This movie is flat out bizarre. I mean it's OUT there. Writer/director Nicholas Winding Refn immerses us into the underworld of Bangkok. It's dark, brutal, unforgiving, and deadly. Watching this movie at times reminded me of when I first saw David Lynch's masterpiece Blue Velvet. The way he used sound in that movie was a revelation to me. I thought to myself while watching Only God Forgives, Nicholas must really love David Lynch's work, to so blatantly rip him off like this. The only thing that didn't smack of Lynch was the bloody violence, and it was bloody. The original cut of this movie was so violent and bloody that the film received an NC-17 rating. After seeing this cut, I can't even imagine how vicious the original version must have been.
Nicholas brings back Ryan Gosling for this movie. This is the second time these two men have worked together, the first was in the 2011 thriller Drive. All those hoping for some kind of Drive sequel, save your money because this film is so NOT it. In fact I don't recall seeing anyone get in or use a car of any sort in this film, except to use its headlights. Ryan plays Julian, an American living in Bangkok who owns a Muay-Thai boxing gym to both look like a respectable businessman, and to use as a cover for his illegal dealings. He's a big time drug smuggler/dealer and he runs his operations with the assistance of his older brother Billy, played by Tom Burke, who is dealing with some serious demons. Billy goes out one night and is looking to get some action, its just the kind of action he's looking for is even too sick for Bangkok pimps and hookers. Billy wants to rape a 14 year old girl, and even tries to convince someone to bring his daughter to him for a hefty payday. The man obviously balks.
Billy get's his hands on a 16 year old instead, he rapes her and beats her to death. The top cop Chang, played with a quiet menace by Vithaya Pansringarm allows the farther of the murdered girl to have his way with Billy. From that moment on, this movie descends into some kind of mystical revenge trip, almost with no dialogue. Julian's mother Crystal, played by the amazingly talented Kristen Scott Thomas (who you would not even recognize at first) arrives to bring her "first born sons corpse" home. While there though, the matriarch of this drug empire wants the man who killed her son murdered as well as Chang for what he did to one of her henchmen.
What happens after that, I have no words for. Let's just say it's violent, and bloody, and sometimes damn uncomfortable to watch. It's made easier to watch thanks to the amazing look of the film. It's a dark film but the colors are so vibrant and electric, the shots are so well thought out and captured that cinematographer Larry Smith deserves high praise. That however pales in comparison to the amazing score put together by Cliff Martinez. It is off the charts good and after his score for Nicholas' Drive, I can see why Nicholas wanted to work with him again. The music is dark and brooding at times, and hilarious the next. The piece Cliff put together for the fight scene was...breathtakingly stirring. The movie, not so much. The only real character you get to know anything about is Crystal who seems to be listed straight from the show Mob Wives or Desperate Housewives of New Jersey. Outside of her, everyone is a mystery, like clouds passing overhead, they're wisps of people, nothing solid or tangible. I don't know about recommending this film. If you you're a fan of Nicholas, or for that matter David Lynch, then check out Only God Forgives. If you're not, do yourself a favor and see something else. I'll see you at the theater.
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