BigPleb: Only God Forgives

BigPleb 06.08.15	If nothing else, this movie was certainly interesting and I will definitely be viewing it again. Feel like the director delved a little bit too far into indulgence this time around though.
chemicalmarriage 06.08.15	Sounds cool
BigPleb 06.08.15	It's definitely one you have to see to believe, even if it's just for the gorgeous cinematography. Gosling probably only has about 4-5 lines of dialogue throughout the whole movie, yet coneys his troubled and narcissistic character perfectly.
LepreCon 06.08.15	Preferred Drive
BigPleb 06.08.15	Refyn certainly has an eye for abstract film making.
Intothepit 06.09.15	While I love Refn, this movie was pure self-indulged schlock. Anyone who says otherwise is either a blind fanboy or is too much of hipster who will think I "just don't get it, bro."
evilford 06.09.15	Never seen cool list lu pleb
Rice303 06.09.15	I really didn't like this movie upon first viewing.. I understood it but found it's pacing very incoherent despite the fact that every frame really does have some purpose. Refn is a very talented director and I'm a huge fan of the Pusher movie series and Drive, but yeah, this movie didn't do much for me
aoz007 06.09.15	Only God Forgives was polarizing. I was a fan of Refn's Drive and Bronson, but this one wasn't too good. Too self-indulgent, although it was visually well-shot. Supposedly, it was suppose to be more of a conventional thriller like "Drive", but Refn changed things as he worked on the film.
DrGonzo1937 06.09.15	Fucking awful film.
BigPleb 06.09.15	You aren't the only one, Gonzo.
Rowan5215 06.09.15	dunno if I'll watch cos Drive is total shite
DamnVanne 06.09.15	lol no it's not. I dont rightly remember much of Only God Forgives, but I did take away that is was an awful movie. Maybe I need to give it another shot
BigPleb 06.09.15	Drive rules Rowan, the opening scene is just the most perfect intro to a film.
Rowan5215 06.09.15	can't stand it dude Gosling walks around with an expresionless face and bored-sounding dialogue for an hour and a half, nothing happens plotwise but then a couple scenes of extreme violence here and there = brilliant? I just don't get the hype
EvoHavok 06.09.15	Pretty weird movie and some of the scenes... ugh... I liked Drive more as well.
porcupinetheater 06.09.15	Spoilers and shit. Too many people saw Drive and then jumped into Only God Forgives with a "Ryan Gosling and neon? DRIVE II!!" attitude. Should've checked Valhalla Rising, this sort of thing ain't unprecedented for Refn. And if you try delving beneath the surface of Only God Forgives, it's arguably his most thematically rich picture. The whole thing is shot through with Freudian psychosexual subtext and metaphors in general for human sexuality. Julian keeps reaching for a door in a hallway, before his arm is sliced violently from his torso (a thematic emasculation, with the door standing in for sex, particularly the sex interrupted by his Mother's presence. (And good God, Kristin Scott Thomas was fucking amazing in this). So then how fitting that it ultimately ties Mother and Son together, a relationship shot through with mutual dependence and loating, with an image that conveys violence, maternity, and sexualization. All whilst being pursued by the personification of the Angel of Death, or God himself, and the ultimate confrontation between Man and deity, Man rebelling against the fate laid out for him by said deity, and this struggle's ultimate futility. How fitting, then, that one figure bidding for supremacy (Crystal), is killed by the other (Chang). And of course, the conclusion arrives, and Chang is ultimately the one to ritualistically remove Julian's hands; the same hands he had already learned not to use to touch his prostitute girlfriend, preferring instead to be tied down. This isn't directed at anyone specifically on this site, but just in general critical circles, I'm pretty tired of seeing people not put in the work to try to understand this film and then pretend that makes them right in saying that nothing's going on.
Rowan5215 06.09.15	Again I haven't seen this but I'd just like to say just because a movie has rich subtext/symbolic meaning that does not make it a good movie off the bat
porcupinetheater 06.09.15	No, but I still think people frequently place so much emphasis on plot and character mechanics that films that clearly don't have much interest in the development of either are still judged according to that particular criteria, when I would argue that just as the mere presence of rich symbolism doesn't inherently make a film great, neither does the mere absence of a complex story or characters with developed backstories and explicitly detailed motivations make a film bad. I just wish more people would try to meet movies halfway.
