LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

arun-g-233-550662 Here in the Nordic Europe, we don't use so much physical violence and guns like in USA. We use psychological terror instead. That's why this movie is scary, but not so explicitly violent.The fear and terror that Frank experiences comes from being a small time drug dealer and owing his money to the big, but low-life drug supplier. The way the drug supplier goes after Frank with the collectors is a psychological game that Frank cannot get out of. There is also the element that they used to be "friends" and they turn on each other with hate.The scene where Frank and Radovan seeks out a poor druggie and he gets so scared that he shoots himself with a shotgun is very sad. It shows how these criminals use mental terror to scare their victims.Well, it's meant to be a crime movie. The movie is a bit over the top, but it has a point.

dragokin Although i've heard only good things about Pusher, it took me several years to pick it up. The result was surprisingly good.The movie is shot almost as a documentary, which is well suited for the subject it depicts. Unlike hip-hop videos advertising gangster lifestyle, Pusher shows us the reality of a low level drug dealer. There is no glamor, but rather hard labor without strict working hours providing questionable financial gain.Serbian gangsters are depicted rather realistically, presumably due to Slavko Labović'S experience as bouncer and mingling in the appropriate milieu.Despite its independent funding, Pusher is rubbing shoulders with the best gangster movies of all times.

FSfilmblog What drew me to this film wasn't the fact that there are two remakes of this film but due to the fact that this is the directorial debut of Nicolas Winding Refn. The Danish director who made the impressive and brutal Bronson and equally entertaining Drive.Filmed in a naturalistic nature, the camera follows the central character Frank and his associate Tonny through their day to day life in an objective manner. The film kicks off with the two of them wheeling and dealing (the narrative does not pause for breath for minor details such as background characters and situations, we are just pushed straight into the world of drugs, dealers and buyers).An offer of a big deal comes along in shape of a large buyer and Frank goes to his suppler Milo to obtain the goods. Milo is reluctant to give him that much without money upfront as Frank still owes a substantial amount but on the condition that Frank pays him the following day, Frank accepts. When he goes to do the deal with the buyer, things start to go very bad for him as the police are waiting for him and he has to throw away tip all the goods into a lake. In the following few days Frank has to come up with a large amount of money or face the consequences.What comes across you straight away is the immediacy and intensity in the way in which the camera follows our protagonist. Medium close up and long cuts pushes the audience closer into the seedy world of drug pushers and the criminal world. confined spaces in the car and apartments makes it feel claustrophobic and trapped in this underground business.An altogether rawness and close to documentary quality to the picture makes it feel almost real and gritty. As Frank becomes more and more desperate the mood and atmosphere changes, making viewing feel ever increasingly uncomfortable.A powerful and harsh look into the world of drug dealers shot with roughness and unremorseless savagery. With the character Frank, we not suppose to sympathise with, but he shows enough emotion that there is a connection that he is still human underneth it all. A great performance from all involved, mesmerizing and montrous in equal measure. It's a film that will burn in your memory for a long time.

bob the moo Frank is a drug dealer moving heroin between the level above him and his customer base. When he is asked to get 200 grams of dope in less than 24 hours he balks but when he is offered 700 on the gram he tries to pull it together. Already 50,000 in debt to local gangster Milo, Frank takes a risk and gets the drugs on credit ahead of a good sale. However when the sale goes down the police are tipped off and the only thing saving Frank from jail is his quick wits to dive into the lake and destroy the evidence against him. Released by the police within hours, Frank knows his problems are only beginning as he now owes even more money to Milo – a man not known for his patience.Although I had not really heard any hype over this film, I had heard it compared to Mean Streets in style so I thought I would give it a try. The main thing that struck me was how gritty it was and how lacking in the style and pop culture that the post-Tarantino audience have become accustom to. For some viewers this may be taken as a complaint but for my money it made the film that much better as a piece of dramatic realism as opposed to a modern thriller. Of course "reality" is a loose term in regards this film because I hope I never see this as a world I recognise, but it is still one that I found convincing.Refn's direction helps it by being hand-held and mobile in lots of good locations – the viewer never feels like they are on a set or with jobbing actors. It is perhaps a bit too gritty and slow for some tastes though but I didn't really find much wrong with it in what it tried to do. Perhaps I would have gone for a bit more character development and emotion or maybe it could have lost a bit of running time and been tighter for it, but mostly it was effectively desperate, gritty and with a good feeling of claustrophobic hopelessness. Bodnia does this aspect really well; he is an unsympathetic character but we are taken along with him as he is convincingly real. The film belongs to him but the support cast is mostly good with turns from Buric, Drasbæk, Labovic and Mikkelsen.Overall then a convincing and gritty crime story that reeks of fear and being trapped. It avoids the trappings of modern Tarantino style and instead keeps low to the street, meaning that it does well by aiming for its own target and hitting it consistently.