Refns next project - "Only God Forgives"

[drizzle]

[Employee]

[Panama]

Leak Leak Leak

[perlman]

Saw it today, and not sure how I feel about it. Refn definitely has control of the medium. And it looked great. The use of red and blue and black was always interesting to look at. It makes sense that he said it was sort of a sequel to Valhalla Rising.

The part where "God" was stabbing the dude in mad different ways, and said, "You had a real opportunity here." Was one of the most bleakly hilarious things I've seen in a long time.

It really was a tribute to jarwadowsky in every way. So that was cool.

The audience I saw it with was strangely fitting. For some reason this woman brought a retarded kid in a wheel chair. He kept screaming random shit throughout the whole movie. "Incest! Rape!" And this old black dude a few seats down from me kept nodding off and snoring. Eventually he reached a stage of such deep slumber that he fell out of his chair. He got up all embarrassed, then stormed out of the theater.

Thought the Thai title was cool as well.

[perlman]

If "Drive" is Refn's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", then "Only God Forgives" is his "Yeezus"

[360]

Best of comedy of the year.

[Dat_Triflin_Ass_Dude]

If "Drive" is Refn's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", then "Only God Forgives" is his "Yeezus"

Yep. Was going to post something along those lines.

[Comedy Quaddafi]

Don't bother if you guys are going to watch it on your laptops.

[perlman]

Did the tint of the lights keep changing in subtle ways or was that just in my theater?

[360]

it definitely kept changing.

Also, the cop(if that's what you can call him, he was more like a contemporary asian Judge Dread with a bad-ass wakazashi type of blade) was easily the best part of this movie. He made it worth watching.

[Employee]

Spoilers at the link:

http://observer.com/2013/07/unforgivabl ... ever-made/

Unforgivable: Only God Forgives Is One of the Worst Movies Ever Made

Gruesomely grotesque and pathologically pretentious, a diabolical horror called Only God Forgives may not be the worst movie ever made, but it is unquestionably in the top five.

Ultra-violent, demented, plotless, creepy, meat-headed and boring, this is nothing more than a depraved travesty of abstract expression that wastes the film it’s printed on. Get to the point, you say. What is it about? Absolutely nothing, really.

This hag is played by none other than Kristin Scott Thomas, who may think she’s slumming, but instead trashes a big chunk of her otherwise respectable career.

What on earth is going on here? Was Drive a fluke, or is Mr. Refn just another no-talent from the Lars von Trier school of Something Rotten in Denmark flummery? How many times will audiences pay to watch Ryan Gosling’s face black, battered and bleeding like a hamburger run over by a motorcycle? Why does he keep trying to disfigure himself to make his fans retch? Who does he think he is? Brad Pitt? What is he doing in this dung heap at the top of his career, giving a performance that makes roadkill look like Road Runner? Doesn’t he have an agent? Have they all lost total control of their tiny little minds? Without subtext, memorable imagery beyond blood-splattered graffiti, or any form of coherent narrative, Only God Forgives (a title that makes even less sense than the jabber that goes with it) replaces suspense with endless confusion about the meaning of continuity. Part schlockfest, part campy fairy tale, this is a movie that begs you to bring your own barf bag.

In Cannes, one wag described it as “cinematic defecation” in print. I’d like to top that one, but as James Agee used to say, I know when I’m licked.

[Comedy Quaddafi]

Refn is GOAT for how much his awesome films piss off people who suck at watching movies

[samdoom]

visually amazing but plot (or lack thereof) and dialogue was mediocre. It was entertaining to a certain extent but didn't live up to any sort of potential. This flick could have been way better than it was.

[drizzle]

wasn't sure how I felt about it while watching, but the more I think about it the more I like it

If you go in expecting a follow-up to Drive, or even using Drive as any kind of reference point for what happens here, you will be intensely disappointed. The two have the same director, same star, somewhat similar visual approach (even more saturated here) - that's about it. Refn has no interest in creating a conventional crime story in any sense, or in making a fight/action movie. If you thought Drive was slow and needed more action and that was a problem, don't even bother with this. Similarly, don't bother if any part of you actively wants/expects a movie about a silent badass avenging his brother and brooding in artistically composed settings. This aint that kind of party at all.

