I saw Only God Forgives a month or two ago, and from the cocktail of thoughts stirring in my brain after the screening (mostly negative), the most potent was “I cannot WAIT to read the User Reviews.”
Now that it’s out, I’ve been rubbing my hands with glee at the beautiful chaos that emerged from the opinion war. With descriptions ranging from “a visually mesmerizing masterpiece” to “it’s a wank,” you users have not disappointed me for entertainment value. You can call me pathetic for getting joy over such debates, and you’re probably right – it’s my Jeremy Kyle.
Because I’m a bastard, I’ve decided to pick out some common complaints and analyse whether or not I think they’re valid.
With spoilers.
“It has no story.”
Interpretation: There is no narrative or account of a subject meeting a conclusion.
Do I think it’s valid? No
How so? A child rapist scumbag is killed. The scumbag mother of that scumbag tells her other son Julian to avenge his death. He attempts to do this. He fails. This is a story.
“It’s pretentious.”
Interpretation: Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed. (via Google)
Do I think it’s valid? Yes.
How so? Pretentious films are not created as “popcorn entertainment” for a broad audience. These are films that wish to achieve a creative vision; not a high-racking profit. With that in mind, there is no doubt that Nicolas Winding Refn created a pretentious film. However, to call a movie “pretentious” like it’s a criticism isn’t to discredit the quality of the film; it merely outlines your personal taste in movies.
“Nothing happens!”
Interpretation: In its 89 minute running time, not one thing happens.
Do I think it’s valid? No.
How so? At least one thing happens.
“It’s confusing and hard to follow.”
Interpretation: It’s confusing and hard to follow.
Do I think it’s valid? Sort of.
How so? The film’s atmosphere has been rightly compared to David Lynch a number of times, but unlike nightmarish masterworks such as Mulholland Drive, the surreal aspects in Only God Forgives are sparse and inconsistent. Julian’s semi-day dream of his hand getting chopped at the start prepares you for even stranger shit to come, but only capitalises once more in the middle and near the very end. It’s jarring, and had me second-guessing the reality of certain scenes more than I should have.
Whether this jarring effect was to Refn’s intention is up for you to judge. I simply think he didn’t tell his story with enough consistency.
“You don’t care about the characters.”
Interpretation: The characters are so devoid of likeability that no matter what consequence they are faced with, we’re not invested in feeling anything towards their plight.
Do I think it’s valid? Yes.
How so? Ryan Gosling’s character is vapid and the brutal lawman/Angel of Vengeance wasn’t anything more than the personification of relentless justice. These low-dimensional characters were probably drawn to Refn’s intentions.
If none of the characters in a film are likeable, they should either be interesting or placed in an interesting situation. Of all the characters in the film, I only found Kristin Scott Thomas’ Chrystal interesting. But even then, her cartoony caricature of a disgusting mob woman seemed out-of-place in a world full of stoic beings.
If neither the characters nor the situation is interesting, then you may be able to attach your interest in something else. I’m going to bold and italicise the next sentence, because it’s rather important: if the menacing world created by Refn’s visual prowess and Cliff Martinez’ excellent score tantalised your interest levels, you’ll be able to forgive the other aspects of the film.
Just because the characters are thin or the story line is simplistic doesn’t mean the film’s bad; it’s simply focusing on other aspects. Sometimes, a film can get by on its visual-audio masturbation. If you have no interest in seeing giant robots bash the crap out of massive monsters, you’re not going to find anything to love about Pacific Rim. Same deal with Only God Forgives, just replace Jaegers and Kaijus with menace and Refn’s cinematographic flesh light.
