The ''Pusher'' film trilogy by the Danish film director Nicolas Winding Refn illustrates and explore the violent criminal underworld of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in gritty realism. The films have been highly praised by critics and hold respective scores of 83%, 100% and 93% on

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. Each film is led by a different lead character; Frank (

Kim Bodnia Kim Bodnia (born 12 April 1965) is a Danish actor, writer, and director. He became widely known for his role as police detective Martin Rohde in the Scandinavian crime drama series '' The Bridge''. He became internationally known for his lead role ...

), a mid-level drug dealer in the first, his friend and associate Tonny ( Mads Mikkelsen), in the second, and their boss Milo ( Zlatko Burić), a Serbian gang leader, in the third. Milo is the only character to appear in all three films.

Films

''Pusher'' (1996)

The first film follows Frank for a week, a mid-level drug dealer who becomes indebted to his supplier, Milo. It depicts his depravity and how his actions force him further and further out on thin ice while revealing the bittersweet relationship he has with his girlfriend, Vic. The movie was a success, not only in Denmark, but internationally, and launched both Refn's and Mads Mikkelsen's careers.

''Pusher II'' (2004)

The second film follows Frank's low-level criminal sidekick, Tonny. It illustrates how Tonny is rooted in an evil spiral of crime and drugs, his relationship towards his notorious, cynical father and how he adapts to the consequence of becoming a father himself. According to film critic Robert Abele of the ''

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'' "in Refn's skilled street-realist hands, the child becomes a potent, wailing metaphor for Tonny's own dilemma of rudderless need."

''Pusher 3'' (2005)

The third film depicts a day in the life of Serbian drug lord Milo. Milo, who was a feared and respected man in the first two movies, has since aged. He does not have the same grip on the underworld that he used to and is now slowly losing the battle against a younger generation of immigrants, who now want a piece of the action. The film shows Milo's downfall and his desperate attempt to reclaim the throne.

Main characters

* Pusher: Frank (

), a mid-level drug dealer. * Pusher, Pusher 2: Tonny ( Mads Mikkelsen), Frank's troubled and impulsive punk-rock friend. * Pusher, Pusher 2, Pusher 3: Milo (

Zlatko Buric Zlatko ( sr-Cyrl, Златко, ) is a South Slavic masculine given name. The name is derived from the word ''zlato'' meaning gold with hypocoristic suffix ''-ko'' common in South Slavic languages. Zlatko is a given name. Notable people with the n ...

), a Serbo-Danish gang leader, ruler of the Copenhagen underworld, and the only character to appear in all three films.

Reviews

Writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', critic Nathan Lee said of the trilogy: "From the mean streets of Copenhagen—they evidently exist—comes the Pusher trilogy, a pungent dose of Denmark rot. Written and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, this tough trio of underworld thrillers sticks so close to its rogues’ gallery of gangsters, suckers and murderous megalomaniacs that you can almost taste the hate and smell the stomach wounds. Given an appetite for grisly crime flicks, they make for a delectably nasty epic."

References

External links

* * * {{Nicolas Winding Refn Films directed by Nicolas Winding Refn Gangster films Films about organized crime in Denmark Films about the illegal drug trade Danish film series Films about the Serbian Mafia Trilogies