I have always been a huge fan of Nicholas Winding Refn. Having just seen the Pusher series recently, I would say his skills have refined over the last 20 years. Pusher looks like my first film. The imagery is smashed full of hand held camera and natural lighting. Two things you will now rarely see when you experience this visionary filmmaker’s work. He as a a director is some one who’s films I rarely miss in the theatre. His latest saved me a trip to an old Charlotte Art House cineplex and I was able to truly sit down, (twice now,) and watch his work unfold. The work, “Too Old to Die Young.”
This limited television series is thirteen hours to be exact and may be Refn’s masterpiece. In the crime and noir genre, it may surpass True Detective Season One as my favorite of all time. I cannot explain what this series has done for me as a writer and artist. The visuals and the story burn your retina and singe your synapses
Many people will say the silence, the drawn out beats between the characters, the stoic figure of Miles Teller’s Martin Jones character, and the slow pans and pushes are simply unbearable and make you feel like there is something better to do with thirteen hours. I will say they are all pieces of artistic choice that makes it simply breath taking. You’ve seen and heard the story time and time again— A man leading a double life comes to a head with himself is the basis for the sprawling epic story however, just like any other regurgitated story, what’s been the proverbial difference is the way the story is told. Refn, is great with framing, color, and the actor’s nuances. He is colorblind and some fans would say he puts that color in his films so he can see it. I believe it is to paint the looming doom that his canvas’ are all covered with.
Call me a bastard but, sucking cum off of hands, roofied rape, torture and ultra violence to me have never looked or sounded better. I mean where else are you going to find a five minute wide shot of Jena Malone masturbating in virtual reality besides THIS SHOW. Cliff Martinez synth beats drive this doomed and masterful tale of some horrible human beings and I personally can not stop watching them.
It’s a slow burn and I’ll agree, it’s not for everybody but the visceral violence, color pornography and well…. regular pornography helps place this piece of cinema in my annals or well if it were up to Refn, my anus for years to come. Cheers to you Mr. Refn for a crafting a story so hard to watch, you can’t look away. It’s remarkable.
<