Post by Evil Jeff on Jul 26, 2013 16:07:37 GMT -6
SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE-FILM "ONLY GOD FORGIVES"! DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW SPOILERS FOR IT
So this boasts three of the main players from 2011's fantastic Drive, of course - Winding Refn directing, Gosling starring and Cliff Martinez soundtracking. So like anyone would, I expected some kind of sister film to Drive, a spiritual sequel in which the themes, tone and mood of Drive are transported to a darker, grimier setting. I was completely fucking wrong.
Firstly, Only God Forgives' soundtrack reflects it's overall tone, a large collection of booming, atmospheric low-fi ambient music which feels one and the same with the projected image. It sets up a surreal hyperreality in which a strange Good vs. Evil mentality reigns in the criminal underworld - the policemen who act as judge, jury and executioners, and the sadistic, psychopathic criminals who rule Bangkok. The film opens with Billy, a prominent Bangkok drug smuggler, dying at the hands of the father of the girl whom he murdered. This act of vengeance (allowed by Lt. Chang) drives his brother Julian and his mother Crystal to 'reconnect' (the best word I can use to describe their relationship) and kill those responsible.
Although we do not see much interaction between Julian and his brother, there remains an air of contempt for Billy throughout the movie, confirmed by the end when Crystal tells Chang that Julian resented her and Billy's relationship. (Whether this is the truth or not is, of course, unknown). Julian believes that Billy got what he deserved; Crystal couldn't care less that he raped and murdered a teenager. It is this total disregard for decency or morality which leads me to parallel the film with the Old Testament. In many instances in the Old Testament, God seems to brush off horrific and brutal acts of violence (e.g. the angels in Sodom and Gomorrah), with hardly any thought. Billy and Julian are Crystal's sons through and through, created, raised and conditioned by her sociopathic and egomaniacal ways; Crystal is Julian's God throughout Only God Forgives, ordering him around, punishing him for not obeying her word, and ultimately condemning him as a "very dangerous boy" when he doesn't do what she wants him to do.
Though some films would be content with this analogy, Only God Forgives spins it on it's head with the main an/protagonist Chang, the titular "God". Change believes himself an Angel of Vengeance punishing those who have done wrong and allowing those wronged to take vengeance (usually before also punishing them for allowing the crime to happen in the first place). Chang is like a mix of Robocop and Judge Dredd, the perfect physical specimen despite his age, a seemingly honorable man - who faces Crystal's vengeance after he enacts his own on Billy. In the end, Chang appears to forgives Julian, but this act of forgiveness involves a hefty fine on Julian's part - demonstrating that 'forgiveness' can walk the line between honorable and unjust. If we are to go with the analogy that Chang is God, then Crystal is Satan, a chaotic and destructively vile specimen whose only justice is her own. But is this not also Chang's justice? In the end, Good and Evil, Forgiveness and Vengeance, God and the Devil - they all seem remarkably similar.
Of course Julian's journey through this battlefield of the Gods is one that he himself sees as redemptive. Refusing to accept Crystal's demands at the beginning, he is eventually seduced (after being severely beaten to a pulp by Chang) but realises that his mother's demands are over-excessive and sadistic. Believing himself redeemed because he shoots his partner, he fails to realise the consequences of Chang's wife being dead and his daughter being traumatized for life. When he returns to his mother's apartment and finds her dead, he cuts her belly open and puts his hand in (a remarkable expression of Oedipal desires mixed with contempt and anger). He envisions Chang forgiving him and removing his arms - and we are left to question whether God truly forgives or Julian simply lies to himself, convincing himself that he is redeemed.
Acting wise, Only God Forgives rightly forgoes subtlety in order to portray the surreal hyperreality to the best degree possible. Kristin Scott-Thomas is gloriously frightening and sadistic, and this is easily her best performance that I've seen. Gosling, too, plays the suppressed and angry Julian as well as he ever has, but Vithaya Pansringarm was the surprise for me, playing Chang seemingly very honestly (there are two scenes wherein he sings, which are, in fact, quite beautiful).
