Two things hit you as you arrive in the city from the airport - the heat, and the bustle. Bangkok is alive like no other place I've ever been - it feels like one giant organism, with every individual a living and breathing part of a bigger beast.
Which makes setting the ice cold, detached Only God Forgives there just one of the things that will smack you between the eyes as you wallow in Nicolas Winding Refn's latest work.
Now, let's be clear from the off - this is not an easy film to watch. If fast-paced wossinames and shooty shooty bang bang is your thing, jog on - you'll only join the hoards of people who are moaning how dull Only God Forgives is. If however, like me, you thought Drive was a stunning piece of work, then grab a pew. You're in for a treat.
From the start this film has you by the throat, barely allowing you to breathe as you watch the action slither and glide across the screen. And there's no let-up in the tension, not for a second, it doesn't ebb and flow, there's just two settings - on (when the film is running) and off (when it's stopped).
There are moments of relief, but this is done through some genius use of lighting - and the colouring of this film is as much a character as any of the human players in this near-Shakespearian tragedy.
If the buzz around this film has escaped you, the plot is quite simple. Julian (Ryan Gosling) has a brother, Billy (Tom Burke). Billy does a bad thing, so Lieutenant Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm) allows him to be punished by the victim's father. He then punishes the father as well, just to make his point.
Next thing we know, Julian's mummy (Kristin Scott Thomas in possibly her finest ever role) is in town and wants answers and revenge. But not in that order. Or with any answers.
And now the blood REALLY starts to flow. And the bodies pile up. And you squirm in your seat as ice picks and fruit knives are put to alternative uses. But you won't look away, because this film will make you watch.
This film really shouldn't work. It operates at a very slow pace - a pace that never changes, even when people are running away - and every character is deeply flawed, operating their own dubious moral code, but you like them and you care about what they're doing and why.
Well, all except for mummy. You won't like her.
In Crystal, Ms KST has created one of the best, cold, evil, villainous women of modern cinema. She's like Maris without the warmth (if you're a Frasier fan), a woman who when told her dead son raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl simply says, in an almost bored way, "well I'm sure he had his reasons".
She doesn't care why, she just wants the person who killed him dead. At any cost.
And this is where both the pacing and colouring of this film come into their own. By mixing opulent, sinful reds with stark, cold whites and deep, bruising blues to keep you abreast of the emotions the characters are repressing, the slow steady pacing of the film actually allows the tension to build and build as the final showdown looms. And when it does, you'll be captivated.
The sound of this film is also key. Where as some films (naming no Wolverines) use the score to smack you over the head, Refn uses subtlety, making silence as important as the often off-kilter score (there's a scene in a brothel that is pure genius). It's as much about what you don't hear as what you do.
But all of the stylings would be for nowt if it weren't for the actors. Cool and slick can get you so far, but you still need human warmth to connect to.
Not that there's much of that here.
And this is another Refn masterstroke. The characters are, almost to a man, unlikeable. Gosling's Julian as his good side, Chang is on the side of good but has a unique sense of justice, but both do things that make you fear them. Or, in the case of Julian, really want to not ever meet him.
Not always a fan of Gosling's - he seems to have got a bit stuck in his cold-detached approach to acting - here he is right at home. Julian is damaged, so detached from humanity he can't even have sex normally. It's no wonder when you see his mother, sure, but you still shouldn't like him.
It's a measure of just how good Gosling is here that you actually do care about him. He has his own sense of right and wrong (he's not after revenge, as he figures Billy got what was coming to him), and having been played by his mother to finally carry out revenge, he still does it on his terms.
Essentially, Julian is an off-shoot of Driver (off of Drive) - and Gosling wears that particular suit so well. His ability to convey thoughts and feelings facially, with minimal effort, is perfect here. An award or two will surely be flung his way come January.
While Gosling's name is on the title, however, he is neither the focus nor hero of the piece - this is a team effort.
Going up against him is Vithaya, who balances menace with heart and a bit of quirk. Yes, he may be fairly brutal in his judgements, yes he may be the only policeman to carry a massive sword, but he loves his young daughter and he cleanses his soul by singing at his local bar at the end of a long, blood-splattered day. So it's hard not to like him.
In reality though, this film belongs to just one person. Yes, Gosling and Vithaya are playing for your affections, and yes Refn has created this cold, detached world, but this is Kristin Scott Thomas's baby.
Already well known, Kristin has been making a 'new' name for herself in French cinema (Tell No One and I've Loved You So Long both deserve your attention) - and here it's clear to see why. She steals every scene, she owns every frame, her performance is so perfectly weighted and measured you'd stand and applaud at the end of the restaurant scene if you weren't so damn scared of her.
KST stands out and that's the nature of her character, but she couldn't do it without the others. The characters are a collaboration, with Chang, Crystal and Julian all needing each other to give their lives meaning and purpose.
This film is not going to be for everyone. The violence is brutal, the cold detachment almost alienating, but if you like being gripped, fascinated, mesmerised and feeling you've almost been violated, you'll love it.
Refn has crafted another masterpiece. No shot is wasted, no moment unnecessary, every scene is framed perfectly.
Yes it is slow-paced but that is the key to feeling fully immersed in the mood and style of this film.
Good review Kahn. A very strange movie that didn’t make much sense half of the time, but one that i was always interested in. No matter where it went, my mind always followed.
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