Reel hero vs real failure: an analysis of Nicolas Winding Refn’s treatment of masculinity

Abstract

RESUMÉ

Denne artikel fremstiller og behandler de ambivalente dynamikker, der præger den fremstilling og forståelse af maskulinitet, som er et tilbagevendende tema i Nicolas Winding Refns film. Med udgangspunkt i de dele af genrefilmteori, der omhandler det subversive og kritiske potentiale i genrefilm, diskuteres her indflydelsen fra bestemte 'maskuline genrer': action, skrækfilm, gangsterfilm, og film noir. De ideologiske spændinger, som er at finde i Refns film, når han oscillerer mellem fejring og destabilisering af maskuline arketyper, bliver følgende fremvist og undersøgt igennem tre af hans værker: Drive, Only God Forgives, og Bleeder.

ABSTRACT

This article analyses Nicolas Winding Refn’s cinema, exposing and exploring the ambivalent dynamics pervading his treatment and understanding of masculinity. Basing my analysis on a branch of genre film theory that looks into the subversive and critical potential of genre cinema, I discuss the influence of specific ‘male genres’: action, horror, gangster movie, and film noir. The ideological tension that inhabits Refn’s cinema, as he oscillates between celebration and destabilisation of the male archetype, is then explored through three of his films: Drive, Only God Forgives, and Bleeder.