Just saw Only God Forgives, what the hell did I watch?

First off, the visuals and sfx were phenomenal. I think everyone, lovers and haters alike, can agree on that. Refn's trademark— he is truly a master in these regards. I think the omnipresent red lighting represented Julian's hell that he is trapped in.

SPOILERS











The story, while a little bare-boned, was chock full of symbolism and great imagery. The Oedipus Rex subplot was interesting (save for the gratuitous literalization of it towards the end— you know what im talking about), and explains a ton about Julian. Chang obviously was supposed to be the Old Testament God-like character, while Crystal was the devil, with Julian stuck in the middle.

Hands were a recurring image. They were supposed to represent masculinity/power. Julian offering his hands to be lopped off at the end represents his surrender; his masculinity is useless to him because he was never able to escape Crystal's influence (tying back to the Oedipus complex). He knows his hands (power) are useless, so he allows Chang to chop them off. Julian always knew that Crystal's influence was dominating, that he would never break free, and that he doesn't need his masculinity, represented by the constant visions of Chang's sword swinging throughout the movie.



My chief complaint was the nonexistent character development. There was none, save for Julian's artificial forgiveness-seeking arc in the last 3rd of the movie.



/SPOILERS


I thought Kristin Scott Thomas killed it as Crystal. She owned the screen when she was on. The guy that played Chang was really good too.

Violence wasn't nearly as gratuitous as people make it out to be IMO, the aforementioned scene notwithstanding. May just be me though.



This movie really is a love it/hate it affair. Some people just don't like the kind of movies that Refn/Lynch/Malick make, and that's okay. This movie is a perfect example of the great divide. If you dig the style of these directors, you will love it. If not, you won't. I really liked the repression theme. Good movie. I'd watch it again.

Cool, good post. I agree with just about everything you posted. I definitely didn't hate it but didn't love it, more, I want(ed) to love it. Almost like I want a sequel or something.

I didn't have any expectations going in (hadn't even seen the trailer) but I just watched The Place Beyond the Pines recently and really liked it so I wanted to watch another Gosling movie.

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Some people just don't like the kind of movies that Refn/Lynch/Malick make, and that's okay. This movie is a perfect example of the great divide. If you dig the style of these directors, you will love it. If not, you won't.

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Could you recommend some other movies that were kind of like this one? I wouldn't mind giving it another shot.

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Could you recommend some other movies that were kind of like this one? I wouldn't mind giving it another shot.

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Drive. Although I preferred Only God Forgives.

Thanks, I'll definitely watch Drive, especially since it seemed more mainstream. If I get the chance to see some of the others you mentioned, I'll try to not pass them up.

Can't wait to see this.

Carson gives good info on this one. I didn't enjoy it at all. The recurring images of his hands led me to believe that he was going to use them more effectively. But he didn't.