The movie could have been a cousin to refns previous film drive, in which he teamed with gosling to make a crime flick that combined michael manns sleek cool. I actually find only god forgives to be refns most succinct film. A young man who was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending three decades in solitary confinement. Like 2011s drive, refns latest movie stars ryan gosling as a tortured man and features scenes of unflinching violence.
Only god forgives confusing ending explained screen rant. Danish director nicolas winding refns new film only god forgives comes across as that annoying friend we all had at college, who kept. Nicolas winding refns brilliant, macabre and ultraviolent antirevenge movie only god forgives his most interesting work since the pusher. Julian, an american fugitive from justice, runs a boxing club in bangkok as a front for his drug business. However, he has ties in the criminal world, thanks to his past. The problem is that said surface is so refined, so beautiful that its sometimes difficult to see the deeper themes and meaning underneath. Only god forgives is a film directed by nicolas winding refn with ryan gosling, kristin scott thomas, vithaya pansringarm, rhatha phongam, year. Danish director nicolas winding refns new film only god forgives comes across as that annoying friend we all had at college, who kept droning on about the beauty, grace, and honor of martial arts, all the while tending to his bloodied knuckles. His mother, the head of a vast criminal organization, arrives from the us to. For more movie trailers, celebrity interviews and box office news visit. Only god forgives 20 r 1h 29m thriller movies when a cop kills the brother of an expat american gangster who runs a bangkok fight club, his. In this woozy and impenetrable followup he takes elements that were embraced by mainstream audiences stylish cinematography, drawn out silences and loaded glances, languid pacing and bursts of ultraviolence and exaggerates them to new lurid and alienating heights. Ryan gosling on not understanding all of only god forgives and.
Only god forgives did win the top prize at the sydney film festival, but aussies are deliberately contrarian. This movie wasnt received by the critics nor by the public favorably, but id like to vouch for this movie. Only god forgives 20 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Nicolas winding refn is back in theaters and on vod this friday with only god forgives, his second film to star his drive muse and good. Rhatha phongam, vithaya pansringarm, kristin scott thomas, ryan gosling. Only god forgives is a 20 crime film written and directed by nicolas winding refn and starring ryan gosling, kristin scott thomas, and vithaya pansringarm. The key to understanding only god forgives as much as it can be understood is in julians hands.
So if you like that this will look like art to you only god forgives is a dark story that will play with your mind. Only god forgives 20 directed by nicolas winding refn. Parents need to know that only god forgives is an extremely violent drama from danish filmmaker nicolas winding refn. Gruesomely grotesque and pathologically pretentious, a diabolical horror called only god forgives may not be the worst movie ever made, but. Much like its somnambulant protagonist, only god forgives moves at a crawl, and its increasingly vicious and brutally graphic instances of violence seem to explode from the ether. Still, only god forgives is a hazy, harrowing, successful experiment in style. Where drive won raves, only god forgives was lustily booed at its cannes debut. Refns influences dominate when you most want them to fuse into a personal style all his own.
Only god forgives, not this fascinating films director. That plot makes only god forgives sound like a straightup exploitation film, and if it had been directed with a flair for the ridiculous or an ounce of momentum, it might have worked. Its highly violent and highlights that violence as if it is a virtue. You might expect a contained and strange film as a followup to drive, but this is even. Only god forgives is a treasure trove for cinephiles, which may be the problem. Only god forgives is a film about the colors red and blue. As his new film only god forgives hits cinemas on friday 2 august, director nicolas winding refn has curated a special season of his favourite films for curzon home cinema. Only god forgives is a big fuck you to refns new fans gained from the success of his surprise hit, drive. As the assassination attempts on changs life, orchestrated by julians mother, continue to fail, the thugs wrath grows exponentially. But while only god forgives could be accused of shallowness and lack of psychological complexity, for the target audience, it will be wicked cool entertainment. The cast give great performances and as your watching the film it has a great soundtrack just like drive had. With ryan gosling, kristin scott thomas, vithaya pansringarm, gordon brown. In a recent interview with our own simon abrams, refn said, emotionally, our artistic expression consists of sex or violence.
