Only God Forgives

Nicolas Winding Refn, 2013


3/5

Set in Bangkok, Refn's followup to Drive once again features Ryan Gosling in the lead. Gosling plays Julian, gangster & fight club owner. Julian gets news that his brother Billy has been killed. Julian's mother arrives in Thailand eager for revenge, while the renegade cop who was responsible for the death is on their heels the entire time.

First off, it's a wonderfully shot film. In fact, there's not one bad shot in the entire picture. The glowing of red through the beginning, the scenes with the very neon-like aesthetic. It paints Bangkok in a way that's very much like the way Gaspar Noe painted Tokyo in Enter the Void. The stunning look of the Karaoke bars are similar to the scenes in Hanna where the villain is whistling the catchy "The Devil is in the Details. There's a disconcerting element to the streetscape, but it's very easy on the eyes.

The film combines the sudden disturbing elements one would come to expect from Refn along with some of the abstract characteristics of a David Lynch picture.  Refn always has a clever use of sound. The score to this film is much more immersed than the electro-pop soundtrack in Drive. There's certainly no Kavinsky to be heard here. Refn certainly finds new ways to end human lives. Refn works his craft as the body count rises.

Gosling's character Julian is quiet, reserved (surprised?). The lack of dialogue is very much similar to his role in Drive, but there's certainly some distinction here. Any heart that his character had in Drive is absent in this piece. Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm), the blade-wielding retired cop, could go down as one of the more memorable villains in cinema. His renegade-like attitude is very similar to fellow cop Stansfield (Gary Oldman) in Leon: The Professional. Both are cold and lack hesitation to slaughter at will. Both lack the moral structure one would expect from a man of the law. When you first see Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas), Julian's mother, it further constructs his past. And it ain't pretty. Her vitriolic tongue spits out whatever venom is on the surface and there's no hesitation. It's quite clear that the only affection she had was really spent on his brother Billy.

It's a controversial piece. Rumors of booing as Cannes started circulating, along with rumors of people vomiting during some of the scenes. Refn is a true auteur, unaffected by public opinion. He appeared to make a film here for himself, and you can come along for the ride but he doesn't care much if you enjoy it. There's something to this film. At times hard to watch, but for the right reasons. Some people may be hungry for more story, and it's a fair argument. While some of the moments are hard to watch, there's still a very adhesive quality to the film.

Fear X

Nicolas Winding Refn, 2003


2/5

          Harry Cain (John Turturro) is a passive mall security guard who is suffering through the loss of his wife, who was murdered in the parking garage of the very mall he is employed at. When he returns home from his security shift, he spends his lonely nights scouring through hours of mall surveillance videos trying to find any clue that may lead him to the person responsible.
          Refn's films are usually a feast for the eyes, but this one is a feast for the eyelids. It's stripped of his common qualities: avant-garde structure, mysterious story-line, pronounced musical score and stylistic visual elements. Instead, this film is audibly bleak, intellectually dull, scenically bleak, and visually empty. It almost feels as if it would better be served as a short rather than a feature film. Refn teases you with a couple of throwaway visualizations that end up looking like primitive circa-1990 lava lamp screen-savers and aren't backed by story. I will always welcome dream sequences with Refn, but in Fear X they just didn't fit in well. Scenically, the film has the same aesthetics as Fargo without any of the flavor. The mediocre writing is evident, and seen early. The story moves at a snail's pace in the beginning, teasing you with build-up of tension in one particular scene (neighbor's house), and never really picks itself up. John Turturro, who is always impressive, feels one-dimensional. It's hard to buy the heavy heart when a cop is questioning the depths of his love for his late wife and he just stares into space without getting on the defensive. Sure, he's a pacifist  I get it. But he seemed to be on the edge at that very moment. Refn got Larry Smith (The Shining) on board for photography, Turturro as the lead (who SHOULD have pulled some serious weight, right?)...momentum should have been created, but it just wasn't. I wonder if this was the result that Refn saw prior to filming. For some reason I don't think so.

Drive

Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011

5/5

If "Heat" and "Taxi Driver" had a baby, it would be Drive. This had everything that I want in a film. It is very stylistic, dark/disturbing at times, and had an amazing soundtrack. The limited dialogue helped to maintain a hypnotic effect. A lot of people have called this an Art-house Noir. Considering there was quite a bit of star-power in the cast, it was made on a relatively small budget of $15M. Gosling evidently hand-picked Refn to direct Drive after Neil Marshall pulled out. Gosling has become one of my favorite actors, and I think Refn figured out a way to really let Gosling play to his strengths - even if in this case it is a lot of standing around, looking cool with a toothpick in his mouth. I loved seeing Albert Brooks playing the antagonist (were his eyebrows shaved?) and I now have a crush on Carey Mulligan after seeing this and I am interested in seeing some of her other work. My only criticism of the film is I wonder if the storyline with purchasing the race car was even necessary - it seemed confusing but I guess I am willing to let that go. Refn's films seem to be very consistent in the sense that they are very heavily stylized, have spontaneous gore and very pronounced scores/soundtracks. Refn is definitely the kind of director I would want to have a beer with. Overall, its probably my favorite film of 2011.