Movie Reviews – Too Old to Die Young Series
Too Old to Die Young – A 13 Hours Long Film Duration Series. The experience of watching this miniseries is indeed like watching a film rather than a series.
I need to emphasize that Too Old to Die Young is a miniseries with 10 episodes that lasts for 13 hours. However, Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) as the creator and director said that this is a film that lasts for 13 hours. And I think I liveklik77 agree.
I actually don’t know where to start because I’ve never had an experience like this when watching Too Old to Die Young. The word “strange” doesn’t seem right for it, and neither does the word “eccentric”. Why don’t we just call it “unique”? Starting from the characters, duration, to the storyline, you could say this is a new experience for me to explore.
At first, this miniseries tells the story of a dirty cop named Martin Jones (Miles Teller). He is a cop who also works as a hitman for a local gang led by Damian (Babs Olusanmokun). It seems that Martin’s goal is to kill criminals who have committed crimes and have been decided to end their lives.
It doesn’t take long for Martin to have to deal with a cartel member named Jesus Rojas (Augusto Aguilera) because he killed his mother and he fell into the dark world of crime. Martin’s life is also very messy, where in his office when he was a detective, he had a boss who shouted “Fascism! Fascism!”, then met a former officer named Viggo (John Hawkes) and decided to finish off criminals together. Oh, and he also dated a schoolgirl named Janey Carter (Nell Tiger Free) and met the yakuza where one of its members was played by Hideo Kojima, the creator of Death Stranding and Metal Gear.
Before watching, I could guess what I could expect. Very beautiful visuals, characters who are silent for minutes, a strange story, and little dialogue. Why? Because Nicolas Winding Refn. Starting from his films Valhalla Rising, Drive, to Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon, all have these similarities. And Too Old to Die Young is no different. It’s just that the duration is longer than the previous film, so this miniseries really tests your endurance to survive watching each bandarlive episode.
That’s right. Let’s take the main character named Martin for example. Played by Miles, Martin’s character is very mute and often passive when communicating with his interlocutor. He also rarely expresses his face, which often makes his character flat. However, even though an expressionless face seems boring and bland, every action he takes is often shocking and surprising, such as in a scene where he suddenly kills a porn filmmaker and is chased by his brother until morning.
And just like Only God Forgives, you can’t digest Too Old to Die Young raw. It has many themes, and you can interpret each scene according to your imagination. Like in the episode “The Empress” where Viggo with every bullet destroys the camp and kills every resident consisting of rapists and pedophiles. The victims he killed also wore American flag patterned clothes. Viggo himself also believes that the afterlife will come and dark times will come to us. This could refer to Nicolas Refn’s response to the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, because he said Trump helped shape this miniseries to be darker. Every viewer is free to interpret every scene in Too Old to Die Young and that’s what’s actually very interesting.
Does that mean Nicolas Winding Refn is lazy to make it and let the audience think? Maybe. Do I sometimes get bored watching a very quiet and long scene? Yes. But I’m also still interested in seeing what happens next and even though I feel bored, I still can’t stop watching this miniseries.
Nicolas is a filmmaker who likes to tell his story through visuals, through images, through his silent and still art. He believes that silence is the best voice to tell a story. Therefore, the visuals produced by Too Old to Die Young are very beautiful. Every scene during the 13 hours in the miniseries is very beautiful, starting from the use of neon lights that look aesthetic, sunlight that strengthens the atmosphere, and the symmetrical position of the characters and background.
Then Too Old to Die Young aired on Prime Video and streaming services have indeed become the right playground for Nicolas Refn because of the freedom it offers. That’s why if you watch, you can see that the duration of each episode varies, where the first episode is 90 minutes long and the last episode is 30 minutes long. With this freedom, he can determine the momentum.