Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives

[Drz]

Just shows people are too narcistic these days to appreciate anything outside what they find cool.

Only God Forgives wouldn't be this hated, granted it wouldn't be this acknowledged either if it hadn't been for Drive. Too many people assumed this was Drive 2.0, not Valhalla Rising 2.0

 

[Rowsdower!]

Come on now. I knew going into this movie that it wasn't going to be Drive 2. If you liked it, that's fine, but just because people didn't enjoy a movie, it doesn't make them stupid or uninformed. I found watching this thing to be tedious and pointless. There was some good cinematography and a couple of good scenes, but on the whole, I found the movie to be an insipid bore that I wouldn't watch again if you paid me.

 

[Naked Shia]

Just shows people are too narcistic these days to appreciate anything outside what they find cool.

Only God Forgives wouldn't be this hated, granted it wouldn't be this acknowledged either if it hadn't been for Drive. Too many people assumed this was Drive 2.0, not Valhalla Rising 2.0

Or maybe they aren not pretentious enough to pretend they like an empty movie juste because it's made by winding Refn.

 

[The Endless]

I don't think the movie was empty, but i can see why some would come away from it with that feeling. Refn struggled to communicate his themes and ideas. He was too obtuse and got lost up his own ass.

I love Refn's style, and i did enjoy this film. But i do think he went a bit too overboard with this one. Drive looks incredibly restrained in comparison to Only God Forgives.

 

[Naked Shia]

I don't think the movie was empty, but i can see why some would come away from it with that feeling. Refn struggled to communicate his themes and ideas. He was too obtuse and got lost up his own ass.

I love Refn's style, and i did enjoy this film. But i do think he went a bit too overboard with this one. Drive looks incredibly restrained in comparison to Only God Forgives.

I can understand how some people liked the movie. I do respect the way you formulate what you liked, and what you didn't.

I can't stand people insulting those who didn't like it though.

So far, I've seen 4 Refn movies. This one, Drive, Valhala Rising, and Bronson. And It's probably true that I shouldn't use the word "empty". That said, I don't have a problem with filmakers refusing to overuse exposition. I really like when a director tries to tell his story in a unique manner. But each time I watched a Refn movie, I had the feeling it was incomplete. Even Bronson, the most linear movies of his I've seen, felt incomplete to me. It's still the one I prefer, mostly because of Hardy's interpretation.

It's weird, because I really want to like his cinema. I like movies with an eerie mood, I like when the filmaker is trying to be innovative in the way he tells his story. But everytime, I have the feeling he's more interested in style than in substance. I may be wrong. But that's how I see it. Even the symbolism doesn't seem that deep to me.

About OGF, I couldn't help but think the take on the Oedipe complex was really superficial. I couldn't tell if it was trying to be deep without suceeding, or if it was just an exercice in style.

The long silent scenes with the corridors didn't really work for me, because they reminded me of Lost highway, but without succeeding in creating a suffocating atmosphere. What I want, when I watch a movie, is to be moved in some way. I want the movie to create a reaction in me, something visceral. And so far, it never happened to me with a Refn movie.

I planned to watch the pusher trilogy, but I'm not sure I should now.

 

[The Endless]

The Pusher movies are pretty different to his more recent ones. They are pretty straight forward in comparison.

But yea i think Refn is definitely a stylist. He's trying to be David Lynch but David Lynch is a one of a kind.

Self indulgence is his problem, i think. All great directors have to be self indulgent to some degree. That's how their unique voice is heard, their self indulgence makes them stand out among the crowd. But the great ones also showed a bit of restraint when they had to.

 

[Naked Shia]

yeah, there is something in the way he tells his tales that really reminds me of Lynch. Except Lynch stories are told in that way for a reason. They are not as straight forward and work better in the realm of fantasms, which gives sense to the nightmarish mood, and doesn't come as gratuitous to me.

 

[The Endless]

Yea Lynch's films are weird and really stylistic. But like you say, it's for a reason.

Like with Mulholland Drive. It blurs the lines of reality not just for stylistic reasons or to be weird for weirdness sake. But because it's about the effects of our conscious mind on our subconscious mind. How what we experience in the real world effects our dreams and subconscious.

Refn goes for that dreamy vibe and atmosphere... but it seems a lot of the time just for the sake of style.

 

[Naked Shia]

This is exactly how I feel. And every time I asks my friend who love his movies to explain to me why they feel differently, they tell me things like "you don't get it, his movies are too artistic for you". Which is a way to avoid giving a real answer.