Pusher III - L'ange de la mort

Come take a look at the violence and depravity that goes on in ... Copenhagen.

Copenhagen? Yup. But this is pretty effin' far from Hans Christian Anderson and the Little Mermaid.

This movie caps Nicolas Winding Refn's gangster trilogy and veers off in a somewhat different direction from the first two. "Pusher I" and "Pusher II" were tense and violent movies about the Danish drug trade, but both had an element of comedy.

By contrast, Pusher III is one of the darkest movies I've ever seen and it has an extended scene at the end that would never, ever be allowed in a mainstream Hollywood gangster movie.

Pusher III happens in a 24-hour period as we follow along with Milo, a mid-level drug kingpin who is apparently a Serb. Milo has a busy day ahead of him. His daughter's 25th birthday is that evening and he's promised to cook food for 50 people. His product supplier got shipments mixed up and sent Milo 10,000 ecstasy tabs instead of the usual heroin. He's withdrawing from heroin himself and drops in at NA meetings during the day. His crew is getting ornery, giving him lip all the time.

Sigh. It's hard out there for a gangster. You almost feel sorry for the schlub.

Then, when a Polish pimp shows up wanting cash in exchange for a badly frightened 18-year-old girl he has in tow, things start to go bad.

This is in no sense of the word an action movie, although there are murders. No guns, either. It's remarkable how directors from outside the U.S. can take material Americans are completely familiar with and make it look completely different. Take the Korean monster movie "The Host" and the Swedish vampire movie "Let the Right One In." Familiar material. Brand new take.

"Pusher III"is like that. It has stretches where not much happens. But it builds to a horrifying climax all the more horrifying because it plays out utterly matter of fact.

And props to Zlatko Buric, who plays Milo. The camera is on him for the entire movie and we get to know every seam in his weary face.

i actually went through the registration process on here solely to come on and defend against some of the attacks i saw of this film. i watched all three parts, and personally i felt this installment was a perfect and fitting end to the three. whether or not it portrays the drug underworld of that particular region to the tee is really not that important. it is a very human portrayal of a man who others likely see as inhuman, and without talking about the plot at all (don't want to do a whole spoiler thing)is a film that possesses a quiet, dark, and stark beauty. i have no possible clue how someone could like the other two and not the third, but as someone who watched them all, if you've seen the others, i would strongly recommend you watch this one as well. it is both haunting and strangely heartening, and you won't be disappointed.

I found Pusher Three the best of the trilogy and would strongly disagree with anyone who bashes on this film. Of course, what makes the Pusher movies great is how realistic the scenarios are. Unlike Tarintino, who's dialog is tricky, sometimes too tricky, the Pusher films have simple, believable dialog. Similair to The Sapranos, Pusher III's appeal is seeing the personal life of gangsters. Milo is a chef and restaurant owner but a drug dealer behind the scenes. Its great seeing Milo go back and fourth between preparing a fifty person meal for his daughters 25th Birthday and settling a drug deal in the back room. A great movie that shows you the stress of a gangster trying to maintain his status as a family man. Milo is one of my favorite movie drug dealers. If your not into drugs, you probably won't appreciate all the minor details of the Pusher trilogy.

Pusher 3

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (2005)

"Hvem jeg er? F*cking King of Copenhagen!"

This is the final part of Nicolas Winding Refn's "Pusher Trilogy" – a movie series about the life of three different persons with a relationship to one another. In the first of three movies Pusher (1996) we follow the drug dealer Frank and his problems when he drops a big deal. In the same movie we meet Frank's friend the bum Tonny and Frank's supplier Milo. In Pusher II (2004) we followed Tonny's life after he comes out of jail, and in Pusher 3 it is Milo's character that is the leading character.

The movie follows one day in Milo's life. He is helping planning his grownup daughter's birthday party and he has a major drug deal going on. But something in the deal goes wrong when Milo is tricked by his "partner". Milo now stands between the men he owes money and the man who owes him money. To solve all his problems Milo has to make some drastic and dramatic decisions and do some gruesome things. This includes among other things involving his old friend Radovan, known from "Pusher".

Pusher 3 is a great finish to Refn's series about the Copenhagen drug world. Zlatko Buric is amazing in his first leading role, as the old drug dealer/supplier Milo. If you liked his role and performance in Pusher, you will love him here! The movie has some very disturbing scenes and the cinematography helps the movie to appear very realistic. This movie shows a scary environment, interesting and frightening characters and contains a disturbing story.

8/10

This film is a portrait of a gangster boss. We witness the downfall of the once so cool and untouchable Milo that we got to know in the first Pusher film. Milo is trying to maintain his position in the competitive dopemarket of Copenhagen, but times are changing and younger generations are taking over. On top of this, Milo is trying to quit using dope himself and is attending meetings in Narcotics Anonymous, and he is trying to be a good father to his daughter and make her birthday party a good one.

Nicolas Winding Refn has a way of making my stomach twist and turn like no other director. I can watch gore and splatter films no problem, but the cold and cynical violence in the Pusher gets to me, because it is set in a, for me, very realistic environment. I'm not sure that I like it, but one thing is for sure; it works. The character descriptions are, as always, very believable. The mixing of a lot of the different languages of the different gangs is a funny feature, that I like. Technically, the hand-held camera works okay, but it's not the best. Music and lighting effects are great.

The film is not as good as the first Pusher film, but it has its moments, Zlatko Buric is enjoyable every second, gore is for gore-lovers, the Pusher "mood" is there and it is a fine ending of a remarkable and original trilogy that the danish film scene can be proud of.