Bleeder (1999) - The mysterious second film by Nicolas Winding Refn

♥♥♥♥

+ Best Copenhagen Movie of the Year + Best Crime Drama of the Year + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Huge Flop Movie of the Year 

The Danish poster for Nicolas Winding Refn's Bleeder features the bloody head of Kim Bodnia and lots of critical praise for the film, declaring it a masterpiece, a must, blinding; the actors outstanding; Bodnia a Danish Robert De Niro

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There are two grown up brothers in Copenhagen: One works in a video store. The other is going to be a father. He cannot relate to this coming responsibility. And then things start to go wrong.
People were swooning over Bleeder, when it arrived in '99, (see the picture text above), and by all means it is an exciting and cool film, and Kim Bodnia (Pusher (1996)) plays with a fiery intensity his part as an angry, disillusioned man.
- But what is Bleeder really about? Perhaps it was mostly a 'training' film for its young director Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher II (2004)), - it was only his second after Pusher (1996). Or perhaps I just can't grasp any bigger picture in Bleeder. Perhaps it's missing.
Refn has made mysterious films since as well, in particular his first American film, Fear X (2003) springs to mind.
Bleeder does seem mysterious as a film, which shows us some extreme violence, but lacks any apparent stance concerning it. Perhaps this stance was only later defined by Refn, as he continued to make very violent films and was again and again confronted with this by other people. He has now come out with a stance which is something like 'violence is inherent in human nature and a key element in all creation and artistic creation in particular.'
Usually, - as in his latest, the great Only God Forgives (2013), chosen as Best Film of 2013 by Film Excess, - the violence in his films drives the plots forward, but that isn't always the case in the dark, intense, and romantic, Bleeder.

Related reviews:

2013 in films - according to Film Excess
Nicolas Winding Refn: Only God Forgives (2013) - Violent beauty in Bangkok
Bronson (2008) or, Violent Man

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

A young Mads Mikkelsen plays the geeky cinephile brother in Nicolas Winding Refn's Bleeder

Watch the hard-punching, English subtitle trailer for Bleeder here

Budget: Approximately 10 mil. DKK
Box office: Approximately 7 mil. DKK
= Huge flop (returned approximately 0.7 times its cost)

What do you think of Bleeder?
If you love it, can you say what is is about, if anything, looking past the obvious plot stuff?