Review of Only God Forgives (2013) by Mike P — 13 Nov 2013

After success with such excellent films as Bronson and Drive, I was more than enthusiastic to follow the brilliance of director Nicolas Winding Refn in the hopes that maybe we may have found a new powerhouse director to join the ranks of such great filmmakers as Christopher Nolan and David Fincher. Only God Forgives would make or break Refn's chances of being considered in that realm of such visionary directors. Unfortunately, Refn has a long way to go in order to recover from the critical flop that is Only God Forgives.

While Refn's previous films incorporate the use of a lot of symbolic imagery, metaphorical characterization, and a considerable lack of dialogue, he forgets what it is about those characteristics that made those films work. While Ryan Gosling may not have had a majority of dialogue in Drive, it's the colorful supporting actors such as Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks that filled the void and gave that film it's realism in between the symbolic storytelling. In Only God Forgives, none of the characters have a shred of humanity to them and are nothing more than metaphors. Even Kristen Scott Thomas, who is the only semblance of a three dimensional character in the film, isn't enough to elevate it above being as hollow and lifeless as it really is. Gosling's character, Julian, is a non-character and is given no more than 15 full, complete sentences of dialogue in the film, yes I actually counted.

Speaking of the script, it must have been about 2 and a half pages long. And from the dialogue that is there, it's either delivered with such deadpan, emotionless conviction, or they're just downright uncomfortable. Some of the first words to come out of a human being's mouth in this movie are, "I want to fuck a 14-year-old girl." Along with other awkward scenes such as Ryan Gosling paying a prostitute to masturbate for him while he's constrained in a chair, to him yelling at said hooker to take her dress off in an alleyway. Not to mention the finale of the movie which contains one of the most gratuitously unnecessary scenes in recent film memory; those who've seen the film know exactly what I'm referring to.

Which brings me to the aspect of the film that divides the audiences for this film the most. The defenders of the film imply that those who hate the film just "don't get it." While I did not like the film at all, I feel that it is necessary for me to emphasize that, yes I understand all of the symbolism and metaphors that this film egregiously shoves in my face at every chance it has. The film is both too subtle, and not subtle enough. It's too subtle, in that no one will be able to interpret what it means without a trip to Wikipedia; and not subtle enough, in that there are scenes that exist without any context or reasoning, clearly for the sole purpose of just throwing more metaphors at you.

It is hard to critique the film without coming off as an ignorant mouth breather who "just didn't get it." It's very easy to just say, "It's boring, it's pretentious, and it makes no sense," and just leave it at that. While it is all of those things, and while it does deserve to be criticized for it's lack of character, script, and emotional investment- I have to give the film credit for the things that it does well. Much like Drive, the cinematography is breathtakingly gorgeous. In a much better film with a much better script, these captivating shots could have really drove home the point of these scenes. Same goes for the lively and thumping musical score by Cliff Martinez. From an aesthetic and visual perspective, this film is impeccable. However, it is the poster-child for the phrase, all style and no substance.

While I do respect Nicolas Winding Refn's artistic vision and hope to see him succeed in the future, I can't give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. Only God Forgives comes across as a pale imitation of a Nicolas Winding Refn style film by a much lesser director and screenwriter. In terms of recent arthouse films, this one falls more in line with Tree of Life and Spring Breakers and less with films such as Holy Motors or Upstream Color.