Only God Forgives

Cast of Characters:
Julian Thompson - Ryan Gosling
Crystal Thompson - Kristin Scott Thomas
Lt. Chang - Vithaya Pansringarm
Mai - Rhatha Phongam
Gordon - Gordon Brown
Billy Thompson - Tom Burke

Director - Nicolas Winding Refn
Screenplay - Nicolas Winding Refn
Rated R for strong bloody violence including grisly images, sexual content and language

      Academy Award nominees Ryan Gosling and Kristin Scott Thomas star together in Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives. This is Gosling's second project with Refn following 2011's Drive. Will this film be just as successful? Little known fact: I typed more words in just this paragraph than Gosling utters in the entire film.

      Julian Thompson (Ryan Gosling) is a US expatriate living in Bangkok, Thailand who runs a boxing club, which is actually a front for a massive drug smuggling operation. One night, his older brother Billy (Tom Burke) brutally rapes and kills an underage prostitute before surrendering to the Thai police. Lt. Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm) - known as the "Angel of Vengeance" - arrives on the scene before informing the girl's father. Chang allows the father to beat Billy to death, but cuts off the man's arm for allowing his young daughter to remain in the business of prostitution.

      Julian and his crew confront the father about his part in Billy's murder. He reveals that he was forced to kill Billy by the "Angel of Vengeance", and, by having his arm cut off, has paid the price for his crime. Julian, mesmerized by the Angel of Vengeance, spares the man's life. This comes at much unpleasant dismay to Julian's mother, Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas), who has arrived in Bangkok to identify Billy's corpse. Crystal implores Julian to find the men who killed Billy, but he refuses, believing that Billy deserved what he got.

      At first, I was looking forward to this. Drive was one of the best films of 2011, so to see Gosling and Refn team up again was something to look forward to. Although the poor reviews it received got me a bit discouraged, I was still gonna go in watching this with an open mind. Despite the story element clearly not being the film's biggest strength, this is still one hell of a stylized film. I've only seen two Refn films now with this and Drive, but I can definitely conclude this man has quite a unique style. Borrowing story elements taken out of various Greek tragedies (there's definitely somewhat of a Oedipal complex going on here) with certain directing touches obviously influenced by the likes of Tarantino, David Lynch and the late great Stanley Kubrick, Only God Forgives is technically a revenge thriller, but focuses more on the effects of it rather than the actual act. While Gosling is given top billing, his character's purpose is set up more for other performers such as Kristin Scott Thomas (not winning "Mother of the Year" any time soon in this bitch of a villainous role) and Vithaya Pansringarm (who's one cop I'd never wanna be on the wrong side of the law with) to deliver the acting goods. The strength of this film though lies in none other than writer/director Refn. The technical aspects of this film are simply amazing and are what really drew me into the film. The tone and mood he sets is excellent. The lighting, color and cinematography by Larry Smith is flat out hypnotic and the score fits the setting perfectly. There's also a martial arts fight scene, midway through the film, between Gosling and Pansringarm that's beautifully shot and executed.

      I will say this. If you're not into artistic films filled with symbolism as well as a brutal edge to them, just don't bother here. As divisive as this film appears to be, you're either gonna love it or hate it. The narrative isn't as strong as Drive, but I still found the key characters of Julian and Lt. Chang and their seeking out vengeance from differing perspectives rather appealing. Refn could've easily made a mainstream pile of crap given the success he received from Drive. Instead, he decided to take an even bigger film risk that, in my opinion, pays off. I give Only God Forgives an A- (★★★½).