Oh, one more thing - it looks fucking fantastic.
So this boasts three of the main players from 2011's fantastic Drive, of course - Winding Refn directing, Gosling starring and Cliff Martinez soundtracking. So like anyone would, I expected some kind of sister film to Drive, a spiritual sequel in which the themes, tone and mood of Drive are transported to a darker, grimier setting. I was completely fucking wrong.
Firstly, Only God Forgives' soundtrack reflects it's overall tone, a large collection of booming, atmospheric low-fi ambient music which feels one and the same with the projected image. It sets up a surreal hyperreality in which a strange Good vs. Evil mentality reigns in the criminal underworld - the policemen who act as judge, jury and executioners, and the sadistic, psychopathic criminals who rule Bangkok. The film opens with Billy, a prominent Bangkok drug smuggler, dying at the hands of the father of the girl whom he murdered. This act of vengeance (allowed by Lt. Chang) drives his brother Julian and his mother Crystal to 'reconnect' (the best word I can use to describe their relationship) and kill those responsible.
Although we do not see much interaction between Julian and his brother, there remains an air of contempt for Billy throughout the movie, confirmed by the end when Crystal tells Chang that Julian resented her and Billy's relationship. (Whether this is the truth or not is, of course, unknown). Julian believes that Billy got what he deserved; Crystal couldn't care less that he raped and murdered a teenager. It is this total disregard for decency or morality which leads me to parallel the film with the Old Testament. In many instances in the Old Testament, God seems to brush off horrific and brutal acts of violence (e.g. the angels in Sodom and Gomorrah), with hardly any thought. Billy and Julian are Crystal's sons through and through, created, raised and conditioned by her sociopathic and egomaniacal ways; Crystal is Julian's God throughout Only God Forgives, ordering him around, punishing him for not obeying her word, and ultimately condemning him as a "very dangerous boy" when he doesn't do what she wants him to do.
Though some films would be content with this analogy, Only God Forgives spins it on it's head with the main an/protagonist Chang, the titular "God". Change believes himself an Angel of Vengeance punishing those who have done wrong and allowing those wronged to take vengeance (usually before also punishing them for allowing the crime to happen in the first place). Chang is like a mix of Robocop and Judge Dredd, the perfect physical specimen despite his age, a seemingly honorable man - who faces Crystal's vengeance after he enacts his own on Billy. In the end, Chang appears to forgives Julian, but this act of forgiveness involves a hefty fine on Julian's part - demonstrating that 'forgiveness' can walk the line between honorable and unjust. If we are to go with the analogy that Chang is God, then Crystal is Satan, a chaotic and destructively vile specimen whose only justice is her own. But is this not also Chang's justice? In the end, Good and Evil, Forgiveness and Vengeance, God and the Devil - they all seem remarkably similar.
Of course Julian's journey through this battlefield of the Gods is one that he himself sees as redemptive. Refusing to accept Crystal's demands at the beginning, he is eventually seduced (after being severely beaten to a pulp by Chang) but realises that his mother's demands are over-excessive and sadistic. Believing himself redeemed because he shoots his partner, he fails to realise the consequences of Chang's wife being dead and his daughter being traumatized for life. When he returns to his mother's apartment and finds her dead, he cuts her belly open and puts his hand in (a remarkable expression of Oedipal desires mixed with contempt and anger). He envisions Chang forgiving him and removing his arms - and we are left to question whether God truly forgives or Julian simply lies to himself, convincing himself that he is redeemed.
Acting wise, Only God Forgives rightly forgoes subtlety in order to portray the surreal hyperreality to the best degree possible. Kristin Scott-Thomas is gloriously frightening and sadistic, and this is easily her best performance that I've seen. Gosling, too, plays the suppressed and angry Julian as well as he ever has, but Vithaya Pansringarm was the surprise for me, playing Chang seemingly very honestly (there are two scenes wherein he sings, which are, in fact, quite beautiful).
Oh, one more thing - it looks fucking fantastic.
