The Neon Demon (2016, Dir. Nicholas Winding Refn)
Synopsis:
Jessie, (Elle Fanning) a small town, wannabe fashion model comes to L.A. and is immediately fated as the next star model due to her natural beauty, much to the hatred of other models, who’ve been around longer and have had plastic surgery to help them attain their beauty and status. She falls into the company of make artist Ruby (Jena Malone) and models Sarah (Abbey Lee) and Gigi (Bella Heathcote). At first Jessie, seems to be unaffected by her new found fame, but after a while it’s clear she’s being seduced by it.
Some movies leave such an impression, even on first viewing, that you feel compelled to write about them. So whilst I wasn’t planning on writing another post so soon, after seeing this film on DVD the other day I felt I really had to get down my thoughts about it as soon as possible.
Let me start with an admission: I still don’t think very much of the movie Drive, I love the songs and the soundtrack, I love the photography but the story and the performances somehow left me cold and it wasn’t until I saw Nicholas Winding Refn’s follow-up, Only God Forgives, that I realized what I’d not liked about Drive.
It’s not that Only God Forgives doesn’t also have flaws, but that movie, with it’s more abstract story, suited Winding Refn’s dreamlike visuals far better than Drive which tried to root them in a more or less naturalistic story setting.
Neon Demon is closer to Only God Forgives, in terms of the abstract nature of it’s storytelling but crucially is an easier watch because it lacks the violent ferocity of Only God Forgives and approaches a subject matter (which is equally horrific in its own way): the desire for fame; wanting to stay young forever; the jealousy of those who seem to have what others want, without having to work for it; in a much subtler and more understated way and because of that is, in my opinion, the closest Winding Refn has come to the masterpiece that we’ve been waiting for him to produce.
Refn is one of the few directors influenced by Kubrick who has actually managed to nail both Kubrick’s use of the long master shot/take and his bold use of silence. I can’t think of another Hollywood director who is so unafraid of stripping the soundtrack back to absolute silence. Aside from Kubrick, whose Shining catchphrase of “red rum” is even referenced here, it’s also possible to detect the influence (at least to my eyes) of Nicholas Roeg (the intercutting in the dream sequences, the flashes of violence that erupt out of nowhere, the disturbing sense of sexual menace) and Dario Argento (the eyeball searing colors, the pulsing electronic score, the set design). Yet Refn is far more than the sum of his influences and whilst the story may seem to strike parallels with that of both Black Swan and Mullholland Drive, it ultimately goes to far darker places than either of them.
The fourth principle female characters performances are utterly extraordinary in a day and age when even great female characters in movies are often one-dimensional. Every single one of the main four female characters is complex, multi-layered and contradictory. Every single one leaves you feeling differently about them by the end of the movie.
Elle Fanning’s performance as the central protagonist Jessie, beautifully manages to carry off the difficult arc of changing from someone shy and uncertain, yet sure of their beauty, into somebody seduced by the fashion industry. You feel a sympathy for her and yet, you also feel distaste for what it’s clear she’s transitioning into.
Jenna Malone’s performance as the manipulative and calculating Ruby is literally the best thing I’ve seen her do since her role in Donnie Darko and the disturbing and controversial scene in the morgue (you’ll know it when you see it), will literally leave you gasping for breath that any mainstream Hollywood actress would even attempt such a moment, let alone turn it into something so heartbreaking that you feel incredible sympathy for her character.
Bella Heathcote shows that she is so much more interesting than her rather drab performance in Dark Shadows would suggest and is spectacular as the bitchy, snidey Gigi, but this is then layered beautifully with her eventually being the only one showing any sort of remorse towards what happens to Jessie.
Finally, we have Abbey Lee as Sarah, who goes from looking sure of herself, to scared desperation and finally murderous satisfaction. At first she seems to the weakest of the trio, yet in the end she is the one who is most comfortable with what has happened.
Refn has had ample experience in providing us with complex, brooding male characters in his previous films. What’s brilliant here is him turning that concept on it’s head and showing men who seem enigmatic and mercurial, but possibly only because they are filtered through Jessie’s perception of them.
The Keanu Reeves character could be psychotic, but is he, ultimately? Or is that just Jessie’s fantasy of him coloring her viewpoint. Is he really the one trying to break into Jessie’s room? Jessie seems to think so but then she’s just had a nightmare about him.
The fashion photographer, played by Desmond Harrington seems creepy at first, but perhaps it’s merely that he’s indifferent to Jessie and our perception of him, like Jessie’s, is effected by Ruby’s words of warning about him.
The only male character we really get to see Jessie’s true reactions to is the young photographer, Dean, played by Karl Glusman. Again, he seems creepy at first, but actually turns out to be kind and nice to Jessie — who drops him like a “hot potato” as soon as she begins to be seduced by the industry.
If it seems like I’m not going into great detail about the plot of this film, then it’s with good reason. This is one of those movies, like Bad Timing, Lost Highway or Suspiria that you should really see with as little foreknowledge as possible and an open mind.
It will disturb you in the same way the best films of Argento, Kubrick, Roeg and Lynch do, but it will also mesmerize you, with it’s fantastic electronic score by Cliff Martinez, it’s stunning set design and gorgeous vivid colours. The ending may perplex you and, if so, there are several interesting theories about what it all means out there on You Tube. Most importantly, it will haunt you for a few days after you’ve watched it and that to me is the mark of a great film.
