Copenhagen Cowboy (TV Series) Review | Venice Film Festival 2022 | Exclusively on Netflix

COPENHAGEN COWBOY REVIEW 

Director Nicolas Winding Refn has found a way to turn Copenhagen Cowboy into his usual format of a feature-length film. It is the rare movie-as-miniseries that feels compatible with the form. The return to his native Denmark for the first time since the Pusher series finds the pushing his foot on the accelerator across the six episodes of his Netflix series. Refn spreads out his sensory overload giving all the threatening and boldness ample space to breathe. It can be repetitive, yes, but never monotonous.

Critics frequently complain about Refn’s work prioritizing style over substance that is the films become more supportive than storytelling. The film Copenhagen Cowboy avoids this by leaning into mythology-making. Conventional plotting is still scant in the series, but at least there’s a little bit more to hang onto here through what Refn suggests. Even though the normal profession suggests an extract of the prototypes of the American west to Denmark, the series recalls the folklore of Japanese samurai stories.

BRIEF STORY

The six-episode story centers around a woman who dives into the criminal underworld of Denmark in search of revenge. “Copenhagen Cowboy” revolves around a young heroine called Miu (Angela Bundalovic). After a lifetime of slavery and on the verge of a new beginning, she crosses the hostile landscape of the eponymous city’s criminal netherworld. Searching for justice and enacting vengeance, she encounters her opponent, Rakel, as they embark on a journey through the natural and the supernatural.

The past ultimately transforms and defines their future, as the two women discover they are not alone, they are many. The mysterious Miu arrives in Copenhagen and quickly becomes a skilled samurai without a master. Each episode takes Miu deeper and darker into the city’s sordid underbelly in pursuit of justice. These are not necessarily self-contained chapters as Miu’s network begins to converge over time, but it’s the rough frequency at which she gains a new employer or interest to serve.

These contacts begin to form a web of organized crime in which Miu finds herself innocently entangled. She’s in the undesirable position of being wanted by many people and fully trusted by a few. All the while, this silent enchantress is trying to figure out just who she is and where her seemingly supernatural skills of healing and fighting came from.

There is little ambiguity about the villains: the aristocratic inhabitants of a Danish estate who dare to refer to their “bloodline.” Against the setting of a cosmopolitan city with many inhabitants from diverse backgrounds, the strangeness of these ethnic Danes stands out.

The son of the estate, Nicklas (Andreas Lykke Jørgensen), is a particularly hateful figure in his cruelty toward trafficked prostitutes. But his most rageful move of all is to awaken his dormant sister Rakel (Lola Corfixen), a mystical presence similar to Miu who may be the only person capable of defeating her. While Rakel does not factor into the

show until the penultimate episode, she makes her mark and proves a formidable, folkloric foe as she seeks revenge for her family.

He immerses this revenge story in his traditional neon lights. “Copenhagen Cowboy” plays into his strengths of slow pushes and patience. With the freedom to play around with duration, Refn reminds viewers that there are few better at delicately ramping up tension only to explode it instantly.

When the series was originally announced, Winding Refn commented, “With Copenhagen Cowboy, I am returning to my past to shape my future by creating a series, an expansion of my constantly evolving alter-egos, now in the form of my young heroine, Miu.”

Copenhagen Cowboy is not just a movie of self-parody. Refn was influenced by openly supernatural elements of Miu’s witchcraft, folding fantasy together without the conflicting discussion. He has grown even more comfortable with the concept, boiling a gang gunfight down to just the weapons firing and the people being struck by bullets dying over each other.

The show is also full of other welcome strange touches, such as having certain men who abuse women speak in the sound of gourmand cries. Refn has deliberately sequenced the medley’s visceral impact. There are plenty of such moments throughout the series.

“Copenhagen Cowboy” made its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival,

and will be available to stream exclusively on Netflix later this year.

Netflix has dropped the first teaser for Nicolas Winding Refn’s upcoming six-episode series Copenhagen Cowboy which will debut at the Venice Film Festival later. The series marks the filmmaker’s first production in his native Denmark in 15 years.

According to Refn, collaborating with Netflix and bringing this show to life has been an wonderful experience on all levels. When the series was originally announced, Winding Refn commented, “With Copenhagen Cowboy, I am returning to my past to shape my future by creating a series, an expansion of my constantly evolving alter-egos, now in the form of my young heroine, Miu.”

ARTISTS

The series also stars Lola Corfixen and Zlatko Buric. Additional cast includes Andreas Lykke Jørgensen, Jason Hendel-Forssell, Li Ii Zhang, Dragana Milutinovic, Mikael Bertelsen, and Mads Brügger among others.

After providing a brief look at Nicolas Winding Refn’s upcoming six-episode series Copenhagen Cowboy in September, Netflix has released the first full official trailer. It has been decided that the global launch of this movie will be held on January 5, 2023.

CONCLUSION

Speaking at a press conference at the Venice Film Festival Nicolas Winding Refn said that the characters in his upcoming Netflix series “Copenhagen Cowboy”, are a “female evolution” of characters from previous projects such as Valhalla Rising, Drive, and Only God Forgives.

The film “Copenhagen Cowboy” was cooked up during the pandemic lockdowns by Refn, his wife Liv Corfixen (who’s also a producer on the series), and their daughter Lola Corfixen, the latter of whom co-stars as the character Rakel.

From the above, it is expected that the upcoming Netflix series titled “Copenhagen Cowboy” will hit the market. Viewers are eagerly waiting for its release. This movie will create a storm among movie lovers across the globe.