Only God Forgives

ONLY GOD FORGIVES

*SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL WINNER*

Review by John Wood

What does violence in films mean to you? Sometimes it is a comment on society like seen in Kubrick’s A clockwork orange or Full metal jacket. Or perhaps the violence is purely for fun and a throwback to the good old exploitation days like that seen in Quentin Taratino’s works.

But Only god forgives is something else, it is pure intensity, visually stunning and uncensored in its violence. While it is a film that is very hard to compare with, it is also a perfect median point for the two styles.

Only god forgives is set in the bright fluoro lights of Bangkok, in an area with a seedy underground full of young teens fighting in boxing rings and tonnes of prostitution. On the surface the film centres on Ryan Gosling’s Julian, whose brother, Billy, was killed by a man who was getting revenge for his prostitute daughter. All this murder is being watched over by the police inspector Chang (played by Vithaya Pansringarm), who uses his martial arts sword as a badge and is the towns own judge, jury and executioner. The family dynamic is troubled even more when Julian’s crazy mother Crystal comes to town asking for revenge for her son. Without going into details everyone gets too deep and it becomes a dark dog eat dog world.

Get ready to see this expression... a lot.

However the film manages to focus more on what is not said, the relationship between Crystal and Julian is only briefly hinted at, and there is a fair bit of story to search for behind what the film is showing. In saying that though, the film seems pointlessly vague, almost as if the director feels it will be more respected if he hides the true plot. Overall there is stuff to be found under the surface but don’t be surprised if you realise it isn’t much.

The performances are a bit scatter-shot, with Julian and Chang basically not doing much. Most shots are simply them staring into a camera or fighting. Its Kristen Scott Thomas however who steals every scene, her vapid and unlikable Crystal really raises the bar of just how evil and manipulative a mother can be and it’s her performance that is worth sitting through the film for.

A fantastic example of how great the film looks.

There is some extremely graphic stuff in this film, it walks a fine line between necessity and exploitative. The film wouldn't be able to effectively show the cruel world without it, but in some scenes it’s intensity veers close to being a gimmick.

It is such a tough film to sell, many will walk out extremely hating the slow build or the large amount of silence in the film, while others might be satisfied with all that extra story under the surface. It’s definitely not a terrible film, just inaccessible.

RATING: SIMMER