BigBlob 06.09.15	drive did kinda suck
Sniff 06.09.15	Should I watch this now?
BigPleb 06.09.15	Go ahead sniff.
ti0n 06.09.15	better than drive
Deviant. 06.09.15	"Spoilers and shit. Too many people saw Drive and then jumped into Only God Forgives with a "Ryan Gosling and neon? DRIVE II!!" attitude. Should've checked Valhalla Rising, this sort of thing ain't unprecedented for Refn. And if you try delving beneath the surface of Only God Forgives, it's arguably his most thematically rich picture. The whole thing is shot through with Freudian psychosexual subtext and metaphors in general for human sexuality. Julian keeps reaching for a door in a hallway, before his arm is sliced violently from his torso (a thematic emasculation, with the door standing in for sex, particularly the sex interrupted by his Mother's presence. (And good God, Kristin Scott Thomas was fucking amazing in this). So then how fitting that it ultimately ties Mother and Son together, a relationship shot through with mutual dependence and loating, with an image that conveys violence, maternity, and sexualization. All whilst being pursued by the personification of the Angel of Death, or God himself, and the ultimate confrontation between Man and deity, Man rebelling against the fate laid out for him by said deity, and this struggle's ultimate futility. How fitting, then, that one figure bidding for supremacy (Crystal), is killed by the other (Chang). And of course, the conclusion arrives, and Chang is ultimately the one to ritualistically remove Julian's hands; the same hands he had already learned not to use to touch his prostitute girlfriend, preferring instead to be tied down. This isn't directed at anyone specifically on this site, but just in general critical circles, I'm pretty tired of seeing people not put in the work to try to understand this film and then pretend that makes them right in saying that nothing's going on." This is a great post and all, and you're undoubtedly spot on and all that, but I just read all that and my first reaction was "fuck me, someone went just a little too far down the rabbit hole". But congrats and all I guess
zakalwe 06.09.15	" (a thematic emasculation, with the door standing in for sex, particularly the sex interrupted by his Mother's presence. (And good God, Kristin Scott Thomas was fucking amazing in this). So then how fitting that it ultimately ties Mother and Son together, a relationship shot through with mutual dependence and loating, with an image that conveys violence, maternity, and sexualization. All whilst being pursued by the personification of the Angel of Death, or God himself, and the ultimate confrontation between Man and deity, Man rebelling against the fate laid out for him by said deity, and this struggle's ultimate futility." What a load of college claptrap student waffle
ti0n 06.09.15	"college claptrap student waffle" "college claptrap student waffle" "college claptrap student waffle" "college claptrap student waffle" "college claptrap student waffle" "college claptrap student waffle" "college claptrap student waffle"
zakalwe 06.09.15	No it means your mother has a penis
Rik VII 06.09.15	quite a coincidence, I watched it just a few days ago. There was much about it that I really didn't like, though it has a fascinating atmosphere. I'll have to watch it one more time to form a reliable opinion (just like Valhalla Rising, that one was quite irritating, too). btw, that torture scene was unnecessary and out of place af.
DrGonzo1937 06.09.15	Nonsensical dogshit. Drive is awesome, this was the opposed opposite.
NorwichScene 06.09.15	Loved Drive, hated this
DrGonzo1937 06.09.15	[2]
porcupinetheater 06.09.15	"If I wanted to see endless explosions and action, I'd just dust off my copy of black for PS2." Films with wall to wall explosions and action generally try to convolute the Hell out of ridiculous plots. I'm just saying don't go into an art film or an essay film or something along those lines and then say it sucks because it doesn't fall under the blanket of narrative story telling convention. "What a load of college claptrap student waffle" Probably. So please, enlighten me. What does Only God Forgives mean?
Rice303 06.10.15	It's really hard for me to judge this film because while as I stated earlier, most scenes have purpose, it's pacing is really off-putting for me. IDK, I'm probably just more used to films that don't rely so much on symbolism. It isn't a terrible film, it's just one I find boring in between the more major aspects of plot.
Intothepit 06.10.15	Refn is becoming the Michael Bay of art house cinema. Instead of endless explosions and racist robots, it's unnecessarily colorful cinematography and never ending twists and turns that lead nowhere. Only God Forgives is a practice in excess, but not in the good way.