ONLY GOD FORGIVES (2013) review, "Wanna fight?..."

ONLY GOD FORGIVES is a 2013 film starring Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas and Vithaya Pansringarm, written and directed by Nicholas Winding Refn. The film follows Julian (Ryan Gosling), a drug trafficker in Bangkok whose thriving criminal life is interrupted after he is urged into revenge by his mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) after his brother's murder.

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The definition of style over substance, Only God Forgives is not for the squeamish - however those who can stomach it may be driven away by its potentially frustrating slow pace and reliance on surreal, often incoherent imagery.

Ryan Gosling, as aforementioned is the rather silent protagonist Julian, pressured and ultimately used by his mother as a means to revenge. Regarding a performance, there is honestly little to say: he utters few words and when words are spoken they are simplistic, leading to the bizarrely short and unintentionally chuckle-worthy quote embellished within the trailer and in the title of this very review. 

Instead, a majority of his performance is through body language, gestures and his facial expressions and to an extent, it works. It in an odd oxymoron develops his character as underdeveloped, with Julian often trapped in his thought seen in several seemingly nonsensical visions throughout the film that adhere only to dream logic - understandable considering who this film is dedicated to. 

In addition to Gosling is the supporting cast, with first-time actor Vithaya Pansringarm as Chang deserving an honourable mention as Refn intended this film to be a star vehicle for said actor - which of course has never came to fruition due to the scathingly divisive opinions leaning mostly on the negative. It's a shame really, as his minimal character development detracts from his performance which is honestly great. Whenever he is displayed on screen, an unquestionable and wonderfully menacing feeling begins to arise from his unpredictability, even seemingly disappearing into thin air at one point. It is that unpredictability that is the double-edged sword as his character, not to far from Julian in communication skills lacks character, with an example being his family introduced not to demonstrate a lighter side of his character but as bait to be killed off to siphon a cause for revenge other than his quest for counter-revenge against his initial hit placed by Crystal - Julian's mother.

A recurring issue with Only God Forgives is a lack of a character for an audience or viewer to latch onto as none are distinctly likeable, for reasons not left up to the actors in their performance. The character of Crystal is pivotal in this issue, foul-mouthed and all around sleazy, it makes it difficult to like her character and even places her in the same realm as the antagonist, putting the revenge into full swing and indirectly bringing the end to dozens of people's lives in an often brutal manner similar to Chang, however directly he horrifically mutilated others. Kristin Scott Thomas does her best with the material that she's given - with what she's given being reviled even after her fate is sealed.

You get the feeling that this is exactly what Nicholas Winding Refn wanted to make when he made this, with some superb direction peppered throughout the film, not far from his last sleeper hit: Drive. It contains the common marks of his films, simply gorgeous cinematography with each shot literally oozing neon colours in what is to be described as some of the most beautiful shots ever committed to film (including bewildering hand imagery relating to Gosling's character), hyper-violence to the nth degree and snail-like pacing. 

The latter two points in particular generated controversy aplenty for this film with the rather bemused audience at the Cannes Film Festival as an example booing the film in a rather childish manner. It takes a similar structure to Drive, the only point of comparison worth discussing as the two films are entirely different in content, and that is the slow-moving and sometimes surreal scenes are punctuated by excessive outbursts of violence before rinsing and repeating. Of course, it is much more complex than that, but that is as if the two films are broken down into their skeletal components.

Inherently, Only God Forgives is not a poorly acted or directed film, I personally believe it is the script and the story attached to that script is what brings it down. It lacks cohesion and suffers from an aforementioned lack of likeable characters, as memorable as they are, you are either indifferent or hate the characters presented to you. The dialogue, when there is any, is oddly clunky, but depending on how you see it that can add to or detract from the film like how David Lynch uses it to a great effect in his many of his films.

Final props go to the cinematographer and composer for this film, Larry Smith and Cliff Martinez respectively. They really do enhance the dream-like and surreal atmosphere created in the film and it is one of the most aesthetically pleasing films I have seen in a while, the track that plays from the ending onto the credits as a quality that will stick in my thoughts for days...

...and that is what Only God Forgives is. Love it or hate it, it will stick with you. The imagery, the sound, the gory and shamelessly excessive violence, it all comes together to create an ultimately memorable film that will sadly be remembered for what it did worst, instead of what it did best. Don't believe everything you read about this film, it is certainly flawed, but it is nowhere near as bad as most give it - an open mind is required.

"Time to meet the devil..."