Customer Reviews

Pusher

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A brutally honest, shockingly realistic look at the week in a drug dealer's life when things go wrong and he realizes that he's in too deep. The story may take place in Copenhagen, but it really could be in any major city in the world. The characters are fully believable in their demeanor and attitude. Because of its extremely realistic violence and dialogue, this should definitely be shown to high school students as part of an anti-drug curriculum. This doesn't sugar-coat the bleak lifestyle of drugs, nor does it make any excuses for it. The film is unrated for a reason: the violence is brutal and some of the dialog is sexually explicit, perhaps unnecessarily so at times. Nevertheless, the movie certainly gets its point across! Technically, the direction is excellent and the story grabs you from the start. The camera work can be jittery at times, but it adds to the realism as if you were there in the midst of the action. The subtitles are good and do an excellent job of keeping up with the story, although there are a few moments where the characters continue to speak and there is no translation. It doesn't take away from the story, but makes one awfully curious as to what's being said for those few seconds. If you've always thought of foreign films as being too bland and boring, this one will surely wake you up with a shock!

If you live in the States, and you watch movies, then you probably haven't seen a crime movie released like this since the seventies.
The plot involves a midlevel heroin dealer who finds himself in a tight spot when he becomes indebted to a local crime boss. He can't shoot his way out of it like every crime/action movie from the last twenty years. He's got to do what he knows to try and pay off his debt.
Crime movies became very stylized in the nineties. Sometimes they got a little silly.
Pusher isn't anywhere near silly. Because it's shot mostly with a mobile handheld camera you'll forget you're watching a movie about twenty minutes into the story. It's got style, but it's never at the expense of substance. The characters seem real enough to make mistakes that are human but also absolutely damning. Underworld types are shown durring the usual routine of the day, but the story never feels slow and no scene is a waste.
Tired of watching formulaic movies featuring drug dealers with dreams, hitmen with hearts and stunning, savy prostitutes? Watch this movie. See a despicable dirtbag who will use anyone around him. You'll know who these people are, but you won't feel like you know what's going to happen next.

'Pusher' is Nicholas Refn's film debut, and is certainly full of the energy and enthusiasm of a first time director. The story follows frank, a small time smack dealer who dreams of the big leauge. When he meets a swede who needs 200 grams pronto he readily accepts, but (suprise suprise) things go wrong and he gets busted. Now in heavily in debt to his sadistic croatian supplier (milo), frank's life rapidly detoriates into a nightmarish scenario; his customers who owe him won't pay; his best friend informs on him and milo's henchmen get ever more insistent. One of the things I liked most about 'pusher' is the way it shows how this kind of lifestyle seems so glamourous and exciting on the outside, yet one bad event brings everything crashing down into chaos. The film manages to be non-judgemental without being amoral; frank is not the presented as the bad guy, yet neither is there any sympathy for his plight. Beautifully shot in sunny Copenhagen, Pusher is a film which somehow manages to be formulaic and yet innovative; violent yet thoughtful; it challenges but does not 'push'.

This is a GREAT movie for those who likes dark and movies that does not have a Hollywood ending..... Its about Frank, a drugdealer in Copenhagen trying to get the big bucks.... but he's dreams goes to nightmares when he makes a mistake, and the yugoslavian maffia Milo want's the money that Frank borrowed from him. Frank have a week to give back what he owes to Milo, but the week is going to be long.......

Pusher is the Danish word for dealer. The movie takes place in Copenhagen, where Frank, the maincaracter, lives an unsuccesfull live as a drugdealer. He works on commision for a yugoslavian gangster, who gives him drugs on credit. At the same time he's trying to save up, so that he can start up his own drugbuissness. When he get an opportunaty to make a lot of money on a big deal, veerything goes wrong, and he loses the drugs. Now he's in trouble, because Milo, the boss, wants his money. The film shows how life is on the wrong side. How the relations are between people in an extreem milieau. The film is scary realistic!

Nicolas Winding Refn has become one of the major driving forces within the creative universe of the underworld in Denmark. This film is a realistic, cruel and implacable gaze to the low depths.

Frank is about to live the worst nightmare of his life when everything is out of control. He works as a dealer and then the random makes its appearance and suddenly he finds himself stranded in the middle of nohere with a debt of 230.000 euros.

Tense, brutal and hyperkinetic drama with Copenhague's streets as huge frame.

One of the top twenty cult movies of the Nineties.

