Pusher III

Infobox Film
name = Pusher III


caption = DVD cover
director = Nicolas Winding Refn
producer = Johnny Andersen Henrik Danstrup Mikkel Berg Kim Magnusson Kenneth D. Plummer Rupert Preston
writer = Nicolas Winding Refn
starring = Zlatko Buric Marinela Dekic Slavko Labovic Ilyas Agac
music = Peter Peter
cinematography = Morten Søborg
editing =Miriam Nørgaard Anne Østerud
distributor = Nordisk Film Magnolia Pictures
released = December 25, 2004
runtime = 90 min.
country = DEN
language = Danish Serbian
budget =
gross =
preceded_by = "Pusher II"
followed_by =
amg_id = 318461
imdb_id = 0396184

"Pusher III" (also known as "Pusher III: I Am the Angel of Death") is a 2005 Danish crime film by writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn. It is the final film of the Pusher trilogy and released in August 2005.

Plot

The movie opens in Copenhagen with Milo, an aging Serbian drug lord, attending a meeting for Narcotics Anonymous. The five-days-sober Milo admits that he is worried that the stress of cooking for his daughter's 25th birthday celebration will cause him to relapse into using. Milo departs the meeting to pick up a drug shipment with his henchman Branko. Though he requested heroin, the shipment turns out to be 10,000 ecstasy pills. Seeking an explanation, Milo meets with his Albanian supplier Luan. The Albanians agree to send a new shipment of heroin and allow Milo to try to sell the ecstasy as well.

After a quick talk with his demanding and spoiled daughter, Milena, Milo goes back to his kitchen to cook for the party. After Milo forces his henchman to try his cooking, he meets his associate Little Muhammed, who has come to drop off his daily yield. The pugnacious Muhammed warns Milo to respect younger hoods like himself, but Milo mockingly calls him the "King Kong of Copenhagen." However, as Milo knows nothing about ecstasy, he needs Muhammed to set up a buyer for the pills. When all of Milo's henchmen get food poisoning from his cooking, Milo has no choice but to trust Muhammed to make the sale alone and return within an hour.

The birthday celebration begins and Milo splits his time mingling with guests, cooking, and trying to contact the tardy Muhammed. While buying wine at an underground store, Milo learns that Milena's boyfriend, Mike, is in fact a small-time drug dealer. He arranges for Mike to buy heroin only from him and then haggles with his daughter over the price. While waiting in a restaurant for an emergency supply of fish, Milo bumps into Kurt the Cunt, a low-level drug dealer who gives him some heroin. The over-stressed Milo breaks down and smokes some of it. Having not heard from Muhammed in four hours, Milo contacts a corrupt cop, who promises to find him.

Milo meets with Luan to admit that he lost the ecstasy and needs more time to pay for them. The Albanians force Milo to become their subordinant in a human trafficking scheme, using his kitchen as a hideout. Rexho, an Albanian crook, and a Polish pimp arrive to sell a young girl into prostitution. Milo tries to distance himself from the transaction in disgust, but Rexho demands that he serve them food. Milo gives the girl a piece of his daughter's birthday cake when she reveals that it is her birthday as well. After Rexho leaves, the girl attempts to flee, but Milo helps run her down. The furious pimp begins savagely beating the girl, which ultimately sends Milo over the edge. He kills the pimp, then waits for Rexho to return and kills him as well. The corrupt cop then delivers Muhammed to Milo in the trunk of his car, warning him not to hurt him.

Out of options, Milo seeks help from his old friend and ex-henchman Radovan, who left the underworld to start a successful restaurant. Radovan agrees to help Milo one last time. Radovan helps Milo torture Muhammed, who reveals that the ecstasy pills Milo had received were fake. Milo and Radovan stash Muhammed in an ice chest after he threatens Milo and begin butchering the two corpses for disposal. At dawn, Milo returns to his tranquil home and talks with Milena. She wonders why he disappeared during the party, then goes to bed. Milo walks into the backyard and silently smokes a cigarette while looking into his empty swimming pool.

Cast

*Zlatko Buric as Milo: A middle-aged Serbian drug lord.
*Marinela Dekic as Milena: Milo's strong-willed daughter.
*Ilyas Agac as Muhammed: An ambitious young drug-dealer.
*Vanja Bajicic as Branko: Milo's henchman.
*Kujtim Loki as Luan: Milo's Albanian drug supplier.
*Ramadan Huseini as Rexho: A weasely Albanian gangster and Luan's interpreter.
*Levino Jensen as Mike: Milena's boyfriend.
*Slavko Labovic as Radovan: Milo's old friend and former henchman.
*Kurt Nielsen as Kurt the Cunt: A particularly loathsome drug dealer and pimp.
*Hakan Turan as Ali: Little Mohammed's partner.

Trilogy

This film is the final film in "Pusher" trilogy. The previous two movies take place in the same fictional Copenhagen underworld. The first film, "Pusher" followed Frank (Kim Bodnia), a mid-level drug dealer who becomes indebted to Milo in a similar way that Milo later becomes indebted to the Albanians. Radovan appears in this film as Milo's most trusted enforcer and admits to a desire to leave the underworld and open a restaurant. Milena's boyfriend Mike also appears as a drug-dealing bodybuilder who is robbed by Frank. Branko also appears as one of Milo's other henchmen.

The second film, "Pusher II", follows Frank's estranged partner Tonny (Mads Mikkelson) as he struggles with his relationship with his father and the prospect of becoming a father himself. Milo and Muhammed appear in this film and Kurt the Cunt has a larger role as Tonny's untrustworthy friend.

ee also

*"Pusher"
*"Pusher II"
*Drug dealer

External links

*imdb title|id=0425379|title=Pusher III
*rotten-tomatoes|id=10005881-pusher_3|title=Pusher 3