Only God Forgives

Only God Forgives

Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn

Thriller/Drama, 90min

France/Sweden/Thailand/USA

Continuing his study of vengeance, human deterioration, moral grounds and violent death, Nicolas Winding Refn takes to the heat and fluorescent base colors to tell the story of a family constellation set against a bad ass cop and his henchmen.

Julian [Ryan Gosling] and his brother Billy [Tom Burke] run a drugs racket out of Bangkok, Thailand. Billy goes over the edge raping and beating a 16-year-old girl to death. When the police arrive on the scene, Inspector Chang [Vithaya Pansringarm] choses to brings in the father of the girl in instead, and tells him to take his revenge upon Billy. Upon his death, their mother Crystal [Kristin Scott Thomas] arrives and questions why Julian hasn’t taken the vengeance she claims Billy would have done if the issue where the opposite. Always in the shadow of his older brother – even in death – Julian tries to settle the scores in his own way, and possibly uses the situation to solve some unsettled family issues.

Not as violent as Drive, not as trippy as Valhalla Rising, not as out of the box as Bronson, but definitely a combination of all three. In a way one could chose to read Only God Forgives as a dysfunctional family tale and how the pressure to fit in and be accepted drives one to the darkest places of mankind. What Refn does though is to question morale and character positioning. We know that Julian and his family are villains – even though there is a chance that Julian is trying his hardest to stand outside of the smuggling racket and focuses his time on the Thai Boxing club he spends time at – and this creates a protagonist with dimension. At the same time Inspector Chang uses a profound over use of violence and alternative policing tactics in his fight against the drug smugglers – it doesn’t need to be spoken out loud, one can understand the frustration that has driven him to this point. We also understand that there can be no real winner (or can there?) to this tale of dystopia, hot nights and loneliness, but at the same time we end up rooting for characters that are questionable when it comes to their moral positioning.

Just as he does in Drive, Valhalla Rising, Bronson – and earlier films like Bleeder and the Pusher Trilogy – Refn presents us with complex characters who are on the wrong side of the law, classic anti heroes, and fascinating personalities that linger on in your head long after the film has finished. I find that Refn makes two kinds of films, the dark dramas that more or less play along the rules of classic narrative such as the Pusher films, Bleeder, Fear X and Drive and then the alternative experimental ones like Valhalla Rising and Only God Forgives. It’s almost one classic, one experimental.

Only God Forgives is a seductive, mesmerizing and provocative dark drama that mocks convention and dares question classic characters and narrative.

Nicolas Winding Refn is a genius and I will not stop crossing my fingers until he get’s his adaptation of the Jodorowsky/Moebius (Jean Giraud) epic The Incal written, shot, edited and on a screen near me. Long Live Nicolas Winding Refn!

The Sarnos - A Life in Dirty Movies.

The Sarnos - A Life in Dirty Movies

Directed by: Wiktor Ericsson

Sweden, 2013

Documentary, 80 min

There are two kinds of filmmakers in this world. The kind that make films under the illusion that it will make them rich and famous, and the kind that make them for the want of telling a story and the sake of art. Fast forward a lifetime, and the filmmakers wanting to be famous will become bitter, whilst the artist, or auteur as they may be called, will be moved that we remember their work.

The Sarnos - A Life in Dirty Movies, tells the story of Joeseph and Peggy Sarno. Joe’s an old-school exploitation filmmaker with ambitions and Peggy is his dedicated wife, actress, all-round crewmember and Cicero of this warm document on their life together. That’s important, they where always together. Together through it all.

We learn their dedication to their craft, from youngsters to now, always looking for a way to make movies. Their lives spent between apartments in New York and Sweden. Part of the film is their history; part is current as Joe desperately tries to secure financing for making that “next film”. As always, Peggy’s there to support him, give him advice and help make that next film. There’s a nice moment where Peggy reads through Joe’s - kind of sordid - script, after all there’s a difference in sexploitation in the 50-60’s, and reflects over the language the characters use, and suggests that they use their cell phones to talk instead of calling from phone booths… after all that’s what these modern women would do, says Peggy, lovingly bringing contemporary times to her husbands script.

