Frank is a small-time drug dealer working the streets of Copenhagen. When a heroin deal goes wrong and the product vanishes, he falls deep into debt with his supplier and has only a few days to raise the money. As he scrambles for a way out, he is drawn further into a world of enforcers, unreliable partners and favours that come with a steep price.

How it was made

The project began as a five-minute short that Nicolas Winding Refn made as an application to a Danish film school. He turned down the offer that followed and instead used a government grant to expand the idea into a feature, co-writing the script with film student Jens Dahl. Refn wanted to portray a man under pressure rather than the glamour of dealers seen in Scarface or Goodfellas, and he structured the plot around the days of the week. Two weeks before shooting he dropped the actor first cast as Frank and turned to Kim Bodnia, whose intensity reshaped the character. Shot with handheld cameras for a documentary feel, the film often leaves its actors in low light and shadow.

Reception and legacy

Critics gave the film generally favourable reviews, and Zlatko Burić won a Bodil Award in 1997 for best supporting actor for his role as Milo. Its success led to two sequels, Pusher II and Pusher 3, each following another figure from the Copenhagen underworld, and both were commercially successful and well regarded. The series was also remade in Hindi in 2010 and in English in 2012, under the title Pusher.

Stills

Trailer

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Trivia

A poster with a past

Slavko Labović, who plays the enforcer Radovan, was a friend of Serbian war criminal Željko Ražnatović. He supplied a poster of him to decorate Milo's headquarters.

A Serb played by a Croat

Zlatko Burić, who plays the Serbian drug lord Milo, is in fact a Croat.

More films by Nicolas Winding Refn

Drive2011

The Neon Demon2016

Only God Forgives2013

Bronson2008

Valhalla Rising2009

Pusher II2004

Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.