See more ideas about god forgives, forgiven movie and movie posters. When chang starts swinging his devilish swordan implement that gets the lingering closeup treatment of a phallus in a porn filmlimbs go flying, rib cages are split from top to bottom, and torrents of blood pour forth as victims moan. Only god forgives behindthescenes photos with ryan gosling. Only god forgives is way different film first off cinematography and lighting are absolutely beautiful. Nicolas winding refn is back in theaters and on vod this friday with only god forgives, his second film to star his drive muse and good buddy ryan gosling as. Its only a couple weeks until the first us release of nicolas winding refns new film only god forgives.
Saying that only god forgives is violent is like saying that hell is hot. Violated, shat upon, sedated, narcotized, appalled, and. Only god forgives reunites drive star ryan gosling with director nicolas winding refn for a thrilling tale of blood and intrigue that finds a thai boxing club owner on the run from the police. Starring ryan gosling, kristin scott thomas, vithaya pansringarm, tom burke, yayaying rhatha phongam. This even after the director himself introduced the film as a project. A film this beautiful to look at and listen to could never be a failure, and to its credit, only god forgives isnt a boring film, but ultimately, its a depressingly unlikeable film that takes itself too seriously and removes any trace of fun it should have, ranking among the least pleasant cinematic experiences ive had in a long time. Stefan dreess rating of the film only god forgives stefan drees i highly appreciate refns artificial style. Winding refn critics saw the films unapologetic, unrelenting nastiness as proof that the filmmaker was all style and no substance. Julian ryan gosling, a respected figure in the criminal underworld of bangkok, runs a thai boxing club and. He has a relationship with a prostitute named mai rhatha phongam, but he keeps an emotional distance and restrains his hands while she pleasures herself in front of him. Only god forgives is only going to be remotely pleasurable to those who are curious fans of the directors work, or those who indulge in arthouse films. Only god forgives 20, directed by nicolas winding refn.
The film was shot on location in bangkok, thailand, and, as with drive, is dedicated to chilean director alejandro jodorowsky. Only god forgives ugly, gorestrewn and, ultimately, ridiculous is writerdirector nicolas winding refns courageous yet bizarre followup. Only god forgives is a movie not for the faint of heart. Those giving this movie 110 are saying far more about their own absolute ignorance of film and extreme immaturity than they are about this movie.
In the film, the devil is chang, as portrayed by vithaya pansringarm, the knowing specter of judgement and unmerciful hate. Youngest in his crime family, julian ryan gosling finds his. The brutality can be startling and includes several moments of vengeance and torture. Those ties are going to be of great use when julians mother implores him to do whatever he can to get revenge for the recent murder of his brother. A mysterious hollywood stuntman and mechanic moonlights as a getaway driver and finds himself in trouble when he helps out his neighbor in this action drama. While its not a direct narrative sequel to gosling and refns previous collaboration, drive, this hasnt stopped many from seeing it as a spiritual successor of sorts a theory that hasnt been wholly jossed by refn himself. Only god forgives transports us into the lavishly gruesome thailand underworld, for a tale of death, dishonor, duty and justice. Only god forgives is a 20 crime film directed by nicolas winding refn, starring ryan gosling and kristin scott thomas.
Yet even if thats the case, theres something hypocritical to the entire project. Director refn remains as visually stylish as ever, but only god forgives fails to add enough narrative smarts or relatable characters to ground its beautifully filmed depravity. The film was given a limited release stateside and now arrives on dvdblu ray for home viewing. Julian, a drugsmuggler thriving in bangkoks criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brothers recent death. At only 90 brief minutes, it makes its point and then quickly departs the. His function is to dole out a very specific brand of justice. The film has myriad closeups of his hands and crystal later reveals he killed his father with his bare hands. In a film culture that elevated the likes of sam peckinpah, martin scorsese, and quentin tarantino to the status of gods, only god forgives was seen as going too far. Only god forgives is a brutally violent but stylistically captivating film thats layered beyond its surface. Of the films that comprise refns neon trilogy, only god forgives is simultaneously the most narratively straightforward and also the most obtuse. Only god forgives created a few waves over the summer when the film made the film festival rounds and polarized critics at cannes, many walking out. Only god forgives could be read as an act of meta selfindictment, in which a visiting filmmaker acknowledges his exploitation of another culture by punishing the western bloodsuckers who populate his story. Only god forgives is a visually sumptuous feast, deliberate and controlled in its design, calculated to incite disturbing emotion and punctuated with a scene stealing performance by kristin scott.
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