Only God Forgives (Nicolas Winding Refn & Ryan Gosling team up again)

Mickeroo

Only God Forgives is the new one from Nicolas Winding Refn. Has Ryan Gosling in the lead and will be their second time working together after drive.

I dont really know much about it apart from that, but a poster and a 20 second teaser have popped up. Seems to be a martial arts film of sorts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-nmf_-OnBE

I loved Drive, so I guess I'm looking forward to it but the only other film I've seen by the director is Valhalla Rising and I hated that, so this could go either way for me. Still have to get around to giving Bronson a look.

Frank Bullitt

Looks decent enough. Nice concept anyway.

No doubt it will be violent like Drive, and have Gosling looking pensive into the camera.

jefreywithonef

The Pusher films should be given a watch. Gritty, a bit grim and totally compelling. I need to find the subtitles for the third one and stick it on.

Mickeroo

jefreywithonef wrote: »

The Pusher films should be given a watch. Gritty, a bit grim and totally compelling. I need to find the subtitles for the third one and stick it on.

Yeah I've heard they're good, but Valhall rising pretty much put me off looking up his older stuff. I might still check them out at some point.

tupac_healy

Mickeroo wrote: »

Yeah I've heard they're good, but Valhall rising pretty much put me off looking up his older stuff. I might still check them out at some point.

Agreed with above, watched Rising and didnt take to it at all, just seemed to have no real plot or something?

On the other hand it could be a fantastic year for Gosling, Only god forgives, Gangster Squad and Tjr place beyond the pines.... Looking forward to em all!!!!

JP Liz V1

tupac_healy wrote: »

Agreed with above, watched Rising and didnt take to it at all, just seemed to have no real plot or something?

On the other hand it could be a fantastic year for Gosling, Only god forgives, Gangster Squad and Tjr place beyond the pines.... Looking forward to em all!!!!

Yep 2013 the year of RyGos any release date of this yet?

tupac_healy

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Yep 2013 the year of RyGos any release date of this yet?

Not that I've spotted yet, on a side note, seen Gangster Squad, good popcorn flick, nothing more than that, standout performance (within a bunch odf quality actors) was Penn for me!!! He is sooo good at that type of role, similar to Mistic River

johnny_ultimate

Pretty slick trailer for this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAgirTtfobk

Looks like they aren't holding back on the extreme content anyway! The opening voiceover is a pretty bold statement of intent :pac:

Also - Kristen Scott Thomas has had one serious makeover by the looks of it, didn't recognise her until her name popped up at the end. Good to see a performer hopefully step out of their comfort zone. Only so many middle-class French women one actress can play!

splashthecash

Really looking forward to this - definitely in the same vein as Drive which I loved. Gosling can do no wrong at the moment and this kind of film is made for him. Hopefully we can expect a cracking soundtrack like Drive provided us with

Sad Professor

Looks awesome.

I really need to check out some of Refn's previous films.

missingtime

That is a cracking trailer. Anyone get a David Lynch vibe off it? Maybe just me...

Mickeroo

missingtime wrote: »

That is a cracking trailer. Anyone get a David Lynch vibe off it? Maybe just me...

Visually it reminded me of Lynch for sure.

Great trailer, really looking forward to this now. Anyone know what the music is?

Otacon

Mickeroo wrote: »

Visually it reminded me of Lynch for sure.

Great trailer, really looking forward to this now. Anyone know what the music is?

That haunting song is by a Thai group called Proud, apparently, and its title translates to something like “She’s a Dream.”

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/04/04/only_god_forgives_trailer_ryan_gosling_and_nicholas_winding_refn_team_up.html

Looper007

Sad Professor wrote: »

Looks awesome.

I really need to check out some of Refn's previous films.

Brosnan is one of the best films of 00's starting with that would be wise. Tom Hardy's performance is amazing.

Bleeder is sadly overlooked in his canon but i feel its one of his bleakest films and thats saying a lot. Plus its a great love letter to cinema.

The Pusher Trilogy is one of those rare trilogies that gets better with each film. Part one is a good little film. Part 2 is a major step up with Mads Mikkelsen given the film heart. While Part 3 is one of the funniest yet darkest films you'll ever see.

Valhalla Rising gets a lot of hate but i love it for its sheer wierdness as its an Art House Viking flick(that in itself is amazing) i see it as a mixture of Aguire Wrath of God mixed with Ichi the Killer.

Drive is without imo one of the best films i've seen.

