[YMS] So, I saw Only God Forgives and it was really disappointing.
Now, I didn't have huge expectations going into it in the first place,
and it's not like there were no redeeming qualities to this movie whatsoever,
but it is definitely not something that I would recommend.
Now, there are plenty of great movies out there that have minimal action scenes and slow pacing,
but when it works it's usually because the audience members have something to digest
when they're watching it. In Only God Forgives the story is not only
ridiculously simple but kind of fucking irrelevant.
The movie obviously knows when it's most marketable scenes are, because those
scenes were in the trailer. [Director] Because I decided to make a fight movie, that's how I got financed.
I said to some financiers "I'm gonna make a Thai fight movie." [YMS] But when people get excited
by all those short clips in a trailer,
they're mostly excited by the promise that those scenes will actually be held together by something.
Watching two characters fighting is not nearly as entertaining as watching two
characters you actually understand and care about, fighting.
During many of the scenes in this movie I found myself thinking that they would be
better scenes if they were simply
in a different movie. One with, maybe, some context!
Long, drawn-out scenes of silent actors' faces might be compelling if there was
some glue holding them together.
But I felt like there was no story progressing in between at all.
It was all icing and no cake.
The film was visually interesting, despite it being visually repetitive.
But most of it is what I would like to call pretentious.
[Gandhi] Say whaat?! [YMS] Now, although some of you have thrown that word at a lot of movies that I like,
remember that it's not just a synonym for different and weird.
But it's when something tries to imply that there is significance to something completely insignificant.
And that's exactly what's happening with these reactionary shots.
I mean, just try to think about how retarded the screenplay must've been:
"Cut to Ryan Gosling sitting on a chair and staring."
"Cut to Ryan Gosling sitting on a chair and staring looking slightly concerned."
"Cut to a different shot of Ryan Gosling, sitting on a chair and staring. Ryan Gosling stares at something else."
"Ryan Gosling continues not to say anything as he stares, while sitting on a chair."
"Ryan Gosling continues to stare as he's standing but then decides he's going to stare while sitting."
And there were some parts of the movie that just didn't make any fucking sense at all!
Wait, why are they fighting now? When did his mom get invited? Why the fuck is she there?!
Way to interrupt the scenes to show that statue. And some fighting.
And, oh, the statue again. And then some fighting, some more. Hey, the statue! You couldn't fucking resist,
Winding Refn, that's really significant! I can tell it's significant because you
keep cutting back to it.
And please, don't give me all that shit about the symbolism. I fucking love symbolism!
But that doesn't excuse a movie for having no substance. A movie should be so
good that you want to be able to find all the subtleties in it,
not only good if you can find all the subtleties in it.
Fucking anyone can write this shit. See how it's called Only God Forgives and
these guys look to this guy as their god,
and then every single time we show the statue we're just gonna be right
after we show him,
because the statue is a symbol of a god, because people idolize them and it's called Only God Forgives.
[Director] But the idea of a fight movie image is very much a clenched fist,
which is of course a very violent act.
But it's also an extension of the male sexuality,
and the idea that one movement is
a mixture of sex and violence, that's about penetrating
or touching with the act of violence
or non-violence,
was the whole idea of the film. But if you open your palms, it's about submission.
And submission is an acceptance of whatever everly
your future will be. The idea that once he meets
this man chained to his mother's womb, trials back into his mother to
kind of reborn again.
In order to do that he needs to have his hands removed,
because that's the symbolism of humanity. [YMS] When characters in the movie die,
there's not necessarily anything wrong with the way it's shot, but what's wrong is
that it doesn't even fucking matter that they died. It doesn't matter who dies,
you coul thrown in a new character and they could die. It's just gore for the sake of gore.
Nothing ultimately affects the story because it's impossible to care about the story.
Maybe Refn made be exact movie he wanted to make on a technical level,
but something tells me that he thought he was writing a compelling and interesting
story that people would actually be able to care about.
If you just wanna see movies that are different for the sake of being different,
then go ahead and watch this movie.
But if you're like me and think that although that can really add to a film,
that doesn't necessarily make a film, then give this one a fucking pass because
I'm rating it a 5 out of 10.
Fucking 2013, who do you think you are? Why can't you be like those other years,
you fucking jerk?
It, like, aims it for me. That's kinda cheap. I'll just wait. Quicktime. Headshot.
Saving ammo like a boss. Come over here.
Oh, fuck you! Not the right kind! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!