Only God Forgives (2013)
Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm
Nicolas
Winding-Refn's highly anticipated follow-up to 2011's Drive
has the same smooth assurance and striking directorial style as its
predecessor; but Only
God Forgives moves
with such silent impassivity through its hellish scenery that it
proves a far more difficult, abstract exercise in grotesque violence.
Many
films are tagged with the label 'nightmarish' but rarely do they so
very literally fit the bill. Only
God Forgives is
hardly more substantial than most other nightmares; it just hangs
there, with its deep red lighting and tableaux decor, on the surface
of one's thoughts. The surreal, meaningless and often nonsensical set
of occurrences give the impression of something unpleasant lingering
just beneath the subconscious; fitting, perhaps, for a film and
director so taken with Freudian notions.
Read the rest at Kubrick on the Guillotine.
Read the rest at Kubrick on the Guillotine.
