"Martin: Society's falling. It's all collapsing around us.
Viggo: Soon our cities will be washed away by floods. Buried in sand. Burned to the ground. That's why you found me"
This is the first time I'm going to review a series, therefore I will try to do my best.
Nicolas Winding Refn is one of my favorite directors. He is a polarizing person, which means he has many loyal fans and many detractors. This usually happens because his style is not for everybody. His movies have many symbolisms, slow-driven narrative, and silent main characters, usually accompanied by synth music and beautiful neon visuals. For some, he is an auteur who masterfully crafts his movies and for others a pretentious prick who has a big ego and overcomplicates things just to sound and look deep. For me it's a bit of both, however I am more on his side.
Too Old To Die Young is the first series made by this danish director and was released on Amazon on June 14, 2019. The series is comprised in ten episodes (or volumes) that last roughly 13 hours in total. Every episode lasts approximately an hour and a half and are named after the Major Arcana tarot cards as it follows:
- Volume 1: The Devil
- Volume 2: The Lovers
- Volume 3: The Hermit
- Volume 4: The Tower
- Volume 5: The Fool
- Volume 6: The High Priestess
- Volume 7: The Magician
- Volume 8: The Hanged Man
- Volume 9: The Empress
- Volume 10: The World
TOTDY tells the story of police officer Martin Jones (Miles Teller), whom, after his partner is killed by a Mexican cartel, embarks on a dark journey involving hit men, yakuzas, gangsters, rapists, drug dealers, pedophiles, vigilantes and even higher beings. The series mixes the worst of the worst in an attempt to show the evil side of humanity.
Martin is a reserved person. A character who rarely speaks or express emotion (usual in Refn's characters). He has a relationship with an underaged girl while he is almost thirty, and is also a corrupt cop, which means he is not our usual protagonist. A flawed person that, after a series of twists and turns becomes a cold-blooded vigilante looking to bring some sense of justice into the world.
Janey Carter (Nell Tiger Free) is Martin's underaged girlfriend. She met him after his mother's death during an ongoing investigation. She is naive, since she is still just a teenager, and deeply misses her mother. Janey lives with her father (William Baldwin), a very "unusual" individual to say the least.
Jesús Rojas (Augusto Aguilera) is the new leader of a Mexican drug cartel. He is a cruel and relentless person who doesn’t care who gets in his way. Physically, he looks like a greek statue and psychologically, he is a man with an Oedipus Rex complex. A character that deeply misses his mother too and has a thirst for power so great that is willing to command his men to bring hell on earth to become a king, which is a title he thinks he rightfully deserves.
Yaritza (Cristina Rodlo), also known as La Alta Sacerdotisa de La Muerte (The High Priestess of Death), is Jesús’ girlfriend. She is even crueler than Jesús. She resembles a female version of Driver from Drive. She is an avatar of death and brings vengeance to all the men who rape and kill women. A force of nature made woman (or is the other way around?). If Jesús is a king in the making, Yaritza is the queen he needs.
Viggo Larsen (John Hawkes), a one-eyed man dying from cancer and ex-FBI turned vigilante. Viggo is a man who loves his mother, but also loves killing pedophiles. As an ex-FBI his sense of justice is strong and since his death is near, he is going to take a few sinners with him along the way. Viggo sees in Martin a worthy successor that will follow in his steps once he’s gone. He also resembles a previous character that has appeared in at least three previous Refn’s films: The one-eyed character who seems to be God righting wrongs by using his wrath as a weapon against evil men.
Diana DeYoung (Jena Malone), Viggo’s friend and social worker. She is in touch with higher beings and also wants to be rid of the evil that plagues this world. She helps Viggo find sex offenders to murder and brings guidance to our two vigilantes.
In TOTDY there are many themes, which are going to create a great debate. There are some elements from surrealism and the supernatural, since there is some really weird shit going on and it reminds me of Twin Peaks (David Lynch). There are aliens, gods or higher beings running the show and Refn doesn't hold any punches in throwing all of these concepts.
In addition, feminism is another topic the show tackles through Yaritza's persona. Men in this show are wicked and women are hurt, raped and killed, but La Alta Sacerdotisa de la Muerte is here to stop them. The oppressed are no longer oppressed and the hunted become the hunter (or huntress?).