I've yet to see Fear x.

indough

yeah, the pusher sequels are a good bit better than the first film. i would put the second as my favourite but the third is also a great show

Looper007

indough wrote: »

yeah, the pusher sequels are a good bit better than the first film. i would put the second as my favourite but the third is also a great show

I do think Mads Mikkelsens performance in the second Pusher film is so brave as he's playing such a loser yet he's surrounded by so many horrible people you end up rooting for him.

indough

Looper007 wrote: »

I do think Mads Mikkelsens performance in the second Pusher film is so brave as he's playing such a loser yet he's surrounded by so many horrible people you end up rooting for him.

yeah there is one scene in particular

his dad's speech at the party

which was so awkward you really felt for him. well i guess there are even worse but that one really stuck out for me

D-FENS

Mickeroo wrote: »

Love to see this movie poster enlarged on the side of Liffey Valley or even a bus but can't see it happening somehow!

Looper007

D-FENS wrote: »

Love to see this movie poster enlarged on the side of Liffey Valley or even a bus but can't see it happening somehow!

I'm surprised they gave the go ahead to the Poster, especially as its Ryan Golsing and his huge female fan fanbase who won't want to see the Guy from the Notebook all beat up. But it's a Refn film and his films ain't exactly easy sells or comfortable movies. I love the Poster its a striking image.

D-FENS

Looper007 wrote: »

I love the Poster its a striking image.

I agree, it's a brilliant idea for a picture. Intriguing and quite a brave move, given a lot of people's attitude to violence in cinema.
But I would have thought Gosling is now as famous for Drive as he was for the Notebook, no? Anyone familiar with that film, or the Director's others, would'nt be quite as taken aback by the obvious violent content hinted at here.
That's presuming it's the offical poster that will be used, possibly it won't be.

Sad Professor

It's a teaser poster, which directors usually have a lot of input into. The final theatrical poster that they hang in cinemas won't look like that.

tupac_healy

Sad Professor wrote: »

It's a teaser poster, which directors usually have a lot of input into. The final theatrical poster that they hang in cinemas won't look like that.

Totally agree that the final posters that will be in the cinemas, bus stops advertising boards etc will be far more toned down that that one, but at the same time, to even advertise it on the net is a brave move, as stated earlier Gosling has such a strong female fan base :eek:


Personally I think its a good move because now the male poplulation that may have dismissed him without thought because of this female fan base (I know its stupid but there would be a few) would take interest interest in this film now due to seeing that poster!

And lets face it the women will go see it anyway!

Looper007

D-FENS wrote: »

I agree, it's a brilliant idea for a picture. Intriguing and quite a brave move, given a lot of people's attitude to violence in cinema.
But I would have thought Gosling is now as famous for Drive as he was for the Notebook, no? Anyone familiar with that film, or the Director's others, would'nt be quite as taken aback by the obvious violent content hinted at here.
That's presuming it's the offical poster that will be used, possibly it won't be.

I think a larger audience know him more for the Notebook i.e Non Cinefiles or regular film watchers. I'm not shocked at the poster one bit cause Refn is a director who's known for the outladdish but it will get people's notice having one of the Golden boy's in Hollywood face all messed up. I say in the States it be changed for sure.

Looper007

tupac_healy wrote: »

Totally agree that the final posters that will be in the cinemas, bus stops advertising boards etc will be far more toned down that that one, but at the same time, to even advertise it on the net is a brave move, as stated earlier Gosling has such a strong female fan base :eek:


Personally I think its a good move because now the male poplulation that may have dismissed him without thought because of this female fan base (I know its stupid but there would be a few) would take interest interest in this film now due to seeing that poster!

And lets face it the women will go see it anyway!

To be fair to Gosling, Apart from the Notebook and Crazy,Stupid,Love. His C.V is full of tough hard hitting films like (Half Nelson, Drive,Blue Valentine,The Believer), quirky indie films (Lars and the Real Girl) or dislikeable guys (The Ides of March). It's pretty much amazing how he has a major female fan base without having made a massive blockbuster. They won't mind him all beat up as long as he takes off the shirt.

It's a Striking Image that will get people's attention seen as its Ryan Gosling but i do see it been changed but like The Drive poster it no doubt be every bit as Cool. The Trailer is without doubt one of the coolest trailers released in a while.

pixelburp

3 International clips have appeared for this; they're NSFW due to violence and Kristin Scott Thomas' potty mouth :eek:

Based on the below, it really doesn't look like it's straying too far from the mould of Drive; this isn't a bad thing of course, but it'll only invite comparisons really: the music is quite similar, the visuals are too (a little anyway), and the performances look like they're cut from the same cloth.

