Only God Forgives

There are a few things that hip hop and punk music have in common, but the ones that are relevant to this post are their lack of concern for societal norms and their general disregard for being politically correct. There is a popular phrase in hip hop culture when you say something that can be perceived as gay and that phrase is “no homo”. It may not be the coolest thing in the world to say but it gets the message across. Although when you say something like “Girl you look so good, I’d suck on your daddy’s…” Notorious B.I.G., I’m not sure “no homo” can even mask that. The point of all of this is, is as I was watching Only God Forgives, I caught myself saying no homo quite a bit. There’d be a scene where Gosling is standing around looking like his normal cool self and I would catch myself thinking “Damn, dude looks pretty cool right there! No homo.” Or in the movie’s big dinner scene, he shows up with his stunningly hot hooker while rocking a pimp 3 piece suit and once again there I am thinking “Damn, dude looks pretty pimp with that fly suit. No homo!”  I was becoming so aware of my man crush that I nearly tackled my waitress and instantly motorboated her just to get back to a sense of normalcy.

The only reason why I saw this movie in the first place, was because my buddy, whose movie opinions I respect, told me that this film melted his brain because it was so good. Well, even if the movie did end up sucking, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have my brain melted in a theater that serves beer. Speaking of the theater, I swear they normally show porn in it because it was so small and strangely intimate. Anyway, Only God Forgives once again brings together the team of Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn who brought you the critically acclaimed 2011 surprise hit in Drive. For those of you who aren’t too familiar with Refn, he has a love for artistic excess in his films and he isn’t shy about portraying gruesome violence in them either. Well this movie is no different.

Don’t let all of my man crush examples fool you, as cool as Gosling looks at times in this movie, his character is anything but a bad ass in this film. He and his older brother are drug smugglers in Thailand and are both somehow tied to a local mixed martial arts circuit there as well. One night, Gosling’s brother rapes and beats a young hooker to death causing the local bad ass police chief to take justice in his own hands. Word of his death spreads and Gosling’s mother (played by Kristin Scott Thomas) flies in to convince Gosling to get revenge for his death. The lives of Gosling, his gang, his family’s, and that of the police chief Chang are forever changed at this point.

The reason why this movie works is because Refn allows the amazing score, the cinematography, and his filing style tell the story. Just like in Drive, Gosling barely says a word for the entire movie and there are a few memorable scenes where Refn uses the score to mute whatever conversation is taking place. There is a weird relationship that exists between Gosling, his brother, and his mother that is never fully explained but you get the sense that something unnatural was taking place. However I’ll let you see the film for yourself and have you  form your own opinion. Whatever took place has led to Gosling becoming totally submissive to whatever his mother wants and has also contributed to his many self denial scenes with his beautiful “entertainers”.  Speaking of, Refn’s use of lighting, set design, costumes, and of course impeccable casting creates this amazing fantasy world where beautiful hookers are the central figures in everything that is happening in this movie. You just have to see for yourself but it took all I had not to book a flight to Thailand the minute Gosling’s main hooker took her dress off after the infamous dinner scene.

Speaking of, this is the main reason why the movie doesn’t work in spots. Kristin Scott is almost unrecognizable as Gosling’s evil and crass mother but she just owns every scene that she’s in.  The problem I have with Gosling not talking much is that he substitutes facial expressions or mannerisms for actual dialogue and after a key explanation of the weird relationship that exists between Scott and her boys, Gosling gives this goofy head nod in response to it and you can’t help but burst out in laughter. There are additional scenes that are just as cheesy, mainly his “wanna fight” scene but overall they don’t quite over shadow everything else that goes on in this film.

Chang is probably the best character in the entire movie. All of his colleagues and every one of the locals show the most profound reverence for him; it’s almost likes his mythological, to steal a description from my friend. He is a step ahead of everyone in every scene; whether it’s during the attempted assassination, him chasing down crooks, or even his fight scene with Gosling. And he always deals out justice with his sword or whatever sharp knife like objects are around. He is the ultimate bad ass in this film.

The more this movie sits with me, the more I like it. It is definitely not your mainstream movie, so it wont be for everyone but I will give it a rating of FRESH.