Bullets 'n' Babes

I will see this next year in January, unless they decide to censor it for Ryan Gosling fans

Only had to wait for 8 months for this to open in Japan.

Terrific film. Many have claimed it’s nothing like Drive, but actually it shares a lot with it, just from a bit different perspective. In Drive Gosling was living a daydream, here a nightmare.

Visually stunning, great score, good fight, a bit clumsy with its overt artistry one or two times, though. Gosling has 20 lines in the entire movie.

Pondering of justice works quite nicely throughout, with some kind of God-like creature (Vithaya Pansringarm) serving as judge between heaven and earth – or perhaps heaven and hell.

God was also present in the movie theatre, where the bathroom walls were covered with “God can see you in toilet” posters. Once again brilliant marketing in Japan.


(literally: God is watching your toilet manners)

Gosling's character is the least interesting and his performance the most wooden.

I did like Kristen Scott-Thomas (cast against type) and the ass-kicking Thai copper.

Markgway wrote:Gosling's character is the least interesting and his performance the most wooden.

I did like Kristen Scott-Thomas (cast against type) and the ass-kicking Thai copper.

heh, the opposite from me then. Hated Kristen Scott Thomas on the first viewing - she was kinda unbalancing the film. On the second viewing I could see her character as a part of the world Refn created, but she's still my least favorite thing in the film...

Gosling, on the other hand, is just perfect.

HungFist wrote:Gosling, on the other hand, is just perfect.

Steven Seagal walks thru his movies with a blank expression and gets mocked.

Ryan Gosling does it and he's a genius.

I liked a lot of scenes in the film, though like Valhalla Rising I tend to prefer Refn when the movie is less opaque. Now in Valhalla Rising, Refn stated and you can see the Tarkovsky influence there (with much more violence.) While he dedicated this film to Alejandro Jodorowsky, you can still see the Tarkovsky influence here. The cinematography in OGF sometimes reminded me of Last Year at Marienbad with the slow moving camera. The score was certainly interesting. Though when I think about it, the removal of so much dialog really makes the film delve into simplicity of archetypes and metaphors but not much humanity. There are some flash forward nightmarish sequences which are interesting and some great on location shots (what you might think of as sets are really either Thai karaoke clubs or gay clubs with some fantastic design with Refn adding a touch here and there) but I get a misanthropic feeling that also leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste.

It's kind of funny, but one of the reasons there is little dialogue in the film is that Refn wanted most of the film in English, but did not like the English pronunciations of the Thai actors so he just went with visuals over exposition.

If you have not seen here is Refn's commercial: http://www.hm.com/us/david-beckham-spring#film

Markgway wrote:

HungFist wrote:Gosling, on the other hand, is just perfect.

Steven Seagal walks thru his movies with a blank expression and gets mocked.

Ryan Gosling does it and he's a genius.

I spent 15 minutes trying to think of a comparison as silly as that, but I couldn't come up with anything

ok, let's try anyway:

Bruce Lee does kung fu movies and gets praised. Bruce Li does kung fu movies and gets mocked.

Bruce Lee >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ryan Gosling

Seagal's not as pretty as Ryan Gosling though!
I think Refn knows how to use Ryan Gosling well though - ie: He gives him hardly any dialogue so his absurdly squeaky voice isn't heard too much!

Shingster wrote:Seagal's not as pretty as Ryan Gosling though!
I think Refn knows how to use Ryan Gosling well though - ie: He gives him hardly any dialogue so his absurdly squeaky voice isn't heard too much!

Now I was thinking he was doing this on purpose, but did anyone here hear his squeaky bank heist scenes in The Place Beyond the Pines? That was damn squeaky.

I think Refn uses Gosling well though. I like Drive much more though than this film overall.

That heist scene is hilarious, they spend all this time building his character up as a sort of semi-dangerous outlaw type then he runs into that bank and it sounds like he's holding the place up with a rubber ducky!

Yeah, I love 'Only God Forgives'. I think this movie has more in common with 'Valhalla Rising', than it has with 'Drive'. It's kind of like a 'Valhalla Rising' set in Thailand.

'Only God Forgives' is a great genre movie, in my opinion. I like the dark, romantic tone of it. I like this mythological world that Refn created, telling this fable with sound and visuals so for the audience to feel it with their senses. I don't think it's a profound movie, and I don't think it's on the same level as Tarkovsky and Jodorowsky movies - but, I think it deals with mythology in a lavish fashion, and does possess a strong, sensual quality. It's totally right up my alley.

I like all the actors, and I think Gosling does a good job playing a boy with the Oedipus complex, who's masculinity holds him in a predicament. Well... It's great that you can interpret the movie in a few different ways, and add a few meanings to the symbolism. It doesn't have to be profound in order to be meaningful, I think.

Overall, I really like the selection of tunes for the karaoke scenes. It actually got me interested in the Thai pop stuff.
I like the locations, the cinematography and the emphasis on the visuals. And, my God, Yayaying is a stunning beauty! I feel just like Julian, whenever she appears on screen - yearning for her embrace, but knowing I will never get to truly feel her warmth. So, yeah, being a hopeless romantic, is making me go for women... That scene when she ties Julian's arms, and then masturbates, makes me feel pain... But, also the humiliation of going against this God-like figure, and end up being defeated for such an exercise in futility... I like all of those themes.

Overall, I think 'Only God Forgives' is a good movie. However, I think it remains to be seen if it will stand the test of time.