Portraits of an Artist on Fire: Pusher II, Pusher III, and Refn’s Divine Comedy

Limited Edition Contents:
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Thomas Walker
- 120-page book with new essays by Jamie Graham, Justin LaLiberty, Janine Pipe, Ariel Power-Schaub, Alison Taylor and Nadine Whitney plus an excerpt from Scandinavian Blue by Jack Stevenson on the films of Poul Nyrup
- 5 collectors' art cards

“Some people ask me if I was gonna do Pusher part II; I was like no way. Never doing that.” – Nicolas Winding Refn

In the audio commentary on his first feature, Pusher (1996), recorded in 2000, Refn is upbeat, carrying the confidence of a young artist who has dared to defy the Danish establishment and won. In conversation with Bill Lustig, he recalls the scandal of having forsaken a coveted position at the exclusive Danish Film School to begin his directorial career entirely untrained. Now four years behind him, Pusher has been a breakout success, and his follow up feature Bleeder (1999) had been selected for the Venice International Film Festival. Refn has proven himself in Denmark and has plans to further expand his reach into international markets, noting his next film will be shot in English for this very reason. By the end of the commentary, the director’s glee is palpable. Of course, any recording is a time capsule of sorts, but in retrospect, Pusher’s audio commentary has the feeling of a moment precariously suspended. Three years later, Fear X, his then most ambitious and accomplished work, would fail to recoup investments, bankrupting his production company. With this hindsight, the director’s concluding remarks about the prospect of more Pusher films being out of the question conjure an image of Refn like the Tarot’s fool—head aloft, blissfully unaware he is marching towards a precipice.