ONLY GOD FORGIVES DVD (2013)




SYNOPSIS: Julian, a respected figure in the criminal underworld of Bangkok, runs a Thai boxing club and smuggling ring with his brother, Billy. Billy is suddenly murdered and their crime lord matriarch, Crystal arrives from London to bring back the body. When Crystal forces Julian to settle the score with his brother's killers, Julian finds himself in the ultimate showdown.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Only God Forgives is art on celluloid. Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling reunites again in this arthouse tale of revenge set mainly in the seedy alleys of Bangkok accompanied by rousing local tunes and a soundtrack by Cliff Martinez. 

Proving to be both an asset to the mainstream cinema and the indie circuit, Gosling plays Julian, owner of a boxing club whose brother, Billy is killed after he murdered an underage prostitute. The death of Billy sets off a series of events first beginning with the arrival of the brothers’ mother, Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas), a foul-mouthed, mafia-like woman. Throw in a samurai-wielding cop, Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm) who has no qualms carrying out his own punishment, singing karaoke to entertain his subordinates and the narrative gets weirder by the minute.

Drenched in neon-lit atmosphere, frequent moments of stillness and filled with dreamlike sequences, Only God Forgives is not an easy movie to swallow for the general audience. For a short 85 minutes movie, there’s more style than substance including a splatter of early David Lynch, a little of wacky Quentin Tarantino and a dab of Refn’s trademark. If you get past all the pretentiousness, it’s actually quite an enjoyable flick.

Gosling is simply amazing. With less than 18 lines of dialogue during the entire time, he is able to exude ultra coolness even with a beautiful woman masturbating in front of him. Kristin Scott Thomas is far better. The British thespian is almost unrecognizable as Crystal and simply scary as the dominating Crystal. Without battling his eyelids, Vithaya Pansringarm on the hand is clearly the winner here. Whether he is singing karaoke, decapitating and torturing his victims or just running, he is well probably the coolest character after T-1000 in Terminator 2.     

Definitely a far cry from the more accessible Drive, whether you like it or not for all the controversies, Only God Forgives at the minimum deserves a single viewing. For art sake. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

A DVD with servicable audio and visual.

MOVIE RATING:


DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee



Back

 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Crime/Thriller
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Tom Burke, Yayaying, Vithaya Pansringarm, Gordon Brown, Oak Keerati, Joe Cummings
Director: Nicolas Winding Refnn
Rating: M18 (Violence And Sexual References)
Year Made: 2013

 SPECIAL FEATURES

- NIL

 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English
Subtitles: English/Chinese
Aspect Ratio: 16x9 Widescreen
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0
Running Time: 1 hr 29 mins
Region Code: 3
Distributor: Scorpio East Entertainment