This is a bizarre show. A female protagonist who up until the end walks through the show with a look on her face as if she is bored to tits. Except for the occasional fighting scene, she remains standing, slowly moving and barely talking. If it's a metaphor for the female counterpart towards all the usual male superheroes boasting beauty, wit and power, it's really hard to follow along. Admittedly, so many scenes are beautifully arranged, neon colors, extraordinary angles and shots, and visually it's often very pleasing. But the story drags along, slowly and ever-circling around itself (I've never seen so many 360-turns without anything happening), and won't even melt into a satisfying conclusion. There is none, just an ending. And as much as I love Nordic TV and strange cinema, this is a bit disappointing, even for someone who loves hidden layers and unspoken metaphors on TV.
Every new NWR output is as much a unique sensorial experience as it is an audiovisual means of chronic self-flagellation.
“Copenhagen Cowboy” is yet another take on childish mob stories with supernatural elements and overly stylized visuals at a glacial pace. Although not nearly as memorable as the few epic moments in “Too Old to Die Young”, at least we don’t have to go through hours of people shaving or farting in the darkness with literally nothing happening. The biggest problem is that it all feels listless and strained, a mere rehash of the same old tropes by the same one-trick pony that NWR has been in the ten years or so. The only new element might be the newly found fetish for 360° panning shots to replace part of the usual slow-motion pull-outs.
Although sponsored as a limited series, it felt like a five-hour plot with bonus trolling at the end.
So, am I ready to hurt myself further with a potential second season? OF COURSE.
Nicolas Winding Refn has nudes on every executive. That is the only reason i can think of that allows him to continue writing and directing shows
Ok, I'm starting my 2023 TV viewings with a nice aperitif before I get to The Last of Us and Poker Face. Yeah, I watch more contemporary TV than films, I believe that's where the best storyteller's at right now which isn't a diss on film, just says if you ignore a writer for so long they leave and show their true value. But that's not what I'm writing about today, I'm writing about Nicolas Winding Refn who once made a hat that said "Make TV Great Again" and claimed his limited series Too Old to Die Young was a long movie. So...
Copenhagen Cowboy represents everything great with Refn but also his defaults post drive. It's funny to talk about the necessity of a writer when Refn did get a writer's room for both this and Too Old to Die Young, yet once the camera rolls he's taken over the reigns as to what gets shot. In other words, every filmmaker out there believes they're gonna re-invent TV and next thing you know they just end up making something that adds nothing to the cultural conversation of TV as a unique medium (Minus David Lynch who re-invented it twice with both iterations of Twin Peaks, The Return being a heavy influence on both of Refn's shows). -Anyways, if you're a Refn die hard like me, this is for you! I loved the lore and the new techniques he used here to tell a tale through stills. It's excellent. But if you're seeking a TV series that really conveys what the medium is all about, you're going to watch another filmmaker make a "long movie." The Sopranos is better than most of the films that premiered during its run. I have spoken.
Shout by EssethVIP 2BlockedParent2023-01-18T23:56:32Z
This show will probably not be for everyone, I'd put it akin to a synthwave/neonlit European Twin Peaks with witches maybe. Which just happens to be a lot of my jam.
Super slow, great soundtrack, really pretty visuals, and is utterly bizarre. I'd say give it two episodes as the first episode isn't a great intro imo, but you will 100% know if it's something you can enjoy the ride of by episode two.
That said, in the age of big production companies playing it safe/algorithm-approved content, I seriously have no clue how something this weird got greenlit and approved with a budget.