Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives

[Drz]

I personally love Valhalla Rising, but that's because i see it as an movie about Odin/Force-of-Nature, but yeah i will be cautious to not be overhyped. 3 weeks till i get to see this!

 

[Vid Electricz]

Poor reviews at Cannes. lol. Too violent, not enough dialogue, etc...

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie...-cannes-pans-only-god-forgives-175321204.html

 

[StarLord]

I really can't wait to see this now!

 

[echostation]

I knew this would divide people after reading the script... I found it very frustrating personally, some of it was great, much of it was nonsensical and stupid. The ending will piss many people off here that's for sure if they've kept what's in the script. So poorly explained, you only just barely manage to understand the point of what he's trying to do but it really could have been done in so many better ways, ilahi hupti ali

 

[weezerspider]

Well Pulp Fiction and Taxi Driver were famously booed at Cannes so who really knows. Pulp Fiction won the Palme Dor despite the boos because the actual judge panel had better taste than the critics in the audience. I'm not saying 'Only God Forgives' is going to be the next Pulp Fiction or Taxi Driver, I'm just saying we still don't really know anything at this point. For all we know, Spielberg and the rest of the panel loved it and it'll win the top award, though I doubt it.


EDIT: A recent booing at Cannes, The Tree Of Life, ended up doing very well come award season and was overall liked by critics. It was nominated for the big three Academy Awards (Director, Picture and Cinematography).

I could really see this being the next 'Fight Club'. Its loved by some critics and the target audience adores it, but a lot of critics hate it and call it a disgrace and what not.

 

[Snow Queen]

EDIT: A recent booing at Cannes, The Tree Of Life, ended up doing very well come award season and was overall liked by critics. It was nominated for the big three Academy Awards (Director, Picture and Cinematography).

That one was rightfully booed, I hope this is nowhere near that.

 

[weezerspider]

That one was rightfully booed, I hope this is nowhere near that.

To each his own, but the point still stands. That film was booed at Cannes and ended up being very strongly liked by its target audience and received recognition come award season. Boos at Cannes happens sort of frequently which is kind of ridiculous IMO. Everyone dresses up only to show their lack of class by booing. I don't get it.


And for what its worth, I too wasn't a fan of Tree Of Life.

 

[Heisenberg]

I don't invest too much in reviews, and I read one earlier that stated "a shame this isn't the Refn of "Drive", but instead the Refn of "Pusher"..." and just solidified my stance on reviews meaning very little. And just my personal taste, but all the negatives I've heard actually interest me more ie. Gosling has 17 lines of dialog, the violence is extreme.

 

[Tequilla]

Booing in a movie theater should be geared towards the people who boo movies at a movie theater !!

That one was rightfully booed, I hope this is nowhere near that.

 

[weezerspider]

IndieWire just gave it a B. This seems like one of the more level-headed reviews of this film I've read.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplayl...-too-little-oedipal-amoral-substance-20130522

 

[Laderlappen]

That one was rightfully booed, I hope this is nowhere near that.

I think booing at any film is quite pathetic, no matter how good or bad it is.

 

[Drz]

It's interesting how some reviewes state Gosling's minimal dialogue as a legimate complaiment, when has it become a demand that the protagonist has to talk much?

 

[Octoberist]

Booing is common at Cannes. People shouldn't think too much about it.

 

[Tim_Riggins]

It's interesting how some reviewes state Gosling's minimal dialogue as a legimate complaiment, when has it become a demand that the protagonist has to talk much?

Wait till you see the movie. Some of you guys are unbelievable, I love this comment by weezerspider "This seems like one of the more level-headed reviews of this film I've read."

Just because many of the reviews are scathing doesnt mean that they are blindfully hating it, you'd better keep your expectations in check, because if you go in with this attitude and the movie disappoints you (and it will disappoint a lot of people), you'll look like a fool.

Gosling barely speaking (he has 20 lines in the entire movie) works in Drive, it doesnt really in Only God Forgives, especially because barely anyone speaks in the movie, it is incredibly minimalistic in this respect, the problem is for Refn, and one other guy along with me (Jones on Nolanfans) who saw it as well, is that Only God Forgives is like a work of art, incredibly beautiful visually, an experience, but also incredibly vapid, hollow.

I have no doubt that there is a deeper message but I still have to try and figure it out (the ending is bizarre in this respect, but there's a symbolism somewhere), and it's just a movie about vengeance.

Not speaking is cool, but don't overdo it, in the three movies of Refn that I've seen: Valhalla Rising, Drive, and Only God Forgives (dont want to see the rest, maybe Bronson someday, but Pusher, from what I've seen, I just dont want to see that), aside from Drive to a certain degree, there are no characters.

