Movie: Pusher 3: I'm the Angel of Death
My Rating: 3 stars
I’m as prone to existential angst as the next girl. But, it’s films like this one that really make you want to just wallow in the futility of it all. This is the third, and final, installment in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher Trilogy, and in some ways it’s the bleakest. It features far less of the random violence, casual drug abuse, and lack of respect for human life, that we see in the other two films. But, it really drives home the depressing fact that no one is ever going to get out of the drug trade alive. Some people are more successful than others, but anyone in this line of work is really just waiting for the clock to run out.
This film focuses on Milo, one of the higher-level dealers that we met in the previous films. All in all, he seems like a pretty good guy. He’s an Eastern European immigrant to Denmark, doesn’t have much of an education, and he’s just trying to provide a nice life for his small family. The drug trade seemed like a pretty easy way to make a few bucks at first, and now he’s running a pretty smooth operation. But, the money seems less necessary now that his daughter is grown, and is getting married soon. Milo knows he’s got to get out of the biz. Maybe he’ll retire somewhere nice. He’s been cutting down on the number of jobs he takes in an effort to phase himself out. And, he’s even started attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings in an effort to kick that nasty cocaine habit he picked up along the way. But, of course, we all know that these dreams of escape will inevitably crash around his feet when he agrees to take on “one last job.” That’s his first mistake. Especially since the deal is going down on the day of his daughter’s big birthday party—the party he’s agreed to cook for.
These drug transactions usually have very tight time schedules, and the participants aren’t exactly known for being very understanding or trustworthy guys. Milo agreed to this one mostly to help clean up the mess that one of his colleagues has made of a big heroin deal. Turns out, his idiot goons seized the wrong drop car, and this one’s full of ecstasy, rather than heroin. Milo doesn’t know anything about dealing ecstasy, or even how much it’s worth, but he’s willing to try to unload it. So, there’s his second mistake. Since Milo doesn’t know what he’s working with, he has to enlist the help of a whole different set of dealers—ones that he doesn’t know very well, and who have no real incentive not to rip him off. Becoming indebted to a whole new group of drug dealers isn’t exactly the right move to make if one is trying to extricate oneself from the trade. Oh Milo! So, we’re left to watch and see whether Milo is going to be able to pull off this ill-omened feat. He’s a pretty savvy guy, so he has a real fighting chance. But, if we’ve learned anything from the two previous films, these things tend to be a little unpredictable.
I think this film was the right tone on which to finish this trilogy. The first one was about the thrill of the trade. It’s fueled by adrenaline. The second was about the very real consequences that real people suffer. And, the overall tone is depression. This third installment seems to be about those people who have become inured to all the horrors. And, the story is absolutely saturated in an air of numbness and resignation. These films are soul-crushers. But, they feel like the most authentic stories about the drug trade that I’ve ever seen. They definitely deglamorize the whole idea, but not in a preachy, moralizing way. Watching these would definitely make any young thugs reconsider the trade as their career of choice. Just don’t try to watch these if you’re feeling at all tired or emotionally drained.
These drug transactions usually have very tight time schedules, and the participants aren’t exactly known for being very understanding or trustworthy guys. Milo agreed to this one mostly to help clean up the mess that one of his colleagues has made of a big heroin deal. Turns out, his idiot goons seized the wrong drop car, and this one’s full of ecstasy, rather than heroin. Milo doesn’t know anything about dealing ecstasy, or even how much it’s worth, but he’s willing to try to unload it. So, there’s his second mistake. Since Milo doesn’t know what he’s working with, he has to enlist the help of a whole different set of dealers—ones that he doesn’t know very well, and who have no real incentive not to rip him off. Becoming indebted to a whole new group of drug dealers isn’t exactly the right move to make if one is trying to extricate oneself from the trade. Oh Milo! So, we’re left to watch and see whether Milo is going to be able to pull off this ill-omened feat. He’s a pretty savvy guy, so he has a real fighting chance. But, if we’ve learned anything from the two previous films, these things tend to be a little unpredictable.
I think this film was the right tone on which to finish this trilogy. The first one was about the thrill of the trade. It’s fueled by adrenaline. The second was about the very real consequences that real people suffer. And, the overall tone is depression. This third installment seems to be about those people who have become inured to all the horrors. And, the story is absolutely saturated in an air of numbness and resignation. These films are soul-crushers. But, they feel like the most authentic stories about the drug trade that I’ve ever seen. They definitely deglamorize the whole idea, but not in a preachy, moralizing way. Watching these would definitely make any young thugs reconsider the trade as their career of choice. Just don’t try to watch these if you’re feeling at all tired or emotionally drained.
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