Valhalla Rising is definitely much closer, although I'd say OGF is still very much it's own beast. Valhalla fully embraced the spirit of its primitive setting and approached the violence with certain gusto. It was never pretty but there was an almost palpable enthusiasm to all the head cracking. There's not much of that here. Not sure if I'm just jaded, but to me the reports of pervasive grizzly OTT gore in this movie are wildly overblown. There are a few truly gruesome shots, but by enlarge the camera actually holds back a lot. Much of the worst happens off screen. And OGF often seems to lament the violence it does show, even when it's stylized. It treats the destruction as a regrettable act, a sin that must be atoned for. That's kinda the point of the whole thing.

This is an exercise in abstraction, an art movie through and through. I think the story is deeper and more nuanced than most casual viewers will realize, especially because there is almost no exposition and certain crucial details about the characters are only implied, subtly at that. The real antagonist is on screen throughout but isn't revealed as such until the final minutes, although in retrospect the movie hints at it all along. Gosling's character initially seems even more of a cipher than The Driver, to the point where I started thinking there wasn't enough on screen to consider him as a properly formed character at all. Then as things progress you start to realize this guy has a whole world of really dark and crazy shit tearing him apart inside. None of this is ever explained explicitly. Even the final sequence, which is meant to confirm it all does so in the most abstract way possible. You only see the end result of the character's emotional arc, his motivation and the process that led him there are only hinted at.

There's definitely a Jodorowsky influence, albeit it seems more spiritual than directly artistic (according to Refn the movie is dedicated to him because the two are friends irl.) But surrealism in general is obviously the driving force here, Seijun Suzuki and Lynch and Bunuel came to mind, and some moments of Kubrick at his most weird (and symmetrical). A few other comparisons could likely be made if I think harder. The point is that this isn't a conventional narrative told in a straightforward way, so trying to rank like that would be a mistake. You have to accept it for what it is.

[samdoom]

Drizz,

I get what you're saying but if the thesis of your multiple paragraphs is simply "enjoy it for what it is" the rest of the post seems like the words of a Refn apologist. I'm a Refn fan and I watched the movie the first night it was available on Video On Demand. That being said, I think most people sit down to watch a movie to be entertained, so giving a preface on how to watch the movie is arbitrary for most viewers.

Where do you think this ranks among his other films? I know his skillset wasn't fully developed back when he did the original 3 pushers but I thought all of them and Drive were more enjoyable. Bronson was ok but I think its a bit overrated. Haven't seen VR yet.

[drizzle]

Drizz,

I get what you're saying but if the thesis of your multiple paragraphs is simply "enjoy it for what it is" the rest of the post seems like the words of a Refn apologist. I'm a Refn fan and I watched the movie the first night it was available on Video On Demand. That being said, I think most people sit down to watch a movie to be entertained, so giving a preface on how to watch the movie is arbitrary for most viewers.

Where do you think this ranks among his other films? I know his skillset wasn't fully developed back when he did the original 3 pushers but I thought all of them and Drive were more enjoyable. Bronson was ok but I think its a bit overrated. Haven't seen VR yet.

That's not my thesis, if that how it came off then either I made the wrong impression or you misunderstood what I meant. Note that I didn't actually write the word 'enjoy' there, I wrote 'accept', which makes for a big difference. I wrote that to underscore the sentence before it, to say that you have try to parse the movie on its own terms - as a dense and generally inaccessible and very self consciously 'artsy' experiment.

I'm not trying to apologize for Refn at all, I don't think the movie needs an apology. It's not perfect, there are flaws and Refn is very much up his own ass here for the entire running time. The movie is purposefully confounding and difficult. A few things verge on self-parody or just don't work. But despite all that I feel it succeeds, at least in terms of telling the story it wants to tell, in a way it wanted to tell it. I like movies like this, so I enjoyed it.

I'm also not trying to teach anybody on how to watch a movie. The bulk of my post isn't even about that. I'm only talking about what I saw on screen, as compared to how the movie was marketed and what a lot of the viewers seem to expect from it (eg Drive 2.0, or in the very least something much more linear and 'easier').