The Sarnos - A Life in Dirty Movies is a gentle and heart-warming piece of documentary cinema. Swedish-made documentaries recently, sometimes manage to get close to their subjects, but very few have any dimension. They may tell interesting, linear stories, but this one has the dimension that many others lack. I’m a total sucker for documentaries about filmmakers who never stopped chasing the dream, no matter what path it took them through - such as defying one's own morals with the trials and ordeals this brings - and this is such a film, seriously a fantastic documentary, This is about real people trying to do what they believe in and their desire to be accepted as filmmakers and the qualms along the way... all the way through their filmmaking lives. Wiktor Ericsson’s cameras have caught this perfectly. I’d be able to recite passages of this film that are really moving, but I won’t. This is simply one of those “Must See” documentaries that you Must See!

There’s something completely fascinating with many of the old sexploitation filmmakers, as so many of them have a very distinct idea of where the line between art and smut goes. Filmmakers like Jean Rollin, Jess Franco, Jose Mojica Marins etc. – all of them low budget filmmakers with some great idea’s of what cinema is, and all with their very distinct style – all of them where forced into directing pornography during their careers. Something that lay heavy shadows on their artistic intentions, and the majority of them dealt with some serious frustrations over being forced into areas of filmmaking that weren’t where they wanted to go. But they had to, all for the sake of getting a shot at making that next film.

Sarno is referred to as the Ingmar Bergman of 42nd Street and that’s wonderful words to remember him by. Because what made Joe Sarno’s films stand out amongst others in the niche depended on two facts. The way he wrote his characters, with depth and dimension, the way he always focused on female sexuality and the fact that his films often used the scenes of sex to make his audience think about difficult subject matters… guilt being one of them! Guilt for one’s own sexuality is a pretty heavy topic to drop into a sexploitation film, but that’s precisely where Sarno’s balance lied, tell a story, make them think, even if it’s under the guise of sexploitation… until hardcore cinema ruined everything for Joe and so many other grand masters of exploitation cinema.

Interview snippets with a teary eyed Joe saying things like “I thought that everyone had forgotten about me…” as we follow the couple to retrospectives of his work, together with Peggy’s telling of how their love was never really accepted by her family… and definitely not the films they where making, all add up to make a very emotional film. One can’t but sit and wonder if Sarno had left a legacy of the same importance if he had managed to break into accepted cinema? There’s a bitter sweet conflict within the reality that some directors would never have been remembered if they had broken through into mainstream, and in their alienation only really found their art. 

The main body of insight comes form interviews with Joe and his wife Peggy. Although people like John Waters, Jamie Gillis and Annie Sprinkle, do participate, the most interesting interviews are with film historians, film critics and experts who give a fair and honest picture of Sarno’s films and what they meant at the time, the imprint they will leave in cinema history. I love when experts and academics are used to reflect upon the importance of low budget and exploitation cinema filmmakers that others sneer snobbishly at. A big part of this film is all about being accepted. Accepting Joe Sarno as the filmmaker with ambitions that he really was. A topic Peggy and Joe Sarno obviously had to deal with all their lives. The closing scene is poetic justice at it’s finest. 

Yes, I know that Sarno is responsible for one of the most famous Swedish pop-cultural adult films of all time. Everyone refers to “that film” at some point or other. But that’s not what this film is about, that’s not the Joseph W. Sarno of this documentary, and I feel that bringing that into this piece would be disrespectful to the Sarnos, as this is a film about the people, not what they did.

Allena

Allena

Directed by: Marcus Widegren

Drama/Thriller, 13min

Sweden, 2013

Short film. Independent film. I’ve talked about them both in this forum. Short film and independent film are vital breeding ground for larger things to come. Many a great director screenwriting teams started out with shorts and independents. Never underestimate the power of independent filmmaking. That's where true art lies.

The creative team of Widegren & Andersson has been making independents and shorts for quite some time. They have been at it for at least twenty years plus, perhaps even longer. As all filmmakers they have along the way mixed high and low genres and themes, causes and reasons. Some of them stand out as the gem’s they are such as their short Vi ska till Havet, and the impressive feature Kraftwerk 3714.

Their latest work is a piece of neo film noir, a Giallo flavored Swede-thriller set in a closed location. An old school sets the stage as a minimal cast of two actors tells the story of Allenea.

