Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II/Pusher II (2004) - Refn's magnetic snapshot of Copenhagen's criminal underground

7/24/2019

With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II/Pusher II (2004) - Refn's magnetic snapshot of Copenhagen's criminal underground

♥♥♥♥♥

+ 3rd Best Movie of the Year

+ Best Copenhagen Movie of the Year + Best Crime Movie of the Year + Best Danish Movie of the Year + Best Sequel of the Year

Its stars are on parade on this gloomy and criminality-teasing poster for Nicolas Winding Refn's With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II

Tonny is let out of prison in Copenhagen with a debt. He is not welcomed with open arms by his powerful mechanic father, the Duke. In the meantime Tonny has become a father, and his mother has passed away.

With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II is the 4th feature written and directed by Danish master filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive (2011)) and the second in his Pusher trilogy, which also consists of his great debut Pusher (1996) and Pusher III (2005).
There are so many well-made scenes in Refn's hard-boiled crime drama, which was his best film up to that point in his impressive career. Pusher II is also a triumph for Mads Mikkelsen (Bleeder (1999)) as Tonny, whom he gives inspired life, and Leif Sylvester (Otto Is a Rhino/Otto Er et Næsehorn (1983)) is outstanding as his cruel father. Refn gets the very best out of all of his very authentic supporting characters, and Peter Peter's (Antboy 3 (2016)) thundering percussion and electro-reliant score elevates the film considerably. Pusher II is a hard-hitting modern classic in Danish cinema.

Related posts:

Nicolas Winding Refn: Top 10: Best drug-themed movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Neon Demon (2016) or, Jesse Goes to Hollywood
Top 10: Best Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Only God Forgives (2013) - Violent beauty in Bangkok
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Drive (2011) - Refn's muscle-flexing audience favorite
Bronson (2008) or, Violent Man

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Bleeder (1999) - Refn's mysterious second film

Listen to Sad Disco, a song from the film's score here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: In excess of 1.9 mil. $
= Uncertain
[With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II was released 25 December (Denmark) and runs 100 minutes. Refn had no intentions of making a Pusher trilogy until his film company went bankrupt due to the flop of his artistic drama thriller set in Canada, Fear X (2003). In response, he devised Pusher II and III, which saved his finances. He reportedly wrote the script over the course of a weekend. Shooting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, mostly chronologically and mostly using a handheld camera. The film sold 161,988 tickets in its production country Denmark, making it a minor hit locally. The only foreign gross listed is 34k $ in Norway. The budget for the first film was a very low 6 mil. DKK. The budget for Pusher II is unknown, (it was supported by the Danish Film Institute), but if made on another small - but substantially larger, likely 10-12 mil. DKK (1.5-1.8 mil. $), the film's gross would land it as a big flop. It was nominated for the Nordic Council Film Prize, won 1/12 Robert award nominations (Denmark's Oscar) and 1/3 Bodil awards (Danish film critics' awards.) Refn returned with Pusher III (2005). Mikkelsen returned in Adam's Apples/Adams Æbler (2005). With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II is fresh at 100 % with a 7.55/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

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With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II/Pusher II (2004) - Refn's magnetic snapshot of Copenhagen's criminal underground

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