After a blood-soaked night in Bangkok, Only God Forgives asks the question in a battle of wills, who will win, the criminals or the cops? A protagonist divided by blood and his conscience may tip the scales, but in whose favor? Someone has to pay, but who will pick up the check? Old Testament meets New Testament when East meets West, but will the sun rise and the characters face another day once the dust clears?
I am not sure how Only God Forgives ended up in my queue. There are multiple possibilities. Dame Kristin Scott Thomas, the thespian who can act in two languages, dons an American accent to play the mother and crime boss in this film. Think an aging Paris Hilton after she lived a hard life and adopted a crass vernacular. It could be because Ryan Gosling was in it, and before La La Land and Blade Runner 2046, his presence was an asset. Gosling plays her son, whom I suppose is the protagonist though he is the least interesting person in the film. If he annoys you, you may experience a bit of schadenfreude from watching this film.
I really enjoyed Gosling in Drive, which Nicolas Winding Refn directed. I went from unintentionally working my way through Refn’s filmography with Bronson, Drive, The Neon Demon and Valhalla Rising because he snags great actors, but I think that Only God Forgives was a deliberate, conscious decision borne from my love of Drive, which I will rewatch, and Refn’s vision for lighting, color and mise-en-scene, which is brilliant even if his stories are lacking in other facets.
After watching Only God Forgives, I have to ask if Refn and Gosling were deliberately trying to make a bad movie in the vein of an art house film. Refn knows how to make a solid film when he wants. These actors know how to act, but were hopefully dutifully obeying Refn’s direction. Refn clearly imagined a revamped Western set in the East with a dash of a homage to martial arts films, but lacked the full capacity to truly embrace either genre and make it as much fun to watch as allegedly it was for him and Gosling to make. Gosling, who was the executive producer, contributed heavily to the more colorful notes in the script and the narrative so I imagine Refn and Gosling giggling like a bunch of school boys over the script while eating fries aiming to be transgressive, but hitting self-indulgent and dull.
Most Westerns are told from the point of view of the hero. If I decide to be charitable, I would like to believe that Refn decided to make a Western from the point of view of one of the henchmen working with the villain. The villain always believes that they are untouchable, and they are not. The hero is. Ideally Refn decided firmly put his tongue in cheek, tweak the nose of viewers who despite all evidence to the contrary root for the Western characters or the most famous faces then the narrative punishes them for making the wrong assumptions about the identity of the hero. If you did not do that, then the movie is slightly amusing because there is so much buildup to the confrontation between both sides, and for someone as desensitized to onscreen violence not involving animals as I am, the actual confrontations are hilarious.
Unfortunately Refn probably really did see Gosling’s character in Only God Forgives as a tortured anti-hero seeking to be born again, but unable to return to his mother’s womb. If your hands offend thee… The film’s goal is for his character to separate himself from his corrupt roots and find peace. He has prophetic visions of possible redemption as he tortures himself by denying himself pleasure and living like a monk. I kid you not-there is a brief shot of Gosling’s black jean-clad crotch. The problem is that I cannot get over this absurd, purely cinematically invented storyline. If you had a degenerate brother like the protagonist, I have a hard time believing that this movie would not start the second the brother landed in Bangkok, especially if the law reacts as swiftly to transgressions as they do in this film, because he did not exactly strike me as a character known for his restraint or discretion. No one would have even unpacked their suitcase before they swiftly received punishment.
The acting is wooden. The editing is just as lethargic. A character is seated then standing with no transitions seconds later, but it is not an error. Refn is editing economically. Sometimes Only God Forgives’ editing style works. For instance, there is a scene where a cop hears a potential weapon, a common household item, the shot cuts to a close up of the weapon, then we see him wielding it. Beautiful, terrific, but in other scenarios, comical, dumb, almost as if this film inspired The Spoils of series. Visually the film is gorgeous-all reds, yellows and greens with an occasional flash of blue, but while I know that green was the cop’s color, I do not understand the significance, and there are a lot of visual symbols that Refn uses which are not universal so meaning gets lost. The film implies a lot of violence, but only occasionally shows it graphically and at those most, it feels fake so if you are looking to be shocked by the violence, do not bother. The camera work beautifully builds tension, but is ultimately a tease because the narrative is so unsatisfying.
There are not many reasons to watch Only God Forgives. If you have always yearned to see Dame Thomas utter the most filthy, ridiculous dialogue ever and ham it up as if she got rejected for a film noir femme fatale role after being dressed by nouveau riche teenagers, then you must see this film. I imagine that she took this job because it was not anything like her prior roles, and honestly she is such a strange character that you cannot tell if everything that she says is sarcastic, or if she is genuinely sad about her son’s death. I think that it is a point of pride and respect, completely about her, not anyone else. She commands every scene that she is in.
Vithaya Pansringarm, who plays Chang, the retired cop in Only God Forgives, is a revelation. I wish that Refn’s narrative was slightly more conventional in terms of a Western story because then Chang would be the protagonist, and I would actually be interested. He is an unassuming, understated, mature dude so every time he would do anything or say anything, I was genuinely shocked. I have no idea if in Thailand, when you see Pansringarm, he is the equivalent of Clint Eastwood so you are expecting his character to act a certain way, but I did not, and the contrast was delightful. No, instead we are stuck following Gosling mournfully watch some chick masturbate and generally sit quietly. I am sorry, but he is not THAT attractive that I can stand that much Gosling doing nothing.
If you are a completist like me and enjoy following Refn’s work, I probably will not be able to convince you not to watch Only God Forgives, but you should not. It is not worth it. If you come for Scott and Pansringarm, watch for as long as you can then fast forward until you see them because it is not worth it. Sure you will miss some pivotal plot points, but go to Wikipedia and read the summary.