Copenhagen Cowboy

Ambitious miniseries with beautiful shots throughout and atmospheric lighting. The neon lights, production value and overly long silences were the highlights of the series. I was pulled into a strange world where I absolutely couldn't tell where it was going. The first two episodes require patience, however once you are into the story, Copenhagen Cowboy is something new and engaging.

The colours and cinematography are beautiful in a harsh environment. It's slow - sometimes very slow - but once you enter the meditative state, it makes sense. Though it has dark storytelling and violent characters, there's ample of hope and kindness involved as well.

The technical brilliance in the direction, cinematography and score can't really be denied. The reliance on specific shots - static camera, 360 degree pans, slow zoom is highly effective and everything is calculated to build maximum tension.

However, I feel like, it could easily have been a 2 hour film instead of a miniseries as it would've been fast paced and wouldn't even miss any story elements.

It's weird and slow. Idk why someone would call this revolutionary, I'm assuming because of the weird shots and lighting but this has been done. I will say this could have been edited just a tiny bit tighter. I'm very patient when it comes to films I watch but even this had me tempted to fast forward at times. I'm all for atmosphere and playing of the tension and all the goods that come with that but there's an art to it and you missed the mark on several occasions on here to where it seems too drawn out (subjective). Okay now I got all the bad stuff out of the way let me tell you why it's worth your time. It's a beautifully shot piece of art. Lighting is great and always motivated by the scene. The acting is really well done and the story kept me guessing. Okay now for the real reason I'm here. I believe and could easily be wrong but I'd imagine he didn't just pick the title because it was cool. I think it's more a nod to the fact that this series is essentially a Modern take on a Western. Miu is essentially our out of town hero coming into town to save it from the evil. Now probably should finish the last two episodes before I get too far ahead of myself. But enjoyed the first 4. I'll recommend. And to.

The direction of photography does an excellent job with the lighting of the scenes .. Some of the viewers may find it to heavy for the eyes , too much neon , but this plays a role in these scenes...The evolving of the story of a young girl spinning round the ugly world of drugs and human trafficing , is slow , but on the other hand the emotions you get while watching the episodes fullfills the viewer.

I was too sceptic about starting the series , it is a sad story that comes from the darkest places of our world... As an amateur photographer i saw a lot of things coming out the viewfinder of the camera , pay attention to the static scenes , on a single face , or a wide plan with a lot of people ..like time freezes for a while.

This incoherent mini-series could easily have been a 90 minute movie and we wouldn't have missed any story elements. It would have been fast paced, but you wouldn't feel the urge to hit the fast-forward button, as I did.

There's a not a lot that make sense in 'Copenhagen Cowboy'. We are introduced to a wide array of characters who are somehow all connected and tied to the underworld, but most character arcs are left uncompleted. In the center of it all there's the emotionless protagonist with zero chemistry.

It's a shame that NWR focuses more on cool-looking neonlit shots, and slow moving 360 degree pans than telling an engaging story, because I prefer substance over style. Style should be the icing on the cake and serve the story, not the opposite.

I love the films and television of Nicholas Winding Refn and within one episode I was fully back in his neon soaked, grimy, atmospheric world of static tableaux, the worst humans imaginable, extended circular pans and long signature pauses between speech or action.

I sometimes wonder if his effectively borderline mute protagonists are a direct criticism of people who use words too freely with no consideration.

As the mass Netflix crowd slowly find this I'm certainly expecting a slew of downvoting to occur and all the usual complaints about camerawork, lack of story, slowness and how quickly people fell asleep.

I hate these tragic people and equate them with the targets of Refn's scorn. The low, emotionally impotent, the unthinking and in this case thematically, the ultimate bottom-feeders, the pigs.

Basically if you like his previous work you will most likely love this too. It's been so long since the awesome Too Old to Die Young and you can see that he has certainly put those 4 years to good use.