Charlie Hunnam’s favourite movie trilogy: “I really like the struggle of that character”
From starring in one of the biggest shows on television to working with acclaimed directors like Guillermo del Toro and Guy Ritchie, Charlie Hunnam has proven himself very capable of leading successful projects on screens big and small.
Like any prominent actor worth their salt, the guff Briton has been a part of numerous franchises, such as the first Pacific Rim movie, as well as Zack Snyder’s “Star Wars in space” (his words, not mine), Rebel Moon. His film King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was supposed to be the first in a series, but it bombed so badly at the box office that all follow-up plans were immediately scrapped; oh well, can’t win ‘em all.
When it comes to his own favourite franchises, the Newcastle-born star has a soft spot for one trilogy in particular. In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, the former ‘Jax Teller’ named the Danish film Pusher III as one of his all-time favourites. This invariably sparked a discussion of the entire series, and like any good fan, the actor wasted no time ranking all three instalments.
“I think Pusher III is a masterpiece; Pusher II I like a great deal; and Pusher is my least favorite of the trilogy, which is the only time I’ve ever had that experience,” he said, “I really like the struggle of that character through Pusher III. Unlike the other films, he’s really, really trying to do the right thing with his life over the course of that film. And you just see that, because of the environment he’s in and the forces that surround him, that he keeps getting pulled down over and over and over until he descends into total darkness at the end.”
All three Pusher movies are directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, one of the most successful filmmakers in Danish history. Each part follows a different member of Copenhagen’s criminal underworld. Kim Bodnia plays a low-level drug dealer in the first; Mads Mikkelsen plays his friend in the second (and received an unusual reward for participating in the series), and Zlatko Burić plays a high-ranking Serbian kingpin in the third, although he also appears as a secondary character in the first two movies.
In Pusher III, Burić’s character Milo is facing numerous crises. He’s getting older, the shipment of heroin he ordered turns out to be ecstasy, and on top of all of that, he has to organise his daughter’s birthday party! This might sound like the plot of a drug-themed sitcom, but it’s actually a well-balanced exploration of a character who could have easily been presented as a one-note villain, and Hunnam’s assessment that the film is about Milo’s ‘struggle’ is bang on.
Not everyone agrees that Pusher III is the best of the bunch. By Rotten Tomatoes’ own rankings, the second film is technically the ‘best’, with a rare critical score of 100%. Still, that’s the great thing about trilogies, everyone has their favourite. Well, except for The Godfather, where you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who prefers the third one in that series.
