Is Nicolas Winding Refn’s Amazon show an indulgence too far?
The Drive director’s 13-hour LA-set noir Too Old to Die Young has divided critics but the extended format has allowed him to create something undeniably striking
Television is a writer’s medium, while cinema is a director’s one. So goes the old maxim, and for years it was more or less true: episodic TV directors were regarded largely as journeymen, keeping things running smoothly and crisply with minimal formal fuss, while writers absorbed more of the acclaim when a series struck gold. Rarely in TV criticism did you read much reference to directorial style or mise-en-scène, while expansive breakdowns of plotting and character arcs served such a demand that television recapping became a review form in itself. After all, the screens were small and square, the frame fixated on actors’ faces: how artistically inventive could directors be?
Related: Too Old to Die Young review – Nicolas Winding Refn’s dead-eyed LA nightmare