'Too Old to Die Young' is the latest effort from the Danish director with the almost comical grandeur attitude. And let me tell you that the directors overblown ego, is part of what makes TOTDY package. To say if his latest work will be well received, is an ill-fated question. Will it neatly balance on a divided 50/50 audience again or will it weigh out more heavily to a negative majority, is the more interesting question.
INCOMING SPOILERS!!
The story follows a bit of crooked cop called Martin Jones, who witnessed the slaughter of his equally crooked police partner Larry, by Jesus (Augusto Aguilera ), as an act of vengeance for their murder on his mother, Magdalena, the local cartel queen. Jesus flees to Mexico where he lays low with his cartel leading uncle (Emiliano Díez), his mysterious right hand lady/assassin; Yaritza (Cristina Rodlo) and cousin, Miguel (Roberto Aguire). Soon Jesus starts his ascend in the criminal empire as the devilish king to his rightful throne (the allusions to Lucifer from Refn were hardly subtle). Meanwhile officer Martin get's promoted to Detective but at the same time has to play a hitmen for the Jamaican mob, for reasons related to the death of cartel queen Magdalena. Martin finds a mentor in Viggo (John Hawkes), an terminal ill ex-fed, now vigilante working on a hitlist provided by physical therapist/part time mystic (representing the series supernatural side), Diana (Jena Malone), who leaks Viggo a list of true scumbags out of confessions from their victims. Viggo's philosophy in his targets of choice influences Martin, and seeks it as an atonement for his past wrongdoings. He soon rejects jobs from the Jamaican mob which doesn't follow his code of ethics, he only wants them to give Martin the worst of the worst. The world of TOTDY is also colored by the likes of Janey (Nell Tiger Free), Martin's underage girlfriend, her father Theo (William Baldwin) and Damian (Babs Olusanmokun) leader of the Jamaican mob. While Miles Teller, who plays Martin, is the focus of the marketing campaign for being a bigger name, it is equally Jesus and Yaritza's story as it's Martin, as the series divide it's run between the focus of either one of two story arcs.
One thing that I appreciate in TOTDY is the humor that I haven't seen in Refn's last few work from Drive to Neon Demon, but was part of the appeal of such works as his Pusher Trilogy, Bronson and such. There's a very dry, surreal sense of humor and it flows rather well with meticulously paced beat. One of the comical standout characters is the Ukulele playing Lieutenant from Martin's police force, a character that wouldn't be out off place in the Twin Peaks universe (talking about Twin Peaks... Is that Apple Pie scene a nod to the legendary series?), his love for Jesus and Fascism is simply hilarious. The police force might be the boldest scene stealing comic relief characters of the series, but apart from the brooding main characters, the TOTDY universe is scattered with light hearted comical moments from it's supporting cast (sign me up for a subscription to CARTEL TV!), that perfectly balances out the almost fetishistic gaze on violence.
Refn doesn't tackle so much of an overarching narrative plot, as he his more interested in giving a slab of critical satire similar to Paul Verhoeven's work in the States such as Robocop and Starship Troopers., as Refn prefers blatant obvious symbolism to tackle the metaphysical message he envisioned. There is a certain impending doom hanging in the air of the US. Characters wax apocalyptic prosa and existentialists musings on life as a majority of the characters are spiraling down a self-destructive pit of pendulum. Refn toys with allorgy's to the current political climate in the US. Martin tries to control his violent destructive path by forcing it into a quest of atonement, but the reality of the situation is that he is still under the tight reigns of the ill willing higher powers, be it the Jamaican mob, the police force or simply following Viggo. It's all a bit on the nose, but it works. Going back to it's narrative overarching story, it closes of in true David Lynch fashion... Which means it doesn't. But it felt expertly timed, playing well with the viewers subversion.
