- 4 months ago
Copenhagen Cowboy: Nightcall with Nicolas Winding Refn (2023) is a behind-the-scenes documentary exploring the creative vision behind Refn’s Netflix series Copenhagen Cowboy. Featuring exclusive interviews, on-set footage, and insights into the director’s unique style, the film takes viewers inside the artistic process that shaped the series’ striking visuals and storytelling. A must-watch for fans of cinema, creativity, and bold filmmaking.
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CreativityTranscript
00:00My name is Nicholas Winding Refn, and I'm the creator of Copenhagen Cowboy.
00:26This is not a making of.
00:30But more of an insight on how the cowboy fell asleep and woke up in Copenhagen.
00:56I describe Copenhagen Cowboy as fantasy, horror, and adventurous.
01:01The name is already tells something.
01:05It's a...
01:07You cannot put words on it while you hear Copenhagen Cowboy.
01:11What is it?
01:12You know, Copenhagen, modern city, and the cowboy from old Western style.
01:17How do you combine those two things together?
01:19It's already amazing there.
01:20I think it's very colorful, very potent, and very raw at the same time.
01:27And we definitely kind of have horror elements and fairy tale elements.
01:34The original pitch was, I'm going to do an extension of the Pusher trilogy.
01:44And everyone said, great, let's go do it.
01:47But there was going to be a spaceship.
01:50I would say the story of Copenhagen Cowboy on paper was about a young woman who transforms through a series to become a superhero.
02:08It's like this fairy tale-like underworld of Copenhagen or Denmark.
02:19It's certainly not the Denmark we know.
02:21No.
02:22It's a world that transcends realism.
02:24This is Mew's world, so you are brought along and down deep into the underworld of Denmark through Mew's journey.
02:45I thought it would be fun if I had come back to Denmark.
02:48I would create like a fairy tale narrative.
02:52So I hired a great group of female writers.
02:55I think the reason why we looked at fairy tales and Greek mythology and Shakespearean dramas might be because they all have this concept of fate.
03:08Because we wanted with Mew to also have this feeling of there is an element of fate that she was born to do something, if she was even born.
03:22I started with first the title.
03:27I said Cowboy and then Copenhagen.
03:31And those became CC.
03:33It was like two contrasty components together, but they flowed very well on the tongue.
03:40And it became enigmatic of what it actually was, which was exciting to me.
03:46What would I make that my kids would find interesting?
03:49And that became Mew.
03:53I wanted to resurrect the kind of alter ego that I had created with, you know, Mats Mikkelsen and Ryan Gosling and Vitya on my previous films to create a show, a character that was an extension of myself.
04:10But as a young woman would reflect more of a role model for my children.
04:17And I knew that the protagonist of the show had to start off as a young woman.
04:26And there's definitely a need for these female heroes.
04:30And we had like an ongoing discussion about that.
04:33And it's like when you create this kind of character who's mysterious and very driven and might use violence to attain his or her goals.
04:48If it's a man, I guess we easily accept that and don't ask that many questions.
04:55But when it's a female, we're like, oh, what's like the psychological explanation?
05:02What traumas did she go through to become like that?
05:06And we kind of wanted to challenge these limitations of like the female hero and what she could be like.
05:15Like that was also Yang's kind of the concept of a cowboy.
05:20He was very much challenging also our views on like a female character having a back story and everything.
05:27And he was like, this is a cowboy just entering the scene, arriving at a new town and doing his thing.
05:35And that was super cool to explore with her.
05:38So, Miu is sort of, she's just a very physical person.
05:45It's very much a state to be in.
05:48And you have to stay in that state.
05:52It's almost like she doesn't speak so much.
05:58She stands, she observes a lot.
06:02And then she moves.
06:04And so it fits a lot to be in sort of that between state.
06:11I'm very there, but I'm also in another place.
06:16Well, I'm a very superstitious person.
06:31And I have contacts with extraterrestrials through my work that I regularly speak with.
06:37So it was very natural for me to bring that into the process.
06:41I always knew that the Miu character and her so-called sister, Raquel, would essentially come from another dimension.
06:51I just had to figure out how I interpreted it into the story.
06:55I really like and I really respect Yang's choice to do a lot of, what would you call it, maybe like street casting.
07:16Or just to take people in who are pure and natural in some sense, because they're just who they are.
07:22They're not actors.
07:24The way I would cast it was one of the few elements that I took from my Pusher trilogy,
07:29where I would cast, you know, reality or seek outwards to find more what I found interesting.
07:40Most of the time they were untouched, they were pure, they were original.
07:45People who are really from the different environments, you know, standing actually in front of the real deal.
07:52You have the real, like the people who know the real environments, but it's also a fairy tale where they're a little bit twisted.
08:02And I think that makes it even more interesting than if it had just been one-on, like one-to-one.
08:08I was street casted for Pusher 3.
08:27And then I began to act and there was more of it and I feel like, you know, I found something that I love to do.
08:45The way that he made it, that he made the street cast the people, made that he got something original.
08:52If you play a role that is near the personality that you have, then it's, of course, it's easier for you to play it.
