“Only God Forgives” (2013)
“Time to meet the devil”.
Famously, well famously in my life, I had the incredible good fortune to see Copenhagen born Nicolas Winding Refn’s incredible film Drive in a double bill at the cinema with Kevin Smith’s equally incredible Red State in a long ago late Summer of 2011. Not a bad “Double Feature” at the flicks!
So began a now decade’s long cinematic love for the master of the bloodily macabre as I re-watched a young Tom Hardy portraying the UK’s most infamous prisoner before squirming my way through Valhalla Rising and via the dastardly handsome good looks of Ryan Gosling, I arrived here, back with the handsome one and back for yet more brutal, stylised violence. Three years on from Only God Forgives, the Danish director would divide audiences once more with The Neon Demon and a film I love despite its critical panning on release!
My original opus blog article on the later career of Nicolas Winding Refn is linked immediately below or should you be here for the blood red stylised violence that only God can forgive, please skip a little further for a scene-by-scene breakdown of the opening fifteen minutes of yet another divisive film from the Scandinavian enfant terrible!
“Remember girls, no matter what happens, keep your eyes closed”.
With opening titles in Thai and complimented by English subtitles, this latest noir tinged revenge thriller from Nicolas Winding Refn immediately begins with “Julian” (Ryan Gosling) pensively staring straight ahead whilst shrouded in shadows and the colour palette of red is firmly established in the film’s opening scenes.
We cut to a Muay Thai boxing match in a club he owns and runs and the colour palette of red is again a dominating theme, from the large boxing club motif behind the ring to the winning boxer’s gloves and shorts through to the shirts of two unnamed patrons of the club standing at ring side. But the scene is soaked in the colour red, with shards of reddish light adding to the overall and eye catching red tone. A small package is surreptitiously passed hand to hand between patrons as another Muay Thai boxing match begins. We cut to “Billy” (Tom Burke) in a backstage dressing room clad in a red shirt paying the victorious boxer with a deadpan admonishment “Don’t spend it all in one place”. Both Billy and Julian are in the dressing room and both are shrouded in shadows with Julian, his back to the wall and still staring passively and pensively ahead.
Fade to Black.
Billy leaves the club and walks across neon lit streets before entering a local whorehouse and requesting a repugnant and repulsive desire. Frustrated at the response from the Manager and dragged away from the intercom between himself and the young girls behind the glass, he violently smashes a bottle over the head of the Manager and enters the room housing the young girls before violently attacking a random girl. Bloodied and bruised, the scene ends with Billy staring at another young prostitute sitting by the side of the road. We cut again to Julian staring thoughtfully at his hands and making a fist, all deliberately pensive and slowly before turning off the lights at his now empty club, the red boxing club motif predominant again in a room bathed in red as the lights are dimmed.
Slowly and deliberately, “Lieutenant Chang” (Vithaya Pansringarm) walks to the roadside where we last saw Billy and he enters the building behind and into a blood soaked room. He pans around the room to see the bloodied corpse of a young girl lying on the floor. The camera slowly pans from an unmoved Chang staring passively at Billy, turning to face Chang, his face spattered with blood following the violent murder of the young girl. No words are exchanged. An older man is shown into the room and Chang asks “Why did you let this happen?” before he retreats from the room after giving the older man free reign to wreck revenge on the murderer, which he does, framed in shadows behind the closed door. “Come with me” orders Chang, as the scene, and the opening twelve minutes reaches its climax.
Lit only by a spotlight and the headlamps of the police car the older man, his shirt now spattered in red blood, is on his knees pleading for his life and confessing to the anger and rage at the murder of his daughter. Chang slowly approaches the older man, explaining why he’s going to do what he’s about to do but drawing a samurai sword from behind his back and striking the man off camera. The scene ends with Chang staring impassively at the camera.
This 90 minute bloody revenge thriller is often brutally violent and shocking whilst weaving intricate character narratives through a web of drugs, criminality and familial dominance. The violence alluded to above is only a forerunner to some brutally violent scenes and very much a theme of Director Refn’s preponderance for fetishistic and graphic violence. However and very bizarrely, these are often juxtaposed against Chang singing upbeat yet mournful songs on stage in a Bangkok club. Make of that what you will!
There are numerous other intriguing themes running throughout the film with the red colour palette being an obvious metaphor for blood and revenge. The film is quite literally dripping in this palette with numerous scenes resplendent in red, striking in many scenes, a little more subtle in others. The film moves very much at it’s own pace with characters moving slowly and deliberately. There are slow motion captured segments of a scene but surprisingly very little, the rest are the characters themselves, particularly Julian and Chang, who move quietly, pensively and reflectively. Along with the colour palette, shadows are dominant and perhaps yet another metaphor for revenge as our characters stalk from within the shadows, and returning Director of Photography Larry Smith (Bronson) deserves immense credit for blending these together. They are obvious themes but no less striking. The film is both stylish and stylised, with rigorous attention to detail in every shot. One further theme is the tailing off of conversations or disguising with music, under the supervision of regular collaborator Cliff Martinez.
The cast of mainly Thai actors are headed by Pansringarm as Chang, an almost mirror image to the Western headliner Gosling in the role of Julian. In a film of minimal dialogue, both portray their feelings and character narrative through their pensive approach but both are bubbling underneath with rage. Both are still and purposeful with Gosling rarely blinking throughout the entire film! His stillness is personified in his relationship with “Mai” (Yayaying Rhatha Phongam) and whilst their dalliance is very real, much of their time together has an ethereal, dreamlike quality to it. Is Julian day dreaming or fantasising about Mai, or is his fractured mind unravelling? There are numerous further supporting roles but the stand out performance comes from Kristin Scott Thomas as Julian’s Mother “Crystal”.
In a film dominated by male testosterone and stylised bloody revenge, it is Kristin Scott Thomas who produces a performance of sheer will and intensity as family Matriarch and uber dominant Crystal. Arriving in Bangkok to retrieve the body of her “first born son” the perma smoking head of the family exudes superiority over everyone and no-one dares challenge her authority. Highly sexual, there are incestuous undertones to her reunion with Julian but her dominance pours out in every scene, from her arrival at the hotel, to her reunion with her son and her enjoyment at a male body building show at a local club. But her utter dismissal of both Julian and Mai at an evening meal encapsulate her brilliantly and showcases a wonderful performance from Kristin Scott Thomas. Utterly dismissive of Mai “How many cocks can you entertain in that come dumpster of yours?” she turns her attention to her son, berating and embarrassing him by proclaiming “Billy was everything Julian wanted to be”.
Violent, bloody, brutal and stylised within an inch of it’s life. Yep, it’s the latest from Nicolas Winding Refn!
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film articles are linked below or there’s well over 200 blog articles (with 400+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
