Gambler

Documentary maker Phie Ambo wanted to see this: a film director heading for bankruptcy. She followed Nicolas Winding Refn, director of the monumental drugs trilogy Pusher I, II and III, in difficult times. Or maybe ‘besieged’ is a better word here than ‘followed’. Unusual about this making-of is that the director was not primarily interested in how the films were made. She was more fascinated by the personal pressures on the film maker. The way the thumbscrews were turned financially and how this had consequences for his private life. That’s why she kept on filming where every other making-of would stop. Right up to late at night with the film maker on the sofa, when he has to explain to his wife that the next film might well be his demise – or the demise of both of them. Ambo was interested in the drama of that demise. In that sense, the film is not primarily aimed at film lovers (who do nevertheless have more than enough to look at), but to a more general audience that will recognise itself in the battle against financial insecurity. Refn evoked a lot of international admiration with his three innovative films about the Danish underworld. Those who see here how difficult it was to realise the production, can only have even more admiration for this amazing achievement. (GjZ)

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