I don't think any of the clips contain spoilers; two are action scenes & the second clip's dialogue lacks any kind of context, so I was lost more than anything else

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-M0owNpykc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuFBao_NJ9Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzlynSZ7p7k

e_e

Great to see Gosling so much more talkative this time around. :pac:

Aidric

Much prefer this international trailer which features a wicked piece by Cliff Martinez called 'Wanna Fight'.

Going to see this tonight, looking forward to it and will report back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkc7htnHrg0

bradolf pittler

i saw this in sweden over the weekend.
huge disappointment,all mood lighting and gosling looking distant,he doesnt speak till 20 mins into it.in fact i'll bet he doesnt say more than 150 words tru-out the whole film.
One piece of "eye opening" violence apart its a very boring film,even the big showdown fight is a let down.Scott thomas' gets the best lines,esp in the resturant scene.
in fact the best thing about this film was its running time,only 80 mins.....

e_e

bradolf pittler wrote: »

he doesnt speak till 20 mins into it.in fact i'll bet he doesnt say more than 150 words tru-out the whole film.

I can't vouch for how good/bad the film is but a character having little dialog is hardly a flaw.

One of my favorite films is Hana-Bi and in that the main character doesn't speak a word until about 25 minutes in.

maximoose

When I saw the first trailer for this I was mad excited to see it, loved Drive

Now I'm looking forward to it just to see how bad it is...

Booed at Cannes

PunkFreud

maximoose wrote: »

When I saw the first trailer for this I was mad excited to see it, loved Drive

Now I'm looking forward to it just to see how bad it is...

Booed at Cannes

Cannes aren't afraid to boo films. Don't forget, The Tree of Life was booed a few years back.

I'm remaining optimistic that this'll be good.

Aidric

I wanted this film to deliver but ultimately it failed to hit the heights. It seemed Winding Refn had too many ideas in his head but was unable to frame them in a satisfactory structure, with the result that the whole thing seemed all over the place for want of a better phrase.

There is an overarching feeling of menace right the way through the film, deliberately so, given the ultra violent nature of it. It was unsettling at times and there are at least two scenes of extreme violence which test the nerves.
Kristin Scott Thomas was bordering on evil but played her part brilliantly, some cracking lines. Gosling just seemed aloof and detached and so it was hard to really care what happened to him.

The whole thing looked absolutely beautiful on the screen so top marks to Larry Smith for the cinematography. The Cliff Martinez composition 'wanna fight' was also a winner, coming in one of the films better scenes.

6/10

Looper007

I have to say I loved it, yes it's a tad indulgent and the story is lightweight but if you know anything about Refn's style before Drive and loved it then you will enjoy this. It's a Cult film in the making. Larry smith's Cinematography and Cliff Martinez's music are top notch. Vithaya Pansringram gives the best performance as the cold blooded Cop (he join Tom Hardy's Brosnan and Gosling Driver as one of Refn's Iconic characters)

Kristen Scott Thomas plays it a little OTT and her American accent is a tad shaky but she plays the bitch mother to the hilt. Ryan Gosling plays it moody and says barely anything in it but is game. The Violence is heavy

The Scene with Pansringram in the Club with the English gangster who tried to kill him is not for the lighthearted

and their are some strange moments that Refn likes to throw in to his films

Pansringram singing for his fellow Policmen in the nightclub after a bit of violence

. The Ending will confuse and bring about a lot of confused looks wanting a more clear cut ending for

Gosling's character

Its going to go down with Valhalla Rising as his most opinion Splitting film. Some will love it and some will hate it. I think it's a great film and if you love Refn then you will love it.

Just after watching this and my first thought is that it may very well be the greatest film ever made. It all style over substance and is one of those rare films that grabs you by the throat at the opening and never lets go. It's a lyrically beautiful film with an exquisite pallet that emphasis red and yellows creating a constant sense of unease. Every shot has been meticulously composed and could hang in a gallery, it really is a uniquely beautiful film. Really been a long time since such a wonderful piece of cinema has came along and I could spend all night talking about it but all I really want to do right now is watch it again.

Anyone who wants to legally watch the film can do so through amazon. It's 7 dollars for a 24 hour rental or 15 to buy it.

Mickeroo

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone who wants to legally watch the film can do so through amazon. It's 7 dollars for a 24 hour rental or 15 to buy it.

