Pusher

Friday, June 17 - Monday, June 20, 2016

Director Nicolas Winding Refn in person for intro on Tues Jun 21 at 7:00pm!

35mm print! 

Marathon the PUSHER trilogy with a “Cold Cases Trilogy Pass” and get a special discount ticket price of $25 ($15 for members) for all three films! Discount tickets good for trilogy films viewed same day only. Films within a trilogy viewed over multiple days do not qualify. Just select a ticket for the first showing in a trilogy—Fri Jun 17 at 1:25pm or Mon Jun 20 at 6:00pm—and choose the appropriate $25/$15 ticket type when purchasing online; Trilogy tickets also available at the box office.

“This is the worst week in Frank’s life – and very possibly the last. Deep in debt, he fixes up a complicated heroin deal involving his skinhead pal Tony and Balkan dealer Milo. The exchange is a bust, and Frank loses both the money and the merchandise. By Thursday, Tony’s out of the picture and Milo’s putting on the squeeze. By Friday, Saturday might never happen. Using available light, spasmodic handheld camerawork, and improvised dialogue, write/director Refn goes out of his way (in his first feature) to create an everyday world of extraordinary circumstance – then piles on a pounding thrash guitar score and punchy editing to create a kind of electric realism. Scorsese is a touchstone, but it’s a long time since he achieved this kind of blistering intensity. It’s a rough ride, for sure: Tony’s idea of small talk scorches the ear; the music’s loud enough to feel; and a series of violent confrontations are so near-the-knuckle it’s a relief not to come out bleeding. Yet this is much more than an assault on the senses. As Frank, Bodnia’s baleful tough guy stoicism masks an emotional constipation which even precludes physical contact with his hooker girlfriend (Drasbæk). Wheeling and dealing for all he’s worth, he can only conclude that he’s not worth much; and if Copenhagen comes to resemble hell on earth, it’s definitely a hell of Frank’s own making.” –Time Out (London)

Part of the series Cold Cases: The Department Q Trilogy & the New Nordic Noir

  • Country Denmark
  • Language In Danish, Swedish and Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles
  • Year 1996
  • Running Time 110 minutes
  • Director Nicolas Winding Refn
  • Cast Kim Bodnia, Mads Mikkelsen

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.