Review: Only God Forgives

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I probably should have taken at least one more day to think this one over, but I'm going to attempt to write this review anyway. For those of you who have paid any sort of attention to reviews that came out of Cannes or anywhere else, you know that Only God Forgives has received some extremely mixed reviews. Many articles have been written mainly about the criticism instead of the movie itself. One such "top critic" on rottentomatoes said "Ryan Gosling and his "Drive" director, Nicoals Winding Refn, sail into the heart of darkness and emerge with a trinket of crackpot porno kitsch." Another said "Style over substance doesn't really tell the half of it: you can bathe a corpse in groovy light and dress it in an expensive suit, but in the end that rotting smell just won't go away." Combine both of these snippets and you get Refn's latest film compared to a stinking, rotting piece of pretty looking shit. For these reviewers, there isn't enough characters, emotions, or reasons for "why" anything happens, and a beautifully lit Gosling just won't cut it.

While watching the movie myself, I experienced a lot of reactions: awe, disgust, confusion, embarrassment, frustration, and revulsion. At least, those are all of the verbs I could think of right now. The reviewers aren't wrong when they describe and react strongly to the grisliness and apparent pointless brutality and borderline sadomasochism exhibited here. But at the same time, their criticisms of Refn's lack of characters and subject matter doesn't really have a place. 

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Anyone who has seen Refn's other films knows he's not one for conventional characters or stories. Drive is probably his most "normal" film if that tells you anything. From the very beginning, Only God Forgives never lets on that it's trying to accomplish any of the things that the reviewers complain about not getting. In an interview I read not too long ago, Refn was discussing his use of music in movies and he explicitly mentioned how he thought with Drive (I'd personally add Valhalla Rising into this statement) and now Only God Forgives, he is experimenting with silence. He didn't let on too much more what he thinks that means, but I think Only God Forgives is the testament to that endeavor.

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In a way, Refn's experiment with silence purposefully infuriates the audience. For instance, there are a number of scenes where characters talk but the audio is cut except for Cliff Martinez's haunting, moody soundtrack. So you're literally watching silence as a character's mouth moves but you hear nothing. The audience is left to analyze facial expressions, camera angles, cuts, and other elements of mis en scene and technique to hopefully find explanation outside of dialogue. However, I think Refn's experiment with silence reaches even into these things. Next to nothing can be read in Gosling's expressionless face, even less than in Drive. Kristin Scott Thomas' role as Gosling's mother, although given the most lines, doesn't let on to much more than a terrible, mean mom. The mysterious Thai police officer, Chang, (Vithaya Pansringarm) hunting Gosling and his mother is just as expressionless as Gosling. So while Refn gives you just enough to explain the very, very simple plot, there's hardly anything else, and that's because Refn leaves you in silence.

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The only way I can think of to make sense of this film is by tracking the colors. Refn has clearly laid out a palate here according to characters. Gosling is cast in red and blue, Thomas in white and yellow, and although Chang isn't cast in any particular color, the fact that he crosses into each could say a lot about him as well. On top of that, there is a strong metaphor related to hands and touching. Along with the film's title and Chang's proclivity for dealing out judgment and punishment by cutting off hands, I recall the line from the Bible "if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off." There is also clearly some mother-son issues going on here that takes one particularly gruesome and disturbing turn that I will not disclose here but those of you who have seen this film know what I'm talking about. Refn also includes a few scenes and set designs that recall old, Asian cinema as well as the Western genre, and within this combination could be some sort of commentary on Orientalism, but that would be opening a whole other can of worms that I am not ready for in any way. Other than these small pieces of meaning, I am not claiming to be able to make any more sense out of anything yet. 

Overall, Refn's attempt at creating a nightmare of psychologically disturbing and stimulating content along the lines of David Lynch or Chan-wook Park does not have enough substance or reason for such darkness and depravity other than some gorgeous imagery. The depth of field, lighting, color, and framing of some shots is simply astounding. Even though the ending and Gosling's ambiguous fate leaves something to ponder, the other psychological problems surrounding his character are too dark and void of something solid enough to warrant everything else. There's no denying Refn's talent for the dark, psychological thrillers. I like to think that Refn could be the next Tarantino, but with actual talent for the more interesting, technical side of cinema rather than just dialogue (Tarantino's only real talent). But in this case, Refn overstepped his critical and artistic credit. If Refn had waited longer and strengthened his reputation and career more, I think he would have made Only God Forgives a bit differently, but even if he didn't change it at all, the critical response to it would have been kinder. As it stands though, Only God Forgives missed the mark.