Only God Forgives
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Bangkok Dangerous: Nicolas Winding Refn on Only God Forgives
A superviolent and supremely strange Bangkok nocturne, Only God Forgives is Nicolas Winding Refn’s follow-up to his Cannes award-winning pop culture sensation Drive. This film, sure to be nowhere near as popular, is a distinctly less accessible affair. One senses that the filmmaker, a born contrarian, takes a certain pleasure in this. In both Thai and English, it meditates on a white man who trains child fighters and runs a family-operated drug ring with his brother. When said brother is dispatched via some brutal south Asian justice involving really sharp swords (after he is found to have rapped and killed […]
by Brandon Harris on Jul 19, 2013 -
Cannes 2013: Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra and Refn’s Only God Forgives
If Behind the Candelabra is Steven Soderbergh’s last film before he retires to pursue other interests, it serves as a fitting tribute to his fascination with celebrity and to his ability to depict complex emotional relationships in an accessible and engaging fashion. The film depicts the tumultuous relationship between Liberace (Michael Douglas) and his lover, Scott Thorson (Matt Damon), during the last few years of the pianist’s life, relating the story primarily from Scott’s perspective as he is welcomed to see behind Liberace’s widely recognized stage persona and to gain access to the person behind the image. When the film […]
by Chuck Tryon on May 22, 2013 -
NICOLAS WINDING REFN DOC HITS YOUTUBE
Last week on the blog, I linked to a great piece by Nicolas Winding Refn on the obscure exploitation director Andy Milligan. Now, though, it’s the Drive helmer himself who’s in the spotlight, as he’s the subject of an hour-long portrait by French documentarian Laurent Duroche, NWR, which is available to watch on YouTube. As you’ll discover from the very first minute — when we first see and then hear Alejandro Jodorowsky talking French in his distinctive Chilean tones — this is a film without subtitles. But the good news is that Refn is fluent in English and the majority of […]
by Nick Dawson on Jun 20, 2012