The acting is slow and stilted with intention, the editing always lingers on a tad few seconds too long. The acting and offbeat rhythm pace might as well be influenced by Japanese Noh theatre (the opposite of the expressive Kabuki theatre), though it isn't exactly new in Refn's world; Refn's post Bronson work definitely flirted with this style on more than one occasion. Does it work on a 13 hour neo-noir epic? Sort of. It depends how you choose to view TOTDY; Refn has stated in an interview that he was influenced by his children's youtube behavior and encourage the viewer to drop in and out of his series. While it's true that this statement only works halfway since character still die, and you'd be missing something stepping in on later episodes. But I found out that the series pacing and sparse dialogue made up as excellent background entertainment and played very well on this philosophy of dropping in and out. It worked quite well working behind my computer to occasionally revert my attention to the screen playing TOTDY; as when you get into the beat and rhythm of it's dialogues, you kinda know when to avert your focus to the screen to pick up on the important tidbits. And I have to say that this viewing method proved more effective, unlike my first tries to watch this series fully focused from start to finish (and Im used to work of the likes of Bela Tarr). But what's the point if it doesn't work from start to finish, you might ask? To appreciate a narrative on alternative way, might prove the right cure for people looking for different sorts of cinematic kinks. Is it user-friendly? Probably not, but there definitely is a certain portion of people who get a kick out of this.
The audiovisual department rarely fails in Refn's oeuvre, so this doesn't come to a surprise that TOTDY is another feat for eyes and ears. Visually, cinematographer Darius Khondji, delivered some of the finest colors to the small screen, the season. The series is simply gorgeous to look at. And while the camera work is often simplistic and static, it does compliment the offbeat slow pace. Cliff Martinez's score, is compromised of sparse eerie droning soundbits are minimal but effective, with some sudden operatic outbursts that would not be out of place in a psychedelic spaghetti western (it had shades of Matalo's OST and several of Morricone's scores) and the occasional inspiring song choice from the many Jamaican Ska tracks that gave colors to the Jamaican gang to the punk rock'n roll stomper opener from 999 to the hilariously effective Mandy from Barry Manilow as the background track (and subject of a joke) in a hot car chase thrill.
To conclude; does Refn has a masterpiece at hand? The amazon prime series plays out somewhat as a Refn's 'best of' compilation. There is a bit of everything from his previous work. An therefore I wouldn't put it as a top tier Refn, because he is sailing charted waters, there is not enough of Refn trying to do something new. Im almost certain however that it will find it cult status later on with a certain kind of audience. And while Refn tries to adhere the arthouse pretenses in the series, the core of TOTDY is midnight movie pulp. It will be a better companion piece to the works of Seijun Suzuki or Russ Meyer, than say Ingmar Bergman. As in; it's pulp material in the hands of skilled director that takes it to another level, but doesn't betray it's pulpy start. Speaking of Suzuki, tonally it did remind me of Seijun Suzuki's comical noir Branded to Kill, juggling it's off beat humor with noir grit.
INCOMING SPOILERS!!
The story follows a bit of crooked cop called Martin Jones, who witnessed the slaughter of his equally crooked police partner Larry, by Jesus (Augusto Aguilera ), as an act of vengeance for their murder on his mother, Magdalena, the local cartel queen. Jesus flees to Mexico where he lays low with his cartel leading uncle (Emiliano Díez), his mysterious right hand lady/assassin; Yaritza (Cristina Rodlo) and cousin, Miguel (Roberto Aguire). Soon Jesus starts his ascend in the criminal empire as the devilish king to his rightful throne (the allusions to Lucifer from Refn were hardly subtle). Meanwhile officer Martin get's promoted to Detective but at the same time has to play a hitmen for the Jamaican mob, for reasons related to the death of cartel queen Magdalena. Martin finds a mentor in Viggo (John Hawkes), an terminal ill ex-fed, now vigilante working on a hitlist provided by physical therapist/part time mystic (representing the series supernatural side), Diana (Jena Malone), who leaks Viggo a list of true scumbags out of confessions from their victims. Viggo's philosophy in his targets of choice influences Martin, and seeks it as an atonement for his past wrongdoings. He soon rejects jobs from the Jamaican mob which doesn't follow his code of ethics, he only wants them to give Martin the worst of the worst. The world of TOTDY is also colored by the likes of Janey (Nell Tiger Free), Martin's underage girlfriend, her father Theo (William Baldwin) and Damian (Babs Olusanmokun) leader of the Jamaican mob. While Miles Teller, who plays Martin, is the focus of the marketing campaign for being a bigger name, it is equally Jesus and Yaritza's story as it's Martin, as the series divide it's run between the focus of either one of two story arcs.
