Pusher II
I wanted to see another one of the films from Denmark that everyone is hopping up and down about, so I saw "Pusher II".
This is another dark film from SIFF. But where Nick Cave's "The Proposition" was dark in a Dead End Street kind of way, "Pusher 2" from Denmark is dark in an altogether different way. I won't get into too many comparisons here, for they really are different films; one being a Western genre flick, and the other a modern criminal/psychological study film. But both were indeed dark, taking the audience places that are uncomfortable to say the least.
The Good: First off, the cinematography totally fits the piece. If I had to guess, I'd say it was Fuji filmstock, shot in low light conditions and slightly underexposed, then corrected in color timing. I may be wrong about the fuji (I suppose it could have been Kodak, and I also suppose I could actually research it and find out, but I'm lazy today. Hey, it is a holiday, so I'm allowed a little bit of slack. But the underexposing is a trick photographers use to get that gritty look, where the film looks alive, and at times a character's face looks to be crawling around on the screen. It makes the image look dark, scary. So, great job with the photography here.
The Bad: I'd say they went a little too far down the road of showing us how much of a loser the protagonist was. I kind of stopped caring for the guy. I wanted to like him, so I suppose I was still rooting for him, but, almost two hours of following a total loser around is a little trying at best. The ending makes up for a lot though, so I think other viewers could have just as easily loved the guy. I gave up on him after about an hour.
The Ugly: Everyone in the film! Actually, this is the film's saving grace. Everybody is a gross screw up or a criminal. Even the big boss guy that everyone reveres is kind of a loser. In a way, it makes the story believable, because we aren't going along with the best super criminals in the world, but rather, the screw up criminals that the real mob probably laughs at during their mob BBQ's. Or, maybe this is the real mob. Maybe the Godfather mob doesn't exist at all, and all there is in the world of car-jackers is these guys. No "Gone in 60 Seconds" slicksters here. I don't know. Whatever the case, the world created by the filmmakers is true to itself, and this gives the story a foundation to stand on. I didn't see the first "Pusher", so I felt I was missing a lot of the jokes that obviously others in the audience were getting. But, that's ok: I was along for the ride.
This is another dark film from SIFF. But where Nick Cave's "The Proposition" was dark in a Dead End Street kind of way, "Pusher 2" from Denmark is dark in an altogether different way. I won't get into too many comparisons here, for they really are different films; one being a Western genre flick, and the other a modern criminal/psychological study film. But both were indeed dark, taking the audience places that are uncomfortable to say the least.
The Good: First off, the cinematography totally fits the piece. If I had to guess, I'd say it was Fuji filmstock, shot in low light conditions and slightly underexposed, then corrected in color timing. I may be wrong about the fuji (I suppose it could have been Kodak, and I also suppose I could actually research it and find out, but I'm lazy today. Hey, it is a holiday, so I'm allowed a little bit of slack. But the underexposing is a trick photographers use to get that gritty look, where the film looks alive, and at times a character's face looks to be crawling around on the screen. It makes the image look dark, scary. So, great job with the photography here.
The Bad: I'd say they went a little too far down the road of showing us how much of a loser the protagonist was. I kind of stopped caring for the guy. I wanted to like him, so I suppose I was still rooting for him, but, almost two hours of following a total loser around is a little trying at best. The ending makes up for a lot though, so I think other viewers could have just as easily loved the guy. I gave up on him after about an hour.
The Ugly: Everyone in the film! Actually, this is the film's saving grace. Everybody is a gross screw up or a criminal. Even the big boss guy that everyone reveres is kind of a loser. In a way, it makes the story believable, because we aren't going along with the best super criminals in the world, but rather, the screw up criminals that the real mob probably laughs at during their mob BBQ's. Or, maybe this is the real mob. Maybe the Godfather mob doesn't exist at all, and all there is in the world of car-jackers is these guys. No "Gone in 60 Seconds" slicksters here. I don't know. Whatever the case, the world created by the filmmakers is true to itself, and this gives the story a foundation to stand on. I didn't see the first "Pusher", so I felt I was missing a lot of the jokes that obviously others in the audience were getting. But, that's ok: I was along for the ride.
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