When Netflix started developing its own TV series, a lot of focus was placedon the term ‘creative freedom’. Major film and series makers such as DavidFincher ( House of Cards ) and Jenji Kohan ( Orange Is the New Black )were also persuaded to work with the new streaming service by the promise ofautonomy. More than ten years later, a different wind is blowing: sometimes itseems as if the algorithm is calling the shots and that people, hunting forviewing records and new subscribers, dare to take far fewer risks. The flow ofpredictable series with recognizable elements is large.
However, watch for a few minutes Copenhague Cowboy and you notice that thereis still room for quirky projects in 2023. On paper, this surreal andbeautifully crafted thriller series from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn( Drive , Only God Forgives , The Neon Demon ) not really complicated orchallenging. Refn returns with __this Danish series returns to his homecountry for the first time in almost twenty years, where it all started forhim with the crime films from the pusher -trilogy. It is his second seriesafter the one made for Prime Video Too Old to Die Young.
The story revolves around the mysterious Miu, a woman who ventures into thedark underworld of Copenhagen. She seeks revenge and encounters severalenemies from the city’s crime scene. The style is recognizable to anyone whohas seen Winding Refn’s previous work: beautifully crafted shots with lots ofneon lighting, constantly rotating cameras and a thumping soundtrack full ofsynths. Just like in, among other things Drive follows a taciturnprotagonist who moves in a gloomy, violent world. Then it was Ryan Gosling,now Angela Bundalovic.
Little Miu looks fragile at first as she walks around in her blue tracksuit.“I’m crushing your doll face,” an Asian crime boss tells her before they starta fight. But Miu is very strong and may have supernatural abilities, althoughit is not made clear what exactly she can do.
Pigs
At the beginning of the series, Miu ends up in a brothel that could also be aslaughterhouse. “We are in hell,” says one of the sex workers present. Anelderly woman lives in this place who thinks Miu is a ‘good luck charm’. Thewoman hopes to get pregnant thanks to her presence. “Four hundred years agothey would have burned you,” says the woman. Now she can perform miracles. Itis clear that Miu must escape. Later, she tries to save a kidnapped child,among other things, and goes to work for the shady Miroslav, played by ZlatkoBuric, a familiar face in the Winding Refn universe.
Magnus Nordenhof Jonck / Netflix
Magnus Nordenhof Jonck / Netflix
Magnus Nordenhof Jonck / Netflix
The six episodes take the viewer to different locations, from a Chineserestaurant and a castle to the streets of Copenhagen and dangerous pigsties.And it’s not just the pigs that scream and grunt Copenhague Cowboy : Thereis also a man walking around in the series who makes pig noises.
Ambiance
Plot is of secondary importance, it’s all about atmosphere. Winding Refn hasbeen given carte blanche and can completely lose himself in his surreal,dreamlike world. Almost all scenes look beautiful and are often illuminatedwith red, blue or white neon light. At the same time they are incredibly slow,sometimes to the point of being ridiculous. The minimal dialogues contain longpauses, while the inscrutable gaze of the protagonist reveals little.
As a viewer you have enough time to think about the theme and ideas behind thebizarre images. Are we looking at something genius? Or to pretentiousnonsense? It’s a question that lingers to the end. This reviewer isn’t quiteout of it even now. Sometimes the series is reminiscent of the latter TwinPeaks season from David Lynch, mixed with a little Kill Bill. However, itnever gets as exciting as those examples.
The director himself sees the series as his version of a female superherostory. “After doing a trilogy about masculinity, it was a natural progressionto femininity,” he says in the podcast Crew Call. He developed the serieswith a team of female writers and gave roles to his daughters Lola andLizzielou.
Superhero
Winding Refn got after the success of Drive all kinds of offers to docommercial projects. When asked if he has considered making a real superheroblockbuster, he says. “Hollywood is very seductive, but it is also a systemthat is hopelessly falling apart,” he said in the same podcast. “I would liketo make something big, but I want to keep my creative freedom.” That’s almostimpossible in Hollywood these days. “I have always cherished my independence.If you have to struggle all day to finally reach a compromise, what kind ofexample am I for my own children?”
The execution may not quite work in this case, but it is hopeful that even inthe rapidly changing landscape of streaming there remains room for such anuncompromising series that is not afraid to challenge the viewer. Thesupernatural elements Copenhague Cowboy come to the fore towards the end ofthe season and the director builds towards a second season. Whether or notthat will happen will depend on a variety of factors.
It seems certain that many people will drop out after the first episode. AndNetflix may still have room for creative minds, but the company has becomemore ruthless in scrapping series. The fact that the apparently successfulseries 1899 this week after one season cancelled , offers little hope. Butwho knows, just like his main character, Winding Refn can also work miracles.
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