Imagine if they took the documentary Street Kids ('85) and threaded it with good plot lines- that's how I felt about Pusher Uno. The first installment was an excellent director's debut. Although somewhat obvious in where its storytelling ideas/homages came from (MS, AF, QT, etc.), I thought NWR brought a unique voice- from the unique introduction of the characters to the somewhat open (and laced with dread) ending.
The characters in all 3 Pushers are so short of redeeming values that when a single good action does occur it almost seems heroic. Frank in P1 has got to be the most self-centered and abusive "hero" I've ever seen on film, yet he's got the toxic allure that some people will buy or follow. If we have any wish for him to survive at the end then we the viewer have been manipulated/charmed by Frank just as much as the other characters. It's a credit to Kim Bodnia's acting range that he can pull that off.
After an eight year break from P1, NWR seems to spend a good deal of time de-glamourizing the environment of P1- with a heavy focus on the dysfunctional relationships that are the cause and effect of this mileu. I don't know if it was the beating from P1 and/or the drug-use, but Tonny now seems even less together than before. Frank used action sexy to sell us on his being our protagonist, but in P2 it's more of our pity for Tonny that helps make him our "hero" here. Our knowledge of Tonny's dysfunctions- we are shown from beginning to end his inability to deal constructively and proactively with the cruel environment he lives in- is what helps give the potentially "up-beat" ending its sad twist. If we go by feeling alone, it feels upbeat; but if think about the reality of the situation, it's actually quite otherwise. And yet, even with the sad twist, it has the most hopeful ending of the three.
P3 feels the most Sopranos-like of the three, but is far more honest in its portrayal of the crime world. Little Dansk is spoken this time around, as most of the characters here are from the new Balkanized (literally) crime world of Copenhagen. Much has been made of the kitchen scene, but I found it to be delivered more with a Cronenberg sensibility, rather than a slasher-revival (eg, Hostel) intent. There's no slasher-revival screaming to go with the violence- it's just pure de-humanization. And it's probably the kind of ending Milo can eventually look forward to himself.
Which also seems to "wrap up" the reality of the world all three movies were based in (the plastic laid out in the kitchen in P3 appears to be the same kind laid out for Frank in P1)- this is a cruel world of animal survival, where no human relationship can be trusted. I wonder if NWR is best to leave the Pusher series as it is, and use his technique and vision to present a different world, as well as a different side of the human condition.
Lastly, it's interesting to see the improvement in technical and character/storytelling skills NWR shows from P1 ('96) to P2/P3 ('04-5)- for example the way color and sound are used, and his willingness to let the camera linger on a character's face so we see what's going through his mind. He directed Bleeder (similar in style to to P1) and Fear X (surrealistic, mysterious, ambient, masterfully shot) in between. Having spent a few formative years growing up in the US, and not being a graduate of the Danish film school system, gives NWR a unique perspective in the culture of Danish cinema.
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