Pusher Part I (movie)

I found it to be disturbing, to say the least. It's just not nice to see this part of society, even though i know it exists. The drug dealing and the way it's done. It's not really the drug dealing what bothers me, its more the way it is done. The way people in this sector keep getting more and more in debt. There is no real rule to limit how much can get borrowed. There is no big guy who is going to tell a pusher "dude, you want some drug in advance? Yeah, i can give you 5 or 10 in advance. Then you come with the money, and then i give you 10 more. And that's it."

The pushers, like many other businesses, start of with a debt: one borrows money to start a store or some kind of business. Then, as the business takes off, one pays off the debt. And if the business doesn't take off, for whatever reason, the individual is not able to take anymore loans. And deals with the confined loss in some way.

The problem arises when the individual, who was not able to pay off the initial debt, is allowed to borrow more. This today happens not only in the drug dealing business, but also in economy: one can keep getting a new credit card to pay off the old credit card bill, until one has accumulated thousands of dollars of debit. It takes very little time to accumulate debit, and a very long time to pay it off.

The pushers stereotype described in the movie is not able to manage himself. He doesn't know how to stop when they debt is getting too big. A lack of some sort of education: financial management and self control, control over ones own emotions, desires and passions. Cravings.

I found an inconsistency in the character Frank: on the one hand, he seemed to be very naive. He sealed a deal with a guy he met in jail. A big deal, involving a lot of drugs with somebody he doesn't even know well. That smells like a setup, even for me! And he falls for it, showing his lack of experience, or lack of self control. Maybe Frank is tempted by the amount of money he can make and doesn't realize the risk he is getting into.

However, later on, he develops some courage, and is able to fiddle his way around the tough guys, Milo, escaping sure death and planning for a smart escape, with a woman, thinking about starting all over. Then, when he is ready to go, he gets a call from Milo, who tricks him into giving him what he has and calling it even, when it was obvious he wanted Frank to go over his place, so he could get his money and kill him once and for all. And he falls for that one as well.

So maybe it's not an inconsistency. Maybe its the way he is: he could do so much more, if only he knew how to control his cravings for power and easy money. Very disturbing. The woman at the end, after having her heart broken (he promised her to take her to Spain, then calls it off at the last minute) takes advantage of the situation, takes the money and runs away.

I liked the ending when Frank is left thinking about what was going to happen with him: he just completely messed up. He doesn't have the girl to flee, nor the money to flee, nor the money to give to Milo.

I do not recommend this movie, as it shows a section of society which is not to be modeled. Today's society is can be easily negatively influenced by it, and a mind which would not get negatively influenced by it already is aware of these things, and receives no benefit from watching it.

Artistically, the movie is taken care of, and well acted. The violent scenes are very realistic. One can tell there has been a lot of work behind the making of Pusher. Too bad to invest all that energy for such a poor cause. Which cause? Well, i see no other reason for making such film public other than gaining popularity and/or money. I don't believe there is a reason to make 3 full feature length movie to show that the drug dealing business is not worth while getting involved in. And this message too, is free of interpretation. A viewer with an already disturbed mind might actually enjoy watching this movie, as it would feed his need for anger and violence, without an explicit message.

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