17.07.14
This film has got a bad write-up from some quarters, and unfairly I think. This might be because the marketing billed it as something similar to Drive, Refn's wildly successful last outing, but Only God Forgives is something very different indeed.
The thing you'll notice first about it is how gorgeous it looks. Everything is bathed in vibrant, sickly neon colours and the effect is beautiful, if discomforting.
The story is about as simple as they come: Ryan Gosling's brother is killed and he sets out to avenge his sibling. What makes it more interesting is that Gosling doesn't really some that into the idea. Instead he's coerced into by his mother, played by Kirsten Scott Thomas, who threatens to steal the whole movie every time she's on screen.
What follows is 90 minutes of brooding, ultra-violence and Freudian madness. I guess that's not up everyone's street but it really feels like the film is the best version of what it wants to be. Worth a watch, even if it's just to see if you 'get' it.
The thing you'll notice first about it is how gorgeous it looks. Everything is bathed in vibrant, sickly neon colours and the effect is beautiful, if discomforting.
The story is about as simple as they come: Ryan Gosling's brother is killed and he sets out to avenge his sibling. What makes it more interesting is that Gosling doesn't really some that into the idea. Instead he's coerced into by his mother, played by Kirsten Scott Thomas, who threatens to steal the whole movie every time she's on screen.
What follows is 90 minutes of brooding, ultra-violence and Freudian madness. I guess that's not up everyone's street but it really feels like the film is the best version of what it wants to be. Worth a watch, even if it's just to see if you 'get' it.