As far as where it ranks, that's hard to say 3 days after watching it. Drive is still my favorite, I would easily agree that it's far more enjoyable in terms of conventional entertainment value, but it's also a very different and much 'safer' movie. I probably like Bronson and VR about the same as OGF, but each has their own strengths and it's hard to rank them against each other. The Pusher movies are overrated imo, they're solid competent thrillers but not much more. He's come a long way since then, his last 4 are infinitely more interesting.

[AWAE]

Refn is GOAT for how much his awesome films piss off people who suck at watching movies

best movie i've seen in years

[Comedy Quaddafi]

Refn is GOAT for how much his awesome films piss off people who suck at watching movies

best movie i've seen in years

Refn has been pretty open about his intentions with this films and the themes and symbolism, in case anyone cares I'm sure there's plenty of interviews where he talks about this at length (I saw a 30 minute interview on Bork-TV where he more or less explains everything).

Briefly put: He says its a story about a man searching God (Ryan) who meets a man that thinks he is God (Thai cop). It plays almost like a Greek tragedy.

[Truth.]

this was awesome, not Drive awesome but still a very cool flick

police chief was pretty amazing and main reason to watch this

didn't know Gosling wasn't the first choice for the lead but hopefully the do another one together where he plays the same type of character in these two movies to finish off the silent psycho trilogy

will be picking up the bluray

[drizzle]

where did you see Goz wasn't first choice?

Refn was at the screening I saw for a Q&A and said he always had him in mind for this.

[Truth.]

nope Luke Evans dropped out, Ryan stepped in

[drizzle]

Interesting. At the Q&A he said he originally pitched this as more traditional MA/action movie, even though he had no interest in making the kind of movie he was pitching. He claims it was just a con to get money to film a movie in Bangkok. I think this happened before Drive was even made. So at some point Evans was probably attached to that first idea, then Refn met Goz and the epic bromance flourished and all that

[Tweak Da Leak]

Refn moved into the Terrance Malick territory on my list with this one.

[Employee]

I didn't know this is On Demand if you're 'bout that XFINITY life. Going in on this tonight (nh?).

[drizzle]

I didn't know this is On Demand if you're 'bout that XFINITY life. Going in on this tonight (nh?).

dude don't

CQ is right, you need to see this in the theater. At least the first time. Shit is too beautiful not too. Much like you can't appreciate the full majesty of Cage At Burger King when it's confined to a mere 100x100, even when you know it's there.

[360]

A decent sized screen in a dimmed living room will suffice.

[Employee]

I didn't know this is On Demand if you're 'bout that XFINITY life. Going in on this tonight (nh?).

dude don't

CQ is right, you need to see this in the theater. At least the first time. Shit is too beautiful not too. Much like you can't appreciate the full majesty of Cage At Burger King when it's confined to a mere 100x100, even when you know it's there.

Indeed. Damn, indeed.

[AWAE]

[samdoom]

Interesting. At the Q&A he said he originally pitched this as more traditional MA/action movie, even though he had no interest in making the kind of movie he was pitching. He claims it was just a con to get money to film a movie in Bangkok. I think this happened before Drive was even made. So at some point Evans was probably attached to that first idea, then Refn met Goz and the epic bromance flourished and all that

the grantland interview with refn made it sound like only god forgives was in the pipeline before drive but gosling didn't step in til that other dude stepped out

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/949 ... d-forgives

[Employee]

I went in...hard...and loved it. Rex Reed's review couldn't possibly by any further off the mark. I understand using Gosling to market the film, but he is, in my opinion, barely a speck of a character. The cop occupies almost every inch of this film. Rare is the movie that

executes a hot pan of grease to the face.

I also don't see how the violence is at all over the top; its standard fare action movie violence. The way his brother dies is exceptionally brutal, but as has been noted: you don't see the act itself; only the result. Kristin Scott Thomas gets major props for whoring it up to Britney Spears' levels in her late forties, but, again, I don't see why

her or Gosling were a part of the film aside from being things for the cop to kill.

Might be a minor thing, but I liked the credits being all in Thai. It added to the overall bizarro-world effect.

Loved the expositions in fingerbanging and the cop karaoke. Soundtrack is super-synth, too, which is freakin' awesome.

It's a two-day rental so I'm going to peep it again tonight. Pretty thorough in my borough.