Brutal, but with a keen sense of irony, Nicolas Winding Refn's "Pusher Trilogy" is a wildly entertaining ride that's far more sophisticated than might appear at first glance. Three films that share certain overlapping characters, the "Pusher Trilogy" also links the stories with thematic similarities--but any of these movies also stand up to independent viewing. Individually, they are gritty and effective looks at the criminal underbelly--but together, they are an undeniable masterwork! Uproariously hilarious, wickedly bloody, and even surprisingly moving at times, I wholeheartedly recommend these to lovers of international film (they are set in Copenhagen) or the action genre.

"Pusher" tells the story of a low-life hood, Frank. As Frank hustles up a drug deal that turns south, he suddenly finds himself in a week long scramble to get on top of a bad situation. When bad goes to worse, he turns on his closest allies and faces the final reckoning alone. But he may just be in too deep! "Pusher" is a solid action picture. Frank's relationship with his cohort Tonny is played extremely well. His desperate machinations are a doomed excursion to the darkside and have a black humor that's uncomfortably appealing. Not the most original story in the "Pusher" arsenal, but it works really well regardless. 4 stars.

"Pusher II: With Blood On My Hands" is easily my favorite film of the trio. Why? It is understated and surprising and, of all the films, the most unique. Tonny (the terrific Mads Mikkelsen) returns from "Pusher." Some time in the future, Tonny is being released from prison and Tonny must reestablish his place in the outside world. A disapproving father, who just happens to be a crime boss, doesn't help matters. Tonny finds it difficult to be taken as a real player and is a doormat for those that surround him, both professionally and personally. Tonny actually starts to prove that perhaps he is the most worthy character amidst a barrel of bad apples and a final act of redemption is oddly heartfelt. 5 stars.

"Pusher III: I'm The Angel of Death" reintroduces Milo--a boss who has played a supporting role until now. Like a mad comic opera, "Pusher III" has Milo making dinner for his daughter's birthday party, juggling rehab meetings (he's 5 days clean), and trying to maintain business as usual with his crew. When a drug deal sours (that happens way too much!), Milo's perfect day loses all sense of balance and Milo is drawn into an unpleasant series of events leading to human trafficking. Milo's bratty daughter is a hoot as are his attempts to shanghai the addict's meetings. But ultimately, it's Milo's drug fueled descent (based on both morality and pride) that is nightmarish and unforgettable. 4 1/2 stars.

Each film works and succeeds on its own merits! But if you get the "Pusher Trilogy" and watch them in conjunction, it is a movie making magic. Together, I easily rate the product at 5 stars as the three different films enhance the others. Perfection. KGHarris, 1/11.

This movie just shows to go ya, ya don't need a lot to make a great movie. This is all writing and acting.

The plot is quite simple and not really that original. We meet Frankie, a small time drug dealer in Denmark, who is a little behind in his payments to his supplier. A good size deal he runs into, along with a deal he is doing on the side, should put him well ahead. He has to ditch the dope in the one deal to avoid a bust and now is WAYYYYYY behind. The side deal goes bad and things just get worse and worse.

This is a gritty telling of a gritty tale. Kim Bodnia, who plays Frankie, is in essentially every scene and he does a great job. You really get to know him and feel for him. Yes he's a dealer, but somehow he doesn't seem like such a bad guy. It were as though he fell into the life because he didn't know what else to do. There are a string of clients that owe him money so you realize he's not a really violent guy, that is, until things go south and he lets out the beast. Then you see some uber-violence.

This is all done with hand held camera, natural sets and lighting. Even the sound seems to have been recorded live. The sound track ping-pongs between euro-electronic and some nasty, violent heavy metal, and it really adds to the tension of the proceedings. You feel less like a viewer and more like a participant. It's as though you're in every scene with the characters, and it's mighty uncomfortable.

The end leaves you hanging and sets you up for the next two installments. And now that I've seen this, and realize its great quality, I'll grab parts 2 and 3. This is really four and a half stars. Movies just don't get much better than this.

This is a good movie that isn't too dark. The characters are right on and so are the accents. Think Pulp Fiction, Hardboiled, Hate and the Usual Suspects and your on the right track. The flow is definitely not as slow as other European movies that follow the drug game. And the ending is right on!!! Real life man. Real Times. Like my man would say Yugo pusherman!!!!

To put it down on record here, finally - this movie was recorded in Danish - which now has english subtitles for the other 6.4 billion people out there who don't know that beautiful language. Anyway, a wonderful action movie, shot well and extremely well directed (especially for a first work by the director). Well worth owning, but wait until the price drops...