Review of Only God Forgives (2013) by Manicure — 22 Nov 2020

"Only God Forgives" is the ultimate example that the most personal and uncompromising work of a filmmaker is not always his best. Unlike most people have been saying, this film shares many common traits with Refn's most famous work "Drive": a stylized plot to allow complete focus on the aesthetics and atmosphere, characters who stay quiet and let the images talk instead, emphasis on the city and its urban landscapes, a silent hero with an ambiguous ethical code, twisted violence used as some kind of artistic fetish, men seeking for redemption as they keep fighting forces that are far greater than themselves. So why didn't the formula work this time?

"Only God Forgives" sees Refn rowing against the current at all costs and dropping all intent to please his audience, as if he was asked to prove his artistic integrity after having achieved mainstream success. I guess people didn't like that Ryan Gosling this time impersonates a pathetic loser with rotten feelings, continuously manipulated by his deranged and vengeful mother. Honestly, that was actually the only interesting thing I could find in the whole movie. Despite Gosling's bloated performance, his character brings with him the existentialist and introspective nature of this film. It's the key to decipher all symbols and visual nonsense. His mother Crystal is perfectly portrayed by Kristin Scott Thomas, but her character ends up being overly stylized and cartoonish, a little more than a swearing machine with boobs. Crystal's opponent Chang is a cruel executioner that resembles the God from the Old Testament, able to forgive those who violate his principles but not without proper punishment. He connects well with the mystical, alienating atmosphere that permeates the film, but I couldn't stop laughing every time he was swirling his machete around.

It felt just like one more pretentious, self-indulgent film that will definitely stay in my mind for decades, but that due to the naive and careless writing failed to communicate anything more than formal beauty.