#Jason Hendel-Forssell

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

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.