Video games and forgiveness

Controversial. The new movie of Drive's director wasn't welcome at last Cannes Film Festival. The temple of author's films. And I can understand why. In that festival they reject Gaspar Noé's Irreversible for his violence and almost the same happened with Only God Forgives.

First point. Violence. It isn't new that Nicolas Winding Refn likes violence, all his movies were full of it. Rude, brutal but at least he filmed how is it. Not nice, cruel. Critics likes his sophisticated style in Drive because the violence was less obvious, never appear in the screen. Now those critics refused his new movie to show it all, without respect to the eyes audience, as violence doesn't have respect for anybody.

Second point. Style. Drive is clean more than the rest. Winding Refn control the tempo, the city lights aesthetic, the rythim of the story, that's what the critics appreciate and now some of they said that he abused of that too much in Only God Forgives. But there's something more. Video games. In his last two movies the video games are there, and is really obvious. As I said when I wrote about Drive the audience can feel they are in this racing games like Grand Thief Auto or any other one that simulates drive a car. In Only God forgives there's no cars, no there's no speed. The tempo and the shots are like in this adventure games with interludes. The camera moves in a rail from left to right or the opposite, calm to show the movement of the main character walking in a fake place full of realism as well as in this movie. This shots of the places where the action take place, showing the atmosphere remind us to those video games that everybody plays with. Even sometimes the spectator can see what the main character is looking, from his perspective, from his eyes. It isn't just an abuse of his last movie style, Winding Refn just change racing video games for adventure video games. 

It's necessary to underline two more things about the style that in act is for a same reason: tribute. First tribute: to Alejandro Jodorowsky. Explicit at the end, implicit in this future images that Julian (Ryan Gosling) has in his mind sometimes, and even Chang, his enemy. This shots that confused the audience, shots that doesn't explain what is really happening but what's going on in the character's minds. Second tribute: Asia. Asian culture of fighting. The movie is in Bangkok, the fighting culture is there not just in the movies, in the streets as well. A fight culture that is heavy and dangerous as drugs, that are there as well and most of the times together as the movie shows. A fight culture than the "enemy" try to fight against and make it correct or justify it. That's why he sings every time he kill someone, that's why he try to fight drugs, prostitution, revenge... But he can't scape. In the fight scene Winding Refn film a boxer statue who is observing that scene, a heavy statue as a heavy culture that sometimes doesn't help to carry on. But not jus that Asian tempo of filming as well. This calm and tense scene before a fight, before the action who thrill the spectator who are scared about what's gonna happen is perfect controlled for the danish director who do it in his own way.

And then appear the third point. Story. Even with the tough and hard violence, the nice images with nice music, the director wasn't try to be nice or give a clear example of free violence without a reason. The story is more than a revenge story. We have Julian who needs to revenge his brother just because his mother wants it really bad. A mother that could be the representation of a culture of violence who force people to do that (and they are americans). Julian has more feelings, he tries to control his violent impulses and has to deal surrounded by crime, a wheel that never stops. Chang, a cop, who try to be correct even when he use the violence that is fighting against.

And finally we have a movie-video game, excellent filmed by Nicolas Winding Refn who maybe try to tell us that he wants the same of us but he needs to use this sophisticated images treating as well as he can his characters meanwhile the critics doesn't have mercy but, if he/she exists, Only God Forgives, and the audience are smart and they will appreciate this great movie.

Trailer: