Drive-Director Nicolas Winding Refn has come under fire for allegedly killing a pig for his new Netflix series. The Danish filmmaker broke through in Hollywood for the first time with his film Bronson from 2008.
Refn is also known for his several collaborations with Ryan Gosling, under which Drive from 2011 and Only God Forgives from 2013. Now the filmmaker is under fire for allegedly killing a pig during the production of his untitled Danish Netflix series, according to a PETA press release.
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A whistleblower informed the animal rights organization about the alleged incident, and the group then sent a letter to Netflix’s co-CEO Reed Hastings with the request to cut the specific scene from the show. Police are currently investigating the matter, as the Danish Animal Welfare Act prohibits animals from experiencing significant discomfort on film sets.
PETA had this to say about the case: “Killing a sentient being and abusing that death for entertainment is unacceptable and may be illegal. No animal should suffer or die for human entertainment, and PETA is calling on Netflix to stop all footage that depicts the needless, meaningless slaughter of this pig could lie on the floor of the cutting room.”
Nicholas Winding Refn
Refn’s movies, especially Drive, have shown graphic and horrific violence before, but he’s never gone as far as actually harming people or animals for entertainment. According to many movie buffs, part of the appeal of filmmaking is its illusion, and showing an actual death on screen goes against that ideal.
In the United States, movies regularly get a “No Animals Were Harmed” disclaimer to assure the public that all precautions have been taken. The director has no history of harming animals in his previous work, but it remains to be seen what will become of these recent accusations.
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