Bleeder is a 1999 Danish crimedrama film written and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. The film was successful in Denmark, but did not live up to the success of Refn's previous film Pusher.
Plot
Leo and Lenny are two friends living in Nørrebro, a working-class neighborhood in Copenhagen. Leo lives in a rundown apartment with his girlfriend Louise. Lenny is a shy film buff who works at a video store he owns with Leo's mutual friend Kitjo, renting out arthouse and pornographic films. Lenny asks Lea, a girl who works in a local grill bar, to see a movie with him, but he chickens out when he sees her at the theatre. He spends most of his time both at home and at work watching films.
When Leo finds out that Louise is pregnant and wants to keep the baby, he becomes increasingly aggressive. After witnessing a beating at a club, he gets himself a gun. During an initially normal movie night, Leo pulls a gun on Lenny and Kitjo. Leo berates Lenny for his lifestyle and expresses his disdain for his own life, feeling trapped in a dead end. In despair, Leo hits Louise and is threatened by her brother Louis. When he hits her again, Louise loses the baby. Louis takes a gruesome revenge by injecting HIV infected blood into Leo's body. He retaliates in an equally gruesome manner, shooting Louis in the stomach, then shooting off his own hand and letting the blood drip into Louis' wound. Leo then commits suicide.
Kitjo brings Lenny to Leo's funeral, but Lenny cannot bring himself to go. Lenny casually tells Kitjo that he has been offered a job in another store but does not think he will accept as he would have to change his routine. Lenny seeks up Lea again. They both seem to have trouble communicating. Lenny asks Lea out a second time; the final image of the film shows them alone in the grill bar, thus ending the film on a hopeful note.
Cast
Bleeder features a relatively small ensemble cast, and most of the actors, except Corfixen and Andersson, previously starred in Refn's debut film Pusher. Jensen only had a small role in Pusher; his role in Bleeder is more developed.
Music is used heavily throughout the entire film. The soundtrack features many Danish artists, including Peter Peter, Jesper Binzer, Lovebites and Düreforsög.
