I wasn't completely sure what to expect from Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn's directorial debut 'Pusher', I knew it was a drug movie but I've seen a thousand drug stories played out either horribly or beautifully and thankfully this one fits in the latter category. I may not do real drugs and I've surely never been one to sell them but I can say that this is the most realistic film of this subject matter that I've seen to date. This is not a pretty film, sure Copenhagen is a beautiful city but this is the alleys, the clubs and the underbelly where all the rotten shit takes place. The dialogue is scary realistic and it's as if we're there, invisible but there, and we're witnessing these people go about their day to day. The film starts with a drug dealer named Frank and his accomplice Tonny doing their rounds and making petty deals to small time junkies, exchanging stories of sexual experience and joking not unlike two high school kids. One day when at their local watering hole Tonny joins Frank and informs him that there is a Swede outside the pub asking for Frank. The swede is a past cell mate of Franks and he needs a copious amount (200 grams) of 'brown' to bring back to his city and turn around. Frank takes a big leap in trusting the dude and goes to his drug dealer, Milo, and asks him to front the drugs and that he'll pay him back an hour after meeting with the swede again.
To go more in depth would be giving away the fun, fast paced hour and a half that follow these situations as Frank does everything in his power to come out on top of the situation. It's a brutal, ugly, realistic drug film that has earned it's place as my favorite of the sub-genre and I'm surprised it was under my radar for so long.
No comments:
Post a Comment