the thing of just wanting to make inaccessible art house movies and financing that with mainstream movies - when movies like Pusher and Drive are the most mainstream someone gets that doesn't really make sense to me. The only time I'd say he's really "whored" himself so far was for the Miss Marple episode he directed when he was bankrupt. Everything else, even the flop Fear X and the Pusher sequels which he made under duress, has been something he was interested in making. So no matter how it goes with OGF I doubt he'll be directing seriously mainstream projects. I think he's pretty good at staying on track with what he wants to do in spite of financial/critical blows.

Please don't overlook Fear X. I think it's breathtakingly beautiful. The cinematography is stunning. Tuturro is great. The movie has a bizarre feel to it and some might call it "slow" because it's got breathing room just like in Valhalla Rising but I think it works perfectly. It's so dreamy and mysterious. What didn't you like about Valhalla? I was immediately hooked. Mads could read recipes for an hour and I'd be captivated.

Fear X is a masterpiece, anyone who tells you different is a moron.

SEE ALSO: Tim Burton

SEE ALSO: Tim Burton