Ten years ago in Bangkok Julian killed a cop and went on the run. Now he manages a Thai boxing club as a front for a drugs operation. Respected in the criminal underworld, deep inside, he feels empty.
When Julian’s brother kills a prostitute, the police reaches out to retired cop Chang, known as the Angel of Vengeance. Chang allows the father to kill his daughters murderer, then restores order by chopping off the man’s right hand.
Julian’s mother Jenna, the head of a powerful criminal organization, arrives in Bangkok to collect her son’s body. She orders Julian to find his killers and raise hell.
Increasingly obsessed with the Angel of Vengeance, Julian challenges him to a boxing match, hoping that by defeating him he might find spiritual release but Chang triumphs. A furious Jenna plots revenge and the stage is set for a bloody journey through betrayal and vengeance towards a final confrontation and the possibility of redemption.
REVIEW:
Everyone has their different tastes in film. Some people like martial arts movies, and others may just enjoy blockbuster action films in general. There are also those who enjoy arthouse cinema, films that do not normally get mainstream attention for their lackluster treatment and non-embrace of the usual spectacle seen in Hollywood blockbusters.
That said, Nicolas Winding Refn‘s latest, Only God Forgives, attempts to be some of these things and still appeals to deliver a vision of arthouse filmmaking, despite how some of its marketing may have had some people perceive it to be an action thriller. As a result, some people have had some disproving opinions about this film. On my page, one comment read that the film was “boring”. Another comment read that it was a bit “artsy-fartsy” (and from an action fan’s perspective, I can totally understand that, which is why I giggled a little bit.). And last but not least, my folks saw it at home on VoD and collectively agreed it was “the worst movie in the world”.
The film has acquired its own mixture of cheers and jeers from various writers and audiences throught the film festival circuit. In previous reviews, the film has gained a lot of mixed criticisms from various websites, largely pointing out the abstract nature and tone of the film, its use of color and the gratuitous, “savage”, “Rambo-like” violence among other things, listing their issues as a referendum on Refn’s creativity of sorts. In addition, there were also headlines surrounding the controversy regarding the lowered age limit for the film’s admittance in France.
I agree, this film is not made for all audiences, as it is geared mostly toward arthouse cinema goers. Which is why I should not have been surprised when I noticed that Only God Forgives wasn’t playing in my local theater, even though I was and I nearly lost hope until I saw it was also getting VoD treatment.
Alas, I got to see the film at home, as opposed to the theater experience I was looking forward to, which is unfortunate. But I got to see it, and that’s what counts. I had never seen a Refn film prior to this one, and with all the attention this director has received from other film writers, I was fascinated. Such was also the case with this movie.
Plainly, simply, I can totally appreciate Refn’s latest film. Being an artist myself (I used to do pencil portraits and still-life drawings from an early age on), I liked how Refn tries to take abstract movie art and blend it into a neon-lit noir style crime drama. The slow pacing isn’t an issue for me, as those particular portions set up the film’s more intense, heightening segments. There are other parts of the film that blend the real world with surreal moments that may make you wonder just WTF happened. And in this film, those are the moments that keep you wondering what will happen next, granted you’re not driven to pick up a blunt object with the intent of throwing it at the screen first.
And that’s what I truly dig about this film.
Yes, I came into this movie expecting a few action sequences, plus at least one martial arts fight scene-being the one between actors Ryan Gosling and Vithaya Pansringarm, and it was a good way to heighten the film’s marketing as an action/crime/revenge piece, leaving all others to perceive the film for what it really is: a bold vision of cinema that draws eyes and words, defies expectations and succeeds no matter what you think. And with that in mind, I also came into this film knowing full well what I was in for.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions when it comes to movies. And on that note, Only God Forgives is just that kind of film that you would love to hate, and/or similarly, hate to love, whether you believe in God or not. And while I really like this particular film, I have to say though, I loved how Refn‘s “no-fucks-to give” approach got everyone to pay attention. As an artist, that’s what counts. As Refn says in this Huffington Post interview:
“When people love or hate your films, it’s the only time you’ve actually penetrated, …That was like the whole point of making films: You’re meant to react to it. If everybody likes it — which, of course, is great — it’s the same thing as everybody hating it. Of course it’s more pleasurable if everybody likes it — because being degraded and hated by everyone is a terrible emotion — but it’s the same [thing]. It only becomes interesting if people love it or hate it for the same reason.”
For this film, I can respect that.
Only God Forgives is a wonderful, cerebral crime drama that bends genres, twists perceptions of art, parallels itself between fantasy and reality, and keeps you focused, while entertained in the process. And so whether you insist on watching this film in theaters or at home on VoD, I highly recommend it.
If you choose not to see it, then that’s fine. But you may risk missing out on opportunity to foundate your skepticism in the process.
So, you may want to see it anyway. And I think you should.
Only God Forgives stars Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, Tom Burke and Ratha Phongnam, and is written and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. The film is now available in limited theaters and on VoD, courtesy of Radius/TWC.
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Lee B. Golden III
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