09:02But he was very good at the, when we started, he was really, you know, like, hey, Dan, you know, you don't have to show me all these TV things you have learned, you know.
09:17I want you to be yourself cool and relaxed.
09:22And then after that I was, yeah, you know, I feel good and I liked, I found my character.
09:29And he told me that, he said, hey, Dan, you are good at this shit.
09:34I think young, he was like opening up my eyes and I was like, hey man, maybe I am, maybe he's right, maybe I'm good at this.
09:45So he was like changing my life, yeah.
09:52Since I was a child, I was like fighting for my life, you know, by myself.
09:57Every day I came from school, I would have a lot of bruises in my face.
10:03My pants was destroyed.
10:07But I didn't want to tell my mom so old, so she was, I thought like, I was maybe too wild, you know.
10:15But now 14, 15, 14 years, I was living on the street in the school break.
10:21I didn't want to go out because I knew outside there was standing like a cure of people that want to fight me.
10:32I saw Bruce Lee movie and from that day I knew what I'm going to do.
10:41I do all this kicking and because I saw this on the movie, I exercise every day, you know.
10:48I never think I'm going to be a big movie star.
10:52It's like, it was a dream, you know, it feels good.
10:58Now I can be my own Bruce Lee.
11:01When I met Jason, the only thing I thought, my God, he was built for cinema with that face.
11:15He was like a beautiful version of Quasimodo.
11:19And he had these techniques of fighting and brutality like a, like a panther.
11:27And yet he was gentle and kind like a butterfly.
11:31And that combination already kind of, you can say, he created the character of Mr. Cheng right in front of me.
11:40And I just followed along the way.
11:43I just looked back and then blame, blame myself when I was young.
11:52I've always had an open mindset on putting all my chips on something new.
11:56So, yeah, it's not the first time that I just went out and did something mad that I didn't know anything about,
12:03but I just wanted to go 100% on it.
12:09I got the opportunity to try out playing as an actor with my role, Nicolas.
12:16And at that time, I really did not enjoy where I was.
12:21So I decided to say, fuck it and just go.
12:24Within two weeks or something like that, I've gotten the job and started filming.
12:28So it was a quick decision of just saying yes and just trying it out.
12:46He had that incredible face.
12:48So it was automatically him.
12:51There was enormous amount of locked up emotions that I think could be channeling it very effective.
12:57and inspiring way through creativity, which is certainly what acting is.
13:02It's a creative process.
13:04It's been absolutely incredible.
13:06It's been a very fun experience.
13:08So it's been giving me a lot of good times that I will remember for the rest of my life.
13:13We did have some meetings in the writers' room with some of these actors who had the real life experiences, who could also correct certain scenes.
13:18or dialogues where they would use different words.
13:21where they would use different words.
13:22.
13:27I have no acting experience whatsoever.
13:28It was the second casting.
13:29and she was like, yeah, don't hold back.
13:30And she was like, yeah, don't hold back.
13:31And I was like, yeah.
13:32I have no acting experience whatsoever.
13:33It was the second casting.
13:34And she was like, yeah, don't hold back.
13:35And I was like, are you sure?
13:36And she was like, yeah, just give me all you got.
13:37And she was like, yeah, just give me all you got.
13:38And I was like, all right.
13:39And then she started.
13:40She did some.
13:41She did some.
13:43She did some.
13:44And she was like, yeah.
13:45And then she was like, yeah, don't hold back.
13:46And I was like, are you sure?
13:47And she was like, yeah, just give me all you got.
13:51And I was like, all right.
14:04And then she started.
14:06she started she did so she asked me something and I was like yeah and I was really like shouting my
14:14lungs out and after I looked at her and she was so calm she was like you did good when I read the
14:29menus I think I am I just got that feeling I have to practice what I was not educated like actor I
14:39don't have the the education in this in this branch I am also a single mom to a son so I got that feeling
14:49if okay mice my sample took away and how do I feel so I can you know that the tears can just came out
14:56so I got the feeling that I can play her I think I understand her I made the Negroes first time in
15:09summer 95 it was casting for for pushing we start to talk very open stuff like the street life dope
15:21experience and immigrants medias at this moment it was important for me in my life
15:34I don't thrive on taking a chance on people but I know that if you can come in a situation where
15:54performers that have not a lot of experience with them to let their guards down and be hundred percent
16:01themselves you mostly touch magic my dad is a weird dude he thinks in film he has his work and
16:14he has his family we're a team in a way he was very much dependent on me because otherwise he couldn't
16:20go away and work for ten months and do drive or so it's been like collaboration in a way like how do
16:27we do this do like for instance with only God forgives we moved to Bangkok for six months and
16:33Lola went to school there and like he's very a family oriented guy but you know Liv has just been
16:39reading the scripts and me and my sister have been kind of not really involved with what his work has
16:45been up to so I think he's always used to looking outwards and finding people outside of his family
16:51compared to this time where he kind of looked inward and saw what the family to do you know
16:57even my sister is participating in the show so I think that's also kind of fun little family trip I
17:02just feel like I'm always a part of his work in a way even though I'm not always on the set every
17:09day then the whole developing of the scripts he talked to me about like maybe a character or I read
17:16the scripts I mean it's always nice to film with someone that you're close to and ahead of have a
17:21good relationship with but sometimes I'm like I got this I can do this on my own you know you don't