Moreover, there are some references to Trump's presidency and how modern society is going to collapse rather sooner than later. A manifesto about our cruel nature, our need of survival and how all the bad things we do as a race is going to doom us.
Also, themes of vigilantism, redemption and hypocrisy go hand-in-hand, since Martin tries to change the world by murdering offenders, but he has a relationship with a minor. He breaks the law and kills who he deems worthy of his justice, but fails to see the flaws in himself. A very complex character that was played really well by Teller. Props to him.
Narratively speaking the series is slow. For the ones accostumed to faster narratives the series might be boring, since it takes a lot of patience to keep going, but once the viewer gets used to it they are on a wild ride. Refn seems to believe that people are so used to watching fast-paced things that sometimes comtemplation and slow-driven stories are way better for a world that is so immersed in consumerism and express stuff.
The cinematography in TOTDY is impeccable, and we have to consider that Refn is colorblind, so he put a lot of trust into the people he works with. Everything is perfectly placed and it follows the same aesthetic present in previous Refn's works such as Drive, Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon. Every scene is beautiful to look at, even if what we see is something disturbing or violent. Each shot can be a wallpaper, a painting or a canvas.
The soundtrack present in the series also recalls previous Refn's movies. The electronic music made by composer Cliff Martínez is amazing as usual, and goes perfectly with the bleak world Refn and Brubaker have created. Moreover, the sounds when people die are brutally painful; you can feel the pain they go through.
Regarding the things I did not enjoy, it was the previously mentioned slow-driven narrative. I am used to slow, but not THIS slow. Moreover, the spanish was too low even with the speakers on full volume. I tried with the headphones on and it was the same, and I am a native spanish speaker. Another thing that I have mixed feelings about were the two final episodes. They were written by Refn and Halley Gross (Westworld) and it really showed a difference. You can finish the first eight episodes and the story can come full circle, so I think that perhaps the last two could have been potential ideas for a second season, which we are not going to get sadly. However, according to Refn you can watch TOTDY in any order. As a fun fact, he showed episodes four and five at Cannes, and I think that that is just further proof that he doesn't give a single fuck if we watch the series or not, and only wants to display his work as every artist.
All in all, Too Old To Die Young is a violent, beautiful, surreal and interesting series. It is not for everybody, but what Refn's work is? If you want something fresh and original you can watch this series, it doesn't offer a perfect product, but there are some really great concepts and ideas to think about. We are cursed, but at least we have good movies and series to watch until the end of everything arrives.
Best Episode:
Volume 5: The Fool
PS: Do not forget that Hideo Kojima appears on the series as a yakuza. Really fun!
- Volume 1: The Devil
- Volume 2: The Lovers
- Volume 3: The Hermit
- Volume 4: The Tower
- Volume 5: The Fool
- Volume 6: The High Priestess
- Volume 7: The Magician
- Volume 8: The Hanged Man
- Volume 9: The Empress
- Volume 10: The World
TOTDY tells the story of police officer Martin Jones (Miles Teller), whom, after his partner is killed by a Mexican cartel, embarks on a dark journey involving hit men, yakuzas, gangsters, rapists, drug dealers, pedophiles, vigilantes and even higher beings. The series mixes the worst of the worst in an attempt to show the evil side of humanity.
Martin is a reserved person. A character who rarely speaks or express emotion (usual in Refn's characters). He has a relationship with an underaged girl while he is almost thirty, and is also a corrupt cop, which means he is not our usual protagonist. A flawed person that, after a series of twists and turns becomes a cold-blooded vigilante looking to bring some sense of justice into the world.
Janey Carter (Nell Tiger Free) is Martin's underaged girlfriend. She met him after his mother's death during an ongoing investigation. She is naive, since she is still just a teenager, and deeply misses her mother. Janey lives with her father (William Baldwin), a very "unusual" individual to say the least.
Jesús Rojas (Augusto Aguilera) is the new leader of a Mexican drug cartel. He is a cruel and relentless person who doesn’t care who gets in his way. Physically, he looks like a greek statue and psychologically, he is a man with an Oedipus Rex complex. A character that deeply misses his mother too and has a thirst for power so great that is willing to command his men to bring hell on earth to become a king, which is a title he thinks he rightfully deserves.