Is it a stream or do you download it?

Had no idea that service was available here, good few films I'd like to watch on it at the moment.

Mickeroo

Mickeroo wrote: »

Is it a stream or do you download it?

Had no idea that service was available here, good few films I'd like to watch on it at the moment.

Not necessarily available, may take a bit of tinkering with to get working but I've been using it for over a year and loving it. It's a steam though I think if you buy it you can download it.

krudler

That's cool, if my local multiplex doesn't get it, which it probably won't I'll watch it that way. Studios seem to be finally wising up to the fact that people will happily pay for something legally when it's a small release and not having to wait months for it.

krudler

krudler wrote: »

That's cool, if my local multiplex doesn't get it, which it probably won't I'll watch it that way. Studios seem to be finally wising up to the fact that people will happily pay for something legally when it's a small release and not having to wait months for it.

VOD in America has been doing it for years, it's great for smaller films and those that will get a token cinema release. I'd love to have seen Only God Forgives in the cinema, and most likely will still go see it but I was in the mood for it last night and figured for 5 euro I couldn't say no. I did the same with Hummingbird aka Redemption a few weeks back. Two tickets to see it in the cinema was 14 euro so instead we got a takeaway, a few bottles of beer and streamed it through amazon. Cost us 20 euro altogether which is an absolute bargain. I'll often be browsing through it and see some low budget genre film that looks interesting and give it a go, lot of them are 3 dollars which is less than the price of a cup of coffee in most places.

Warper

PunkFreud wrote: »

Cannes aren't afraid to boo films. Don't forget, The Tree of Life was booed a few years back.

I'm remaining optimistic that this'll be good.

Proper order

krudler

Warper wrote: »

Proper order

Um,why? for every person who thought TOL was crap loads thought it was brilliant, I thought it was a challenge to sit through, mostly because of my hatred of Sean Penn, but it's a beautifully made film.

krudler

krudler wrote: »

Um,why? for every person who thought TOL was crap loads thought it was brilliant, I thought it was a challenge to sit through, mostly because of my hatred of Sean Penn, but it's a beautifully made film.

Even Sean Penn wasn't a fan of the film. He wished that Malick had gone with a more conventional narrative.

While I like a lot of Penn's performance I find his need to go method a little ridiculous and the manner in which he has used his influence to ruin a number of films he was involved in. I really enjoyed Wayne Kramer's Crossing Over but it's far from a great film and a large part of that is down to Penn who insisted that all his scenes be removed from the film. It's hard to judge the film as quite a lot had to be removed due to Penn being a dick and I really wish that the producers had stood up to Penn and backed up Kramer who didn't want to excise the scenes as doing so damaged the film.

krudler

I just think Penn is one of the biggest **** in showbiz, find it hard to sit through anything he's in tbh, the only film I remotely like him in is The Game and he's barely in that. He's one of those actors who takes acting, far, far too seriously, that and the whole y'know, battering the crap out of Madonna with a baseball bat thing.

johnny_ultimate

Well this was absolute nonsense. Sometimes breathtakingly beautiful nonsense, but still nonsense.

Sure, a lot of the scenes are really superbly shot, even if I wished Refn had a little more to his visual palette than 'symmetrical and architecturally interesting room / hallway with person in middle' and 'drench **** in red'. That's a little unfair, as there are a few really nicely filmed sequences, and sometimes they gel together with Martinez' score (sometimes moody, sometimes ridiculous) to create quite the effective atmosphere. Even when it's a one-trick cinematography pony, the trick is at least enthusiastic.

I was also quite impressed by how lifelike the cast of robots were, especially Goslingbot which really did look like the real thing. I think the Scottthomasaton was left in the sun a little too long, though, but in terms of acting algorithm she was probably the most accomplished. Alas, every time the majority were programmed to act or say anything, we take a dive right into uncanny valley. No wonder Refn doesn't ask much more of his technicians than to have these machines pose dramatically and walk forward slowly (did Zack Snyder co-direct some of this?). But as a technical achievement these automatons were quite extraordinary.

The script - with its endless parade of empty shocks and amusingly naive self-seriousness - was adolescent to the extreme. It's a DTV revenge movie in arthouse clothing, and despite some moments where that combustible cocktail kinda works (the ending does came relatively close to being satisfying), alas it it's hard to overcome the whiff of self-parody off the thing. It's like it took the already emotionally disaffected Drive and gave it another lobotomy, just in case there was any trace amount of humanity left in there. Honestly, there are times when you can basically hear Refn behind the camera saying "long beat". Contrived to within an inch of a life, you're always extraordinarily aware you're watching a film. If that's the intention, fair enough, but it makes for an experience that's hard to connect to. Taken as some sort of academic exercise that wants to keep as distant as humanly possible, it all too often shows itself up as the empty husk that it is.