One thing that I appreciate in TOTDY is the humor that I haven't seen in Refn's last few work from Drive to Neon Demon, but was part of the appeal of such works as his Pusher Trilogy, Bronson and such. There's a very dry, surreal sense of humor and it flows rather well with meticulously paced beat. One of the comical standout characters is the Ukulele playing Lieutenant from Martin's police force, a character that wouldn't be out off place in the Twin Peaks universe (talking about Twin Peaks... Is that Apple Pie scene a nod to the legendary series?), his love for Jesus and Fascism is simply hilarious. The police force might be the boldest scene stealing comic relief characters of the series, but apart from the brooding main characters, the TOTDY universe is scattered with light hearted comical moments from it's supporting cast (sign me up for a subscription to CARTEL TV!), that perfectly balances out the almost fetishistic gaze on violence.
Refn doesn't tackle so much of an overarching narrative plot, as he his more interested in giving a slab of critical satire similar to Paul Verhoeven's work in the States such as Robocop and Starship Troopers., as Refn prefers blatant obvious symbolism to tackle the metaphysical message he envisioned. There is a certain impending doom hanging in the air of the US. Characters wax apocalyptic prosa and existentialists musings on life as a majority of the characters are spiraling down a self-destructive pit of pendulum. Refn toys with allorgy's to the current political climate in the US. Martin tries to control his violent destructive path by forcing it into a quest of atonement, but the reality of the situation is that he is still under the tight reigns of the ill willing higher powers, be it the Jamaican mob, the police force or simply following Viggo. It's all a bit on the nose, but it works. Going back to it's narrative overarching story, it closes of in true David Lynch fashion... Which means it doesn't. But it felt expertly timed, playing well with the viewers subversion.
The acting is slow and stilted with intention, the editing always lingers on a tad few seconds too long. The acting and offbeat rhythm pace might as well be influenced by Japanese Noh theatre (the opposite of the expressive Kabuki theatre), though it isn't exactly new in Refn's world; Refn's post Bronson work definitely flirted with this style on more than one occasion. Does it work on a 13 hour neo-noir epic? Sort of. It depends how you choose to view TOTDY; Refn has stated in an interview that he was influenced by his children's youtube behavior and encourage the viewer to drop in and out of his series. While it's true that this statement only works halfway since character still die, and you'd be missing something stepping in on later episodes. But I found out that the series pacing and sparse dialogue made up as excellent background entertainment and played very well on this philosophy of dropping in and out. It worked quite well working behind my computer to occasionally revert my attention to the screen playing TOTDY; as when you get into the beat and rhythm of it's dialogues, you kinda know when to avert your focus to the screen to pick up on the important tidbits. And I have to say that this viewing method proved more effective, unlike my first tries to watch this series fully focused from start to finish (and Im used to work of the likes of Bela Tarr). But what's the point if it doesn't work from start to finish, you might ask? To appreciate a narrative on alternative way, might prove the right cure for people looking for different sorts of cinematic kinks. Is it user-friendly? Probably not, but there definitely is a certain portion of people who get a kick out of this.
The audiovisual department rarely fails in Refn's oeuvre, so this doesn't come to a surprise that TOTDY is another feat for eyes and ears. Visually, cinematographer Darius Khondji, delivered some of the finest colors to the small screen, the season. The series is simply gorgeous to look at. And while the camera work is often simplistic and static, it does compliment the offbeat slow pace. Cliff Martinez's score, is compromised of sparse eerie droning soundbits are minimal but effective, with some sudden operatic outbursts that would not be out of place in a psychedelic spaghetti western (it had shades of Matalo's OST and several of Morricone's scores) and the occasional inspiring song choice from the many Jamaican Ska tracks that gave colors to the Jamaican gang to the punk rock'n roll stomper opener from 999 to the hilariously effective Mandy from Barry Manilow as the background track (and subject of a joke) in a hot car chase thrill.
To conclude; does Refn has a masterpiece at hand? The amazon prime series plays out somewhat as a Refn's 'best of' compilation. There is a bit of everything from his previous work. An therefore I wouldn't put it as a top tier Refn, because he is sailing charted waters, there is not enough of Refn trying to do something new. Im almost certain however that it will find it cult status later on with a certain kind of audience. And while Refn tries to adhere the arthouse pretenses in the series, the core of TOTDY is midnight movie pulp. It will be a better companion piece to the works of Seijun Suzuki or Russ Meyer, than say Ingmar Bergman. As in; it's pulp material in the hands of skilled director that takes it to another level, but doesn't betray it's pulpy start. Speaking of Suzuki, tonally it did remind me of Seijun Suzuki's comical noir Branded to Kill, juggling it's off beat humor with noir grit.