Views of this film seem to be extremely positive or negative. In many films where this has been the case, the cause was often extreme or gratuitous violence. This film is no exception. Only God Forgives is a certainly a violent film, although not as violent as some horrified viewers might make it seem. It is visceral, over-the-top and relishes in slow motions. Yet under the neon shine and beautifully composed shots, so much more is brewing.
Despite the dark picture it paints of the Bangkok underworld, it creates a lush image of a surreal tropical place that made me want to take a plane to the equatorial lands straight away. The atmosphere is sweaty, sticky and sultry, full of dank alleyways and open restaurants with plastic seating and fans whirring. There is a clear line through the film of South-East Asia's most popular past time: karaoke. We get to see many versions of it that contribute greatly to the film's fascinating brand of surrealism. Extreme kitsch and artificial lights make the violence seem unreal and dreamlike. And like a Bataille novel, we start relishing in it. We don't get to know a great deal about the motivations of the most violent characters and that makes the gestures more visual then emotional. When a carcass is cut open, we are completely aware of the neat line of ribs, the deep luscious red of the meat and the blood glistening in the lights.
Meanwhile, we get a nearly unrelenting soundtrack of minimal atmospheric sounds and electronic beats. It is rare to see a film nowadays that gives the music such a key presence. This made me feel the film is more than a little inspired by certain dark controversial masterpieces of the seventies like Taxi Driver or Straw Dogs. At the base of it lies psychoanalytical theory; in this case the symptoms of an Oedipus complex are certainly present. But even a film like The Shining came to my mind occasionally when the main character wanders through the corridors of a brothel, that feature carpets with graphical patterns and the ever-present blue and red lighting. Everywhere the spaces of the film are throbbing, sweat dripping from the walls and with sexual and violent tensions infesting every frame.
Gender is brought into question with many of the characters. From the beginning of the film where one character asks how many of the prostitutes are actually girls; the question is raised that makes us ask who is a woman and who is a man. In one scene we see someone masturbate, but we only see it from the back. The character of the mother functions as the most powerful force that drives most of the violence and the quest for revenge. Interestingly enough we never get the typical satisfaction of revenge-based story.
This is a film that will not be as easily accepted by a large audience as Drive was. It might seem slow at times, there are a great deal of slow motion shots, but it functions to make everything feel dreamlike and make us wade through the seemingly simple story-line like a thick soup. It is a film that is rich and soiled, oppressive and brutally resplendent in every way.
Despite the dark picture it paints of the Bangkok underworld, it creates a lush image of a surreal tropical place that made me want to take a plane to the equatorial lands straight away. The atmosphere is sweaty, sticky and sultry, full of dank alleyways and open restaurants with plastic seating and fans whirring. There is a clear line through the film of South-East Asia's most popular past time: karaoke. We get to see many versions of it that contribute greatly to the film's fascinating brand of surrealism. Extreme kitsch and artificial lights make the violence seem unreal and dreamlike. And like a Bataille novel, we start relishing in it. We don't get to know a great deal about the motivations of the most violent characters and that makes the gestures more visual then emotional. When a carcass is cut open, we are completely aware of the neat line of ribs, the deep luscious red of the meat and the blood glistening in the lights.
Meanwhile, we get a nearly unrelenting soundtrack of minimal atmospheric sounds and electronic beats. It is rare to see a film nowadays that gives the music such a key presence. This made me feel the film is more than a little inspired by certain dark controversial masterpieces of the seventies like Taxi Driver or Straw Dogs. At the base of it lies psychoanalytical theory; in this case the symptoms of an Oedipus complex are certainly present. But even a film like The Shining came to my mind occasionally when the main character wanders through the corridors of a brothel, that feature carpets with graphical patterns and the ever-present blue and red lighting. Everywhere the spaces of the film are throbbing, sweat dripping from the walls and with sexual and violent tensions infesting every frame.
Gender is brought into question with many of the characters. From the beginning of the film where one character asks how many of the prostitutes are actually girls; the question is raised that makes us ask who is a woman and who is a man. In one scene we see someone masturbate, but we only see it from the back. The character of the mother functions as the most powerful force that drives most of the violence and the quest for revenge. Interestingly enough we never get the typical satisfaction of revenge-based story.
This is a film that will not be as easily accepted by a large audience as Drive was. It might seem slow at times, there are a great deal of slow motion shots, but it functions to make everything feel dreamlike and make us wade through the seemingly simple story-line like a thick soup. It is a film that is rich and soiled, oppressive and brutally resplendent in every way.
