I knew Only God
Forgives was meant to be different to Drive
(2011). Well almost, Ryan Gosling (Julian) is in it and fits into a
revenge/ noir genre. But I’m still confused whether I enjoyed the film or not.
Maybe it was Gosling’s acting, or the fact that Only God Forgives has been released so soon after Drive that everyone was only going to be
compare the two.
Narrative wise, although it has been claimed pithy I think
it is sufficient enough. Set in an underground boxing club that operates as an
illegal drug / prostitution front, we see the death of Julian’s older brother
Billy (Tom Burke) implied as a ‘bad’ person after he proclaims his interest in
fourteen year old girls. Refusing the prostitutes on offer he eventually finds
another to brutally kill. The cinematography is filled with red tones but loses
its power when we are shown the bloody female corpse who seems to disappear in
the shot. Enter Madonna mixed with Donatella Versace, Kristin Scott Thomas as the
mother (Crystal) who visits Julian in Bangkok after hearing of her eldest son’s
death. Although her costuming is hilarious, her character did add a bit of
oomph to the narrative. Her phallic and incestuous representations are out of
place and just like Billy’s statement about younger girls, they seems
pointless. If this was delved into the characters psyche then sure, perhaps
there would be a point, but instead it was litigious for the sake of it.
We also meet Thai policeman Litenatant Chang (Vithaya
Pansringarm), known as “the angle of vengeance” who visits the father
(Choi Yan Lee) of the killed prostitute.
Chang advises Yan Lee to take revenge.
Yan Lee does and shown what’s left of Billy’s mashed head, looking much like a
scene from Irreversible (Gaspar Noe
2002). But unlike Irreversible we are
only shown this by image, we are not given any real sense of the brutality of
the act. Upon seeing what Yan Lee has done, Chang chops his arm off and informs
him of his disapproval of his daughter’s prostitution. Gosling’s hit men confront Yan Lee about the murder
of Billy; he explains that Chang gave him permission to kill him. From then on
it’s a gang war between the two.
Only God Forgives
does have a storyline, so to speak, but team that with heavy handed aesthetics,
repeated karaoke scenes then it does get boring and conceited. I was more
interested in tying up some loose plot points like what was Chang’s purpose? Why
was he doing what he was doing? Pansringarm gave a good stance and disposition,
but what was the point. In much the same
way, Goslings performance seemed like he was sending himself up, becoming his
own parody only this time without the gold scorpion jacket. If you want a bit
of clarity to this self reflexivity, please check out this clip, “Ryan Gosling
Won’t Eat His Cereal”. I liked this clip
a lot better than the film.