It's uniquely and aggressively awful, I'll give it that, and certainly isn't slumming it with those ignorable films that don't even try. I was left a tad sceptical by Drive, but this takes all that film's worst traits and amps them up exponentially. It's worth a watch as some will undoubtedly fall for it, but consider me unswayed by its slickly immature posturing.

Planemo

krudler wrote: »

I just think Penn is one of the biggest **** in showbiz, find it hard to sit through anything he's in tbh, the only film I remotely like him in is The Game and he's barely in that. He's one of those actors who takes acting, far, far too seriously, that and the whole y'know, battering the crap out of Madonna with a baseball bat thing.

YES! Only actor I have an embargo against, the only case where I just can't separate the actor's public persona (dour, hateful bastard) to watch him in a film. I thought I was the only one

krudler

Planemo wrote: »

YES! Only actor I have an embargo against, the only case where I just can't separate the actor's public persona (dour, hateful bastard) to watch him in a film. I thought I was the only one

Yeah, like in fairness if you were to not watch any films someone who's a prick in real life was in you'd probably watch one film a year, but there's something about him that just annoys the crap out of me, he's on my list with Leslie Mann who if I see their involvement in something it instantly turns me off it.

It's very much a film that you need to be in the right frame of mind for. It's all style over substance and is the kind of film that you just turn your brain off, sit back and enjoy. There's absolutely no depth to any of it and there's no point trying to read anything into it as it's an empty husk. The film is pretty much Refn taking the most generic tale possible and infusing it with a little visual flair, and while some of the visuals were a little repetitive I think he succeeded in creating something a little special. I loved every single minute of it, the simplicity of it all just worked for me and I'm really looking forward to seeing it in the cinema.

It does seem to be a love it or hate it experience, most of the people I know who have watched it have despised it for the very reasons most enjoyed it. It's rare to find a film that so divides audiences, though that's something Refn has done with his past three films.

stealinhorses

Wow, that was really disappointing. It has absolutely nothing on Drive and is downright boring. And not the Enter the Void/Tree of Life kind of boring. It offers absolutely nothing and looks like a project some students did for their modern cinema module in community college. I just couldn't hack it and I don't recommend it.

johnny_ultimate

Was also left quite uncomfortable by the general misogyny of the film. Obviously the whole thing is intended as some sort of exaggarated form of hell, but there's times when the whole thing turns into some ridiculously masturbatory fantasy - quite literally with all the allusions to violent deeds as some way of dealing with repressed sexuality. To a degree, its like Refn engaging in some bizarre self-reflection through Gosling's 'character' - a director genuinely unable, maybe even unwilling, to resist his worst temptations. Grimaced everytime a character revelled in using the 'c' word. Again, a film that always favours adolescent shock over actual depth. Not worth mistaking its controversial (in inverted commas) stuff for anything other than desperate provocation. The dinner table centerpiece might have been the worst of the whole film.

Shooting lazy cliches with extended pauses doesn't lend then any more gravity either - was surprised Refn resorted to the likes of 'innocent child' to get his point across, and even then fell back on them with depressing frequency.

There were times when it felt like Refn trying to make a Apichatpong Weerasethakul inspired genre movie, but I realise that makes it sound far more interesting than it actually is, despite those fleeting, rare moments when everything does come together.

krudler

Was really looking forward to this but yeah, it's a mess, it's not quite a parody of the revenge thriller genre but it's so po faced about everything it's trying to do it descends into that whether it wants to or not. It looks stunning, no doubt about that, the neon drenched hell it tries to portray comes off the screen really well (when in doubt, drench everything in red for extra unease). The violence is like Drive in that it comes out of nowhere mostly the score is pretty unsettling at times but bah, at 90 minutes it feels like its 2.5 hrs due to so many scenes of people just standing there doing nothing (or singing karaoke for what feels like an eternity).

tupac_healy

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone who wants to legally watch the film can do so through amazon. It's 7 dollars for a 24 hour rental or 15 to buy it.

How does this work? I have a smart tv (internet) so can I watch it on that or is it a laptop job only???



EDIT: It also says that we cannot process your order due to your geographical location, how do I work around that?