Only God Forgives- But this film?

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.