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Copenhagen Cowboy (2022)

2022 · Crime,Drama,Thriller · crime-psychological-profiler, contemporary-realistic

Copenhagen Cowboy poster

Copenhagen Cowboy is a hypnotic, deliberately paced neo-noir fever dream from Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn, following a near-supernatural young woman named Miu navigating Copenhagen's criminal underworld of human trafficking and organised crime. Its identity is almost entirely formal: 360-degree pans, neon-soaked cinematography, an evolving synth score, and near-wordless performances combine to produce an audiovisual experience that reviewers consistently describe as 'gorgeous' and 'entrancing' even when they fault its narrative thinness. It rewards viewers who treat style as substance and will appeal to fans of slow, visually meditative crime fiction with folkloric and mythological undertones.

From the reviewers

The technical brilliance in the direction, cinematography and score can't really be denied, even if it's not to your taste.
Angela Bundalovic who as the enigmatic Miu delivers a movingly minimalistic, affecting, and extraordinarily physical performance in spite of her diminutive size.
It's not style over substance - the substance is by and large the style itself, so if the style isn't for you then you'll certainly find yourself at sea.
Neon-drenched might sound cliche, but it's apt for describing Winding Refn's affinity for lighting a scene with almost otherworldly bluish hues and moody reds. Combine this with a synth score that always seems to be evolving from episode to episode and it's hard not to become enraptured by the audiovisual experience on offer.
The fight sequences, though brief, are great. The choreography is simple, elegant, and augmented by the sound design, while the characters fight almost robotically.

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