“I realized I wasn’t interested in gangsters and crime, I was really interested in the morality of the characters, and their emotional descents into hell.” – Nicolas Winding Refn

For anyone tired of crime flicks whose protagonists dress GQ and speak Guy Ritchie, the Pusher Trilogy is the remedy. Writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn‘s rogues gallery of Danish hoods features some of the most fascinating fuck-ups ever filmed. And as grimy and ultra-violent as the Copenhagen underworld got, I never wanted to leave the side of these bastards. Even when Refn left me alone in a room with these unsavory types, I felt comfortable. As the hypothetical walls close in on Refn’s characters, the films never flinch or compromise their realism.

Pusher (1996): Refn (Bronson) turned down a scholarship to a Danish film school to make Pusher. He jokingly claims that he’s the only Dane to drop out of film school, but thank the gods he did. The film follows Frank (Kim Bodnia), a heroin dealer and his pal Tonny (Mads Mikkelsen). Frank sets up a large heroin deal through his supplier, the Serbian Milo (Zlatko Burić). Through a series of progressively worse decisions, Frank’s little world crumbles around him. Pusher is the weakest of the films, but the weakest of this trilogy is still stronger than most mainstream crime films. Bodnia was the only seasoned actor on the set, which shows. Some of the reactions of other actors in the film are real, as they were actually taken off guard by Bodnia’s intensity. The film ends ambiguously and perfectly (IMO). I was left hypervenitalting through the credits.

Hit the jump for the dish on Pusher II and III…

Pusher II: With Blood on My Hands (2004): Made eight years after the first Pusher, this one takes place possibly as many years later and focuses on Tonny, Frank’s smart-mouthed, megalomaniac friend. In Pusher II, it’s a family affair with Tonny’s father and newborn son in the mix. Mikkelsen’s downright terrifying as Tonny and he looks like shit through the whole film. After the first Pusher was released, Mikkelsen became an enormous star in Denmark. So he could have easily passed on reprising his role as low-life Tonny. I’m not sure if I’ve ever sympathized and loathed a character so much at the same time. I have a thing about stories concerning fathers who have to do the right thing even when it goes against their nature. That’s one of the reasons I favor this over the first in the series. But don’t go thinking it has a happy ending.

Also: Pusher II contains a remarkable opening monologue. See, I just remarked it.

Pusher III: I Am the Angel of Death (2005): With a bold subtitle like that, you set the bar pretty high. And with a trilogy about the same “type” of character, it’s tough to pull off something fresh come the close. But I’ll say this: I watched Pusher III right before bed, and I had to watch a couple episodes of Seinfeld to cool the fuck off. It contains an unforgettable brutal bit at the end, but it’s appropriate and miraculously never moralizes the murderous actions. That’s tough to pull off.

Pusher III focuses on the most sympathetic of the trilogy’s hoods: Milo the Serb. It takes place in Copenhagen, but III might as well take place in another world. Milo is higher on the dealer food chain than Frank and Tonny and he also fronts as a legitimate business man – the Stringer Bell of the Pusher-verse. Milo’s world is about running business more than running weight. And it’s a trip to watch. See, Milo is juggling going to NA, catering his daughter’s 25th birthday party, and trying to move 10,000 hits of ecstasy he didn’t want in the first place. But he’s not Frank or Tonny; he can handle it…to a point. When some young’ins move in on his territory, Refn treats us to a bit of the old school Denmark and we bear witness to an OG at the end of his rope.

So if you feel like taking a trip down the shady streets of Denmark, the Pusher Trilogy is available on Netflix watch instantly. Highly, highly, highly recommended if you dig The Wire and The Sopranos.

- Oh Mars