Only God Forgives (2013)'s comments

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Earring72

Stylish for sure but not much story, slow, overly violent and feels loooooooong but it's only 90minutes.

8 years 10 months ago

A crock of shit film that was up it's own arse.

This is a movie that "critics" harboring delusions of grandeur are afraid to criticise. Instead, they praise the cinematography, soundtrack and aided by their thesaurus, use colourful language to desperately try to justify why Only God Forgives was not indeed a steaming pile of shit.

Cinematography, soundtrack, style and one decent performance from the female lead does not make a good movie when it lacks narrative, dialogue or fleshed out characters in a style over substance film which falls flat on its face. Not even a psychotic Bangkok police man painfully singing karaoke every 20 minutes can prevent that.

It was about 90 minutes too long.

10 years 2 months ago

grantaire

More of an experience than a film, it was a lot like a Malick film without voice overs and therefore an uncomfortable distance from the characters.

Plot reminded me of a sort of minimalist conjunction of Hamlet and Macbeth, with the strong Kristin Scott Thomas as a devious Lady Macbeth.

The pacing is a bit awkward but I think it ultimately works in its favour since I cannot picture the film being so ambient any other way.

Refn's film distances him far from Drive, with which it will undoubtedly be compared, and brings him closer to his previous films. It is ripe with polysemous symbolism etc, but I wasn't pulled into the story enough and remained incredibly lucid that I was watching a film.

I feel as if Refn knows exactly what he's doing with this film, and people criticize exactly what he wants them to.

10 years 9 months ago

neocowboy

I find it appropriate that the film is dedicated to Alejandro Jodorowsky when this film engaged me in a way that El Topo and The Holy Mountain did back when I first viewed them. With so much formula and predictability in everyday cinema it's so refreshing to lose ones self in contrived enigma.

While 'contrived' is mostly wielded with negative connotations I use it with great affection. I admire the ability of a filmmaker that can sacrifice 'reality' for artifice to fabricate a world so aberrant, whimsical or nightmarish.

If it doesn't speak to you, fine. If it does, great. I wish I could enjoy films by Roeg, Malick, Fellini and Gallo as much as I enjoyed Greenaway, Anderson, Nakashima or Gilliam. But the heart wants what the heart wants.

10 years 4 months ago

CSSCHNEIDER

Visually stunning, it should receive heaps of praise and accolades for Larry Smith's work. The film is short on story, long on run time and a meticulous examination of formalism, detail and tone. It belongs in a museum or classroom where individual aesthetics can be put under a microscope, examined and classified. As a movie it comes up short.

10 years 9 months ago

Ralf

God wrote:
kill me

Not very forgiving, are ya?

10 years 9 months ago

Ralf

Great transgressive cinema. Oddly enough, I thought Drive was much more tedious than this film. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea, but I found its moodiness, cold atmosphere, the visceral and extreme behavior of its focal characters, and the film's vicious brutality pretty damn endearing.

Most likely my favorite English-language film by N.W.R.

10 years 9 months ago

CarlyK

If you wanna watch this because you loved Drive: you'll be very disappointed.
If you loved Winding Refn's other work: watch this.

10 years 10 months ago

God

kill me

10 years 9 months ago

Galemathias

Stylish and disturbing. Winding Refn sets the tone from the first shot and keeps the pace throughout the film. A strong directorial performance. Owes a lot to Tarantino and similar films such as Oldboy.

It's not all about style though, it takes on how we view violence, and how the relationship between parents and children affects our view on it.

The film kept me absorbed in it's dark red universe. One of my best film experiences this year.

10 years 10 months ago

Boei

Like others said, it’s a cinematic experience. Great lighting, atmosphere and cinematography. Style over substance, but I enjoyed it. Policeman was a boss!

1 month 1 week ago

MetaBull

The movie is about 30 minutes too long for its slow pace. Even the brutal torture could not lessen the feeling of boredom I felt during this movie. I am probably not going to watch any of the other movies Refn has made except maybe rewacth Drive, simply because they all seem to fit in this hardcore art house box (emphasis on the art) and thus fail to be good movies like GoO.

7 years 10 months ago