Review of Only God Forgives (2013) by Noah N — 04 Nov 2014

'Antichrist' (2009).... 'Crash' (1996).... 'Taxi Driver' (1976).... and even 'Pulp Fiction' (1994): all of these films and many more were walked out of and booed by audience at the Cannes Film Festival.

Despite that these movies were booed, many consider these great violent or dark masterpieces.... For Cannes there was no exception for NOT booing 'Only God Forgives' (2013); director Nicolas Winding Refn's gritty arthouse, crime thriller set in Bangkok, Thailand.

Ryan Gosling plays Julian, an American drug dealer and fight club owner controlled by his ruthless mother, Crystal, (played by Kristin Scott Thomas). Crystal seeks revenge after the justified murder of her older criminal son, Billy.

Meanwhile, Chang, a divine Taiwanese officer or just simply God, (played by Vithaya Pansringarm), sets out for vengeful yet 'forgiving' justice after the horrific murder of a young girl caused by Billy.

'Only God Forgives' (2013) is a very intense movie with effectively static performances, masterful cinematography by Larry Smith, and another outstanding soundtrack by Cliff Martinez. Though this is mostly visual storytelling, these elements prove to work on their own and even when stripped away the story.

The story actually depends on these elements and not to forget the use of gratuitous violence. The film's infamous torture scene is as sharp as the unnerving weapons of choice, but you can absolutely tell when the director takes this scene a little too far.

There's a fine line between moral righteousness and piercing a crook from the thighs to the eyes with pins and nettles just for the sake of being edgy. Gratuitous violence, a lack of certainty, and a kiss of misogyny are more than likely what turned off the audience at Cannes.

The irony is how negatively pretentious they treated something that was already quite pretentious. Winding Refn's plan was not to just stimulate the audience. He wanted to create something that would stimulate himself.

Call this Winding Refn's self-produced 'pacifier' or an attempt to make an analytical film about the 'law' of retaliation, but all I see here is art from a man's devotion of crime and Thai cinema.

And that's not a bad thing. To me, 'Only God Forgives' (2013) is no masterpiece, but it is nevertheless a powerful art film you may find deeply philosophical or just plain out unnecessary.