17:27need to be screaming in my ear but you know it helps with her her anger coming out so I guess it works both
17:33ways I never thought it was gonna be her
18:03it wasn't so much in on my radar but as I had the idea for the character very late in the process we
18:13were almost near the end of shooting and we had there'd been a coffin on set in Nicholas's estate
18:22that I thought was a really cool prop and I kept on bringing it back every time we were shooting there
18:27till one day I was like maybe we should put somebody in the coffin what if he has a sister no it should
18:35be a stepsister then we can have more interpretation because she's actually part of the new world and that
18:43got the ball rolling and so we were casting and I wasn't necessarily getting what I was looking for
18:50outwards until I think Liv said well maybe it's because it's right in front of you if you really
18:57think about it and obviously casting your family members is an intimate process what if it doesn't
19:05work so I tricked her by casting her without her knowing it while she was doing homework because she
19:13was in her finals in high school and he came in one day and since my mom had been helping on the show
19:19I just thought he wanted my help to see an outside view of someone who does have no idea what's going
19:24on I went out to the kitchen I said can you please say these lines and she's like why I said can you
19:31say the goddamn line she's like why I said just say the lines she's like fine I'll say the lines and I
19:38acted out a couple of lines which was Raquel's lines and he was like oh great thanks and I was like
19:43you're welcome and she said it was such conviction and clarity and natural that I was like maybe in a
19:52way I had already created Raquel as a kind of rebellious version of what I had at home which was a 19 year
19:58old daughter and the next day he was like well you know I really liked you for the part would you want
20:04to play her and I was like sure why not see what happens
20:09I'm a fetish personality I like fetish I like detail I like attention to detail and fashion is part
20:28of that fashion is also you know revolutionary fashion is an extension fashion is a mirror into
20:36who you are yeah you knew is very much wearing sort of a suit sort of an armor for her Nicholas was
20:51very clear from the beginning that he wants to track suit it's something everyone is familiar with
20:55it's armor in a way it's a it's a piece of utility clothing it's um built to last built to be durable
21:02built to withstand the elements but mainly the protective aspect of it I thought was very
21:09interesting I think I took a few more risks or a lot more risks this time because it's very diverse
21:14generally just researching women throughout history who have in some ways
21:20been fighting on on the path of right if you like almost like it's a kind of quest so I found looking
21:31at Joan of Arc quite quite helpful and how she looked with the short hair and the armor that she
21:37wore and tried to adapt that into sportswear or something that could also be perceived in a in a
21:45contemporary situation like a coat or a puffer vest or a tracksuit
22:06normally we didn't plan very much it was very much working as process developing as the script would
22:14develop and change we would adjust we ended up doing a big flower makeup for a dream sequence that
22:22Miu had we've been shooting in this mansion house and there was all these beautiful flowers that we
22:29used on set and the set designer was taking them away and they were standing outside and I just thought
22:36do you mind if I kind of grab some of these flowers I like to I don't know what I'm gonna use them for but
22:42I'm just gonna put them in my William Blake book then one day and Nicholas asked me can you make Miu into
22:50some sort of demon she's having this dream sequence and she's standing up against this wallpaper with
22:58flowers and flowers maybe you can be inspired by that
23:00maybe you can be inspired by that
23:01maybe you can be inspired by that
23:05everyone knows he's obsessed with movies I don't think that's a secret and his brain just never
23:24stops so when we're in the car and even on set he plays music and he plays different music to get
23:29different feelings out of the different characters and I think music is a big part of him relaxing and
23:34being able to think the music is you know heals and it inspires by choosing a piece of music for a
23:42specific day or a scene not just helps the actors but it helps the crew it helps the cameraman it helps the
23:50designers it helps the makeup it helps everyone I can I could also sense that sometimes if I if I would lose it then
24:01Yang would just know that he has to play a song to remind those senses he quickly found out that I'm very fond of
24:12classical music so we've been listening to quite a lot of classical music to set me in a mood and
24:17I've react quite a lot to music and so that's been very helpful to like set me in a in a very grim mood
24:25since it's my first acting job it was fairly new to me but I actually really like it now I don't think I can do without it
24:33because it kind of I mean it depends what you play but it you know kind of gets different feelings out in you
24:39so we would play a lot of music and it would either be kind of a horror themed music or if it was like a sad scene or
24:49something else to kind of easier to get in the mood to like make your feelings move a little bit
24:56you know
25:07Nicholas is good at painting your picture before you start the music and sometimes he'll have two things that
25:14are at odds with each other and that's exciting because something happens there he can like he can
25:20mention a group and then a movie and these two things have nothing to do with each other
25:26you get something that's never heard before we don't score characters we do it by shapes and colors
25:35you score the darkness and you score the light and sometimes you score a little light in the darkness
25:41whenever I'm done with something I exercise it from my existence and it kind of no longer really
26:06exists anymore it's now in the hands of billions of people on the internet to react to
26:36you
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