Yaritza (Cristina Rodlo), also known as La Alta Sacerdotisa de La Muerte (The High Priestess of Death), is Jesús’ girlfriend. She is even crueler than Jesús. She resembles a female version of Driver from Drive. She is an avatar of death and brings vengeance to all the men who rape and kill women. A force of nature made woman (or is the other way around?). If Jesús is a king in the making, Yaritza is the queen he needs.
Viggo Larsen (John Hawkes), a one-eyed man dying from cancer and ex-FBI turned vigilante. Viggo is a man who loves his mother, but also loves killing pedophiles. As an ex-FBI his sense of justice is strong and since his death is near, he is going to take a few sinners with him along the way. Viggo sees in Martin a worthy successor that will follow in his steps once he’s gone. He also resembles a previous character that has appeared in at least three previous Refn’s films: The one-eyed character who seems to be God righting wrongs by using his wrath as a weapon against evil men.
Diana DeYoung (Jena Malone), Viggo’s friend and social worker. She is in touch with higher beings and also wants to be rid of the evil that plagues this world. She helps Viggo find sex offenders to murder and brings guidance to our two vigilantes.
In TOTDY there are many themes, which are going to create a great debate. There are some elements from surrealism and the supernatural, since there is some really weird shit going on and it reminds me of Twin Peaks (David Lynch). There are aliens, gods or higher beings running the show and Refn doesn't hold any punches in throwing all of these concepts.
Moreover, there are some references to Trump's presidency and how modern society is going to collapse rather sooner than later. A manifesto about our cruel nature, our need of survival and how all the bad things we do as a race is going to doom us.
Also, themes of vigilantism, redemption and hypocrisy go hand-in-hand, since Martin tries to change the world by murdering offenders, but he has a relationship with a minor. He breaks the law and kills who he deems worthy of his justice, but fails to see the flaws in himself. A very complex character that was played really well by Teller. Props to him.
Narratively speaking the series is slow. For the ones accostumed to faster narratives the series might be boring, since it takes a lot of patience to keep going, but once the viewer gets used to it they are on a wild ride. Refn seems to believe that people are so used to watching fast-paced things that sometimes comtemplation and slow-driven stories are way better for a world that is so immersed in consumerism and express stuff.
The cinematography in TOTDY is impeccable, and we have to consider that Refn is colorblind, so he put a lot of trust into the people he works with. Everything is perfectly placed and it follows the same aesthetic present in previous Refn's works such as Drive, Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon. Every scene is beautiful to look at, even if what we see is something disturbing or violent. Each shot can be a wallpaper, a painting or a canvas.
The soundtrack present in the series also recalls previous Refn's movies. The electronic music made by composer Cliff Martínez is amazing as usual, and goes perfectly with the bleak world Refn and Brubaker have created. Moreover, the sounds when people die are brutally painful; you can feel the pain they go through.
Regarding the things I did not enjoy, it was the previously mentioned slow-driven narrative. I am used to slow, but not THIS slow. Moreover, the spanish was too low even with the speakers on full volume. I tried with the headphones on and it was the same, and I am a native spanish speaker. Another thing that I have mixed feelings about were the two final episodes. They were written by Refn and Halley Gross (Westworld) and it really showed a difference. You can finish the first eight episodes and the story can come full circle, so I think that perhaps the last two could have been potential ideas for a second season, which we are not going to get sadly. However, according to Refn you can watch TOTDY in any order. As a fun fact, he showed episodes four and five at Cannes, and I think that that is just further proof that he doesn't give a single fuck if we watch the series or not, and only wants to display his work as every artist.
All in all, Too Old To Die Young is a violent, beautiful, surreal and interesting series. It is not for everybody, but what Refn's work is? If you want something fresh and original you can watch this series, it doesn't offer a perfect product, but there are some really great concepts and ideas to think about. We are cursed, but at least we have good movies and series to watch until the end of everything arrives.
Best Episode:
Volume 5: The Fool
PS: Do not forget that Hideo Kojima appears on the series as a yakuza. Really fun!
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