Or at most, they are shells, vehicles for Refn's ideas, there is no humanity, there is no emotion, nothing, you can't even judge the acting, Gosling, some people are making fun of him on this movie (otherwise, he's basically one of the very best actors out there), but he has NOTHING to do, he's just there as an observer, looking, and god knows, there are endlesssssssss scenes where one ch aracter is looking at another, for x minutes. He's not given anything to do.

Kristin Scott Thomas? One note, one dimensional character, she's a *****, that's all you need to know. Julian's brother who's murdered (setting the whole vengeance stuff in motion), he's nothing.

The Chang guy with the sword, one note, one dimensional. There is no emotion, only violence, and Refn lovesssssss it. The movie is about vengeance, but IMO the violence here is too much, it's overdone, it serves no real purpose, contrary to Drive.


Sorry for going back to Drive all the time, but I wish Refn (but he wrote this before Drive) could go back to that kind of movie, instead of making beautiful but vapid movies. There was at least some emotion and real poetry in Drive.

 

[Tequilla]

Why don't you want to see the Pusher movies ? It's probably his best work.

And Hardy's work in Bronson is more than enough to warrant a watch.

 

[Dispatch Ninja]

Peter Bradshaw with the guardian gave it 5/5 stars

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/may/22/cannes-only-good-forgives-ryan-gosling-review

 

[Tequilla]

Poor reviews at Cannes. lol. Too violent, not enough dialogue, etc...

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie...-cannes-pans-only-god-forgives-175321204.html

It’s a sh-- macho fantasy — hyperviolent, ethically repulsive, sad, nonsensical, deathly dull, snail-paced, idiotic, possibly woman-hating, visually suffocating, pretentious.

It's a negative review but what he describe sounds kinda....awesome.

It's a macho fantasy , but at the same time its ...pretentious. lol.

 

[Dispatch Ninja]

It's a negative review but what he describe sounds kinda....awesome.

It's a macho fantasy , but at the same time its ...pretentious. lol.

This

"I felt violated, s*** upon, sedated, narcotized, appalled and bored stiff.”

got me excited minus the bored part.

 

[Gianakin_]

It's a negative review but what he describe sounds kinda....awesome.

It's a macho fantasy , but at the same time its ...pretentious. lol.

Aka, Refn.

 

[Tim_Riggins]

Why don't you want to see the Pusher movies ? It's probably his best work.

And Hardy's work in Bronson is more than enough to warrant a watch.

Simply because I saw bits of it on a Mads Mikkelsen interview and it immediately turned me off. I like the polished visuals seen in Drive or OGF much better.

 

[Bruce Malone]

“It’s a sh-- macho fantasy — hyperviolent, ethically repulsive, sad, nonsensical, deathly dull, snail-paced, idiotic, possibly woman-hating, visually suffocating, pretentious. I realize I sound like Rex Reed on one of his rants, but trust me, please — this is a defecation by an over-praised, over-indulged director who thinks anything he craps out is worthy of your time. I felt violated, s*** upon, sedated, narcotized, appalled and bored stiff.”

Wow this is like haaaate. I don't even know if a michael bay movie could elicit this type of response from critics?

 

[Tim_Riggins]

You'll all get it once you see the movie, I heard lots of whispers in my audience (not a lot of people though, around 30), I could tell nobody expected that.

The movie is really nothing like the trailers or clips make it out to be.

 

[Ajendo]

This film is all about violence? The movie's too violent?? Good! That's what I expect ever since watching the trailers. I don't need to see characters talking or explaining their motives, I just want to see carnage, mayhem and death. I don't see how that's a problem. I've seen enough movies in my lifetime, all 28 years to be exact and watching silent movies to films where there's too much verbal exposition, this sounds like something I can at the very least appreciate. My primary interest in this movie is the violence and it appears the movie has succeeded.

 

[Tim_Riggins]

Wow, Your post comes across as very weird.

Anyways, see it for yourselves people before dismissing the scathing reviews.

 

[Crockett]

The booing after screenings in Cannes is always something you have to take with the experience but it's not meant to really taken so seriously, whether or not the films in question deserve it, and I'm not saying this because I'm looking forward to this. I gotta say though, reading the reactions that it's more in vein of Fear X and Valhalla Rising actually makes me more excited, especially the former which it's a very unappreciated film.

Btw, this "booing" of Tree of Life is more like an exaggeration, going off from what I've read it's more like a rowdy minority that really wants to be heard.