Nicolas Winding Refn and the Violence of Art

Nicolas Winding Refn has emerged as a uniquely talented international filmmaker with an eye for visceral, iconic images. A 21st century mythmaker from his cult Pusher trilogy to the award-winning Drive and Only God Forgives, Refn infuses a sophisticated avant-garde sensibility with the grit of exploitation cinema. This book relates Refn’s films to the ideas of Nietzsche, Canetti, Blanchot and others, and to aesthetic theory in general. It also asks why the West has become a largely artificial society, unable to generate new communal mythologies. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Justin Vicari is an award-winning poet, essayist and film writer. He lives in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania.

Justin Vicari

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 244
Bibliographic Info: 14 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7182-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1498-4
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
1. Seven Disorganizing Principles 11
2. The Pusher Trilogy 51
3. Bleeder 68
4. Fear X 89
5. Nemesis 120
6. Bronson 128
7. Valhalla Rising 151
8. Drive 178
9. Only God Forgives 192
Conclusion 208
Chapter Notes 215
Bibliography 227
Index 231