Pusher II: Respect

Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher 1-3 is my favorite trilogy of danish film history. Pusher II (2004) is the best part of it. I have been a follower of Refn's work ever-since I saw his directional debut Pusher (1996) the first time. It had a great dynamic, it was brutally honest and it had a documentary-style (hand-held camera, great method-acting etc.) that gave it an authentic feeling.

The story-line: Small-time gangster Tonny (Mads Mikkelsen) is released from prison, but quickly returns to the criminal underworld and gets hired by his father "Smeden" (Leif Sylvester): a big-time gangster highly respected in the underworld. But Tonny has a hard time earning his father's respect, and on top of that, he discovers that Charlotte (Anne Sørensen): a girl he once had sex with, has given birth to his child. Tonny has a hard time making the right decisions, and one day he agrees to help his friend Kusse-Kurt (Kurt Nielsen) purchase heroin worth of 80.000 danish kroner from big-time pusher Milo (Zlatko Buric), but since they are high off cocaine and paranoid they accidentally throw the heroin in the toilet, as they think a police-man enters the room. Now they have a big problem. They have to get 80.000 kroner very quickly...

In 2004 Nicolas Winding Refn almost went bankrupt, because his previous film Fear X (2002) which was shot on a big-budget in Canada, did horribly in the theaters and at box-office. Refn knew that a sequel for Pusher would do very well (Pusher 1 was the most engrossing debut film ever of Denmark) and the universe of the film had lots of artistic possibilities - therefore he decided on making it a trilogy. And Refn very much proofed that it is possible to make artistically interesting films out of rather commercial interests.

It could be argued that Pusher 1 glamorized the gangster/drug underworld at times. This is NOT the case in Pusher II. Although Pusher 1 did show the decay of a cold man in a cold milieu, we never really got into his feelings. In Pusher II we get to feel the pain and coldness (even when Tonny himself doesn't). Pusher II is a docu-drama based on realism (like Pusher 1), and only three characters are real actors. The rest of the cast consists of people off the street, and this very much adds to its authenticity. They do a great job! The second half of the film has a few very beautiful artistic scenes (almost dream-like) that almost pauses the film and gives its audience time for reflecting. In the scenes we see very dominant red colors and the music is almost ambient-like. A great idea that works very well - even in such a realistic film.

Mads Mikkelsen, Leif Sylvester and Zlatko Buric do terrific jobs. They are (as usual) very professional and passionate actors. But the real surprise is the untrained street-actors. They add SO much to the realism and rawness of the film. Pusher II is shot on DV-camera with a hand-held style, but it's far from Dogme. Many scenes look terrific, and the playing with distinctive colors red and green works well. I also have to give credit to Peterpeter's great rock/80's synthesizer soundtrack. It really under-builds the scenes in a scary way.

I highly recommend Pusher II (and the rest of the trilogy) to everyone! A perfect example of an artistic film that actually works for all audiences! 9/10

I have learned that people criticize PusherII for not having the same high pace as the first pusher movie did. It is important not to expect more of the same if you have chosen to watch pusherII. The first pusher movie concentrates on, and describes the drug dealer Frank. Pusher II, follows Franks former partner Tonny. He's the one being beaten by Frank with a baseball bat in pusher. Tonny and Frank are to very different personalities and the story being told in PII is very different from the story in the first Pusher so it is impossible to recreate the same pace and feeling. Luckily Nicholas Winding Refn is'nt trying to repeat history, he has made a whole new movie, which is entirely it's "own". PusherII is a fascinating and frightening story of Tonny the lowlife and his slow climb towards a meaningful life. PusherII equals the first Pusher.

Just like Pusher, Pusher 2 presents you with a world of rain, seaweed and concrete. Mybe not even concrete but mere plain dirt.

Although not as strong as Pusher it still grabs you and keeps you in its arms through the entire journey of Tony's confusing and degrading life, right out of prison.

Fragile and non-existing relationships develop back and fourth and eventually it is obvious why the main character is where he is in life; near the bottom of a downslope. Violence and drugs mixed with maybe not so unexplainable relations hands you a bitter and sad father and son situation.

Our protagonist, Tonny, is an ex-con and general screwup who just about everyone dislikes, for good reasons. His father, girlfriend, co-workers and most of his associates consider him to be the biggest goober head around, and from his actions you won't think they are far wrong.

There is a lot of drug use in the film, but not much dealing, so the title is a bit misleading. However, the movie is good because of the excellent acting and the general zaniness of the plot; you never know what kind of mistake Tonny is going to make next. What's sure is that he will make one, and probably in the next couple of minutes. He's the kind of guy you can like on the screen but would be horrified to find living next door.

Mads Mikkelsen as Tonny is awesome; he's about as far from the part of Le Chiffre in Casino Royale as a character could get. At first I had a hard time believing it was the same actor.

Watch this when you're in the mood for a Danish gangster film featuring some madcap fun and general foolishness.

As a fan of all of Winding Refn's movies, this is up there with Pusher (1) and Bronson. A painfully realistic picture of the Scandinavian crime underworld, with very few winners and many, many losers ruining their lives. This movie does not hold back on anything - it's not the Hollywood glorifying tale about "career criminals" - it shows the reality of this life, with no honour and so many betrayals. Tonny is a character from the first Pusher movie, this time just out of a jail sentence, returning to his former associates, with no money, no real friends and no assets whatsoever, seeking refuge at his crime boss father, who has always despised him and humiliated him.

Desperate to make some kind of livelihood and impress his dad, "Smeden", he turns to some old companions, only to find betrayal in return. He's not "tough enough", more sensitive and unsecure than others in his crowd, and pays a heavy price for it. There's no winners or losers here; It's the real world, and it will leave you emotionally drained after seeing it, but if you are looking for a realistic depiction of a modern criminal's haunting, gruesome and stressful life - look no further.