A lone man [Fred Andersson] rides the tram to his destination. He meet’s up with a colleague [Mats Huddén] in a dark room in the school. They talk. Talk and become friends of sorts, joined through their loneliness.  A mutual ground is found, a friendship of sorts. Through this friendship comes sympathy, empathy and possible hope… But this hops and brief friendship will be short, as one of them is the Allena killer…

The storytelling is impressive and tells a well-plotted tale. Red herrings and deceptive devices are used along the way in the thirteen-minute short. Small details that you know are placed there to make you question them.  Put there to catch your eye and linger there.  There’s also a sinister subplot that hides beneath the surface. The last act presents a deceptive twist that not only reveals the killers identity, but also serves up a really original and interesting take on the serial killer and victim story. I can’t really recall seeing this kind of twist being used before and it is a pure stroke of genius. It is reason why Allena is such a great piece of short cinema.

Acting is top notch and using an actor of Huddén’s caliber really ups the game. This guy is a pro and its reflected in the way Andersson interacts with him. It also becomes apparent that Andersson really only should act against top actors, as the performance he gives in the presence of Huddén is brilliant. It almost made me want to call Anderson up and ask if all was ok. It’s an awesome performance to say the least, and it is possibly the finest one Andersson has given to date. Believe me when I tell you that there are major league awarded Swedish actors who give performances paler than this one on each and every occasion.

I’m not much for tech, as I never really got into variations of cameras and stuff. I still shoot on my analogue F301 Nikon or a very basic Nikon Digital camera… I still haven’t tried the film options at all. I wish I had though, as there’s so much one can do with the simplest of cameras these days. Not being a tech person, I’ll fall back on my form is nothing, story is everything mantra when it comes to Independent and short form cinema. Although there’s no need for that here, as Allena – shot by Widegren - looks really, really good. There’s none of the painfully sloppy independent cinema set-ups that one usually finds to be seen in Allena. The minimal lighting has been used to the maximum, locations are realistically lit and it stays that way. There’s never the feeling that anything was left to chance, but instead a aura of absolute control lies over the piece. Hence the fulfilling satisfaction that this short film brings with it! Widegren and Andersson control their art perfectly.

Allena is a very authentic film with a delightfully deceptive narrative. A must see piece of Swedish Short Cinema which can be enjoyed with English subs by following the link below.

ALLENA (With UK subs)

Stockholm Sex Report

Stockholm Sex Report

Original title: Rapport från Stockholms sexträsk

Directed by: Arne Brandhild

Sweden, 1974

Documentary/Mondo, 69 min

Distributed by: Klub Super 8

Mondo fans rejoice! You may know about Luigi Scattini’s Svezia, inferno e paradiso (Sweden: Heaven and Hell) 1968, but you have probably never seen Rapport från Stockholms sexträsk (Stockholm Sex Report), a smut fest that shows the real Sweden and it’s dirty, sleazy nightclubs, as they where in the early seventies. Just before the self-sanitation and clean up of several sordid areas.

Ok, so in all honesty Stockholm Sex Report was most likely shot with a documentary idea at its heart, but comes off as an exploitative curiosity relying on its sensationalistic content and a truly groovy, vinyl static ridden, soundtrack. It’s basically a series of lurid night club acts (think Bunny Yeager/Irving Klaw acts, but dirtier) where chicks strip down and shake their strut or hairy couples interact on stage, interwoven pseudo documentary footage telling of the many sex clubs in Stockholm, what goes on behind the closed doors, how the businesses are run, and what to expect during a visit. Pornographic comics and magazines are discussed, content and quality wise. Classified ad’s get a chapter and the obligatory tour of sex shops and all their kinky devices on display. There’s an interesting segment of where some geezer – possibly Brandhild - picks up prostitutes, drives them around Stockholm and candidly talks to them about sex trade of the day. The frank conversations become something of a fascinating interview and document of the oldest profession in the world, revealing what the prostitutes feel for their customers, what their ordinary life is like and how they emotionally handle the work. To some extent the narrative tries to give some kind of justification as the hookers come off as happy and content, and well off for dosh. One woman brags about her income and how she’s going to go buy a midnight blue Chrysler with a hard top. It’s possible that the dialogue is bogus and was written by Brandhild, but it’s certainly sleazy fare and one can only fantasize what a full fledged exploitation, or Swedish Sin film as they where to become know as, from Brandhild’s pen would have been like.

Arne Brandhild was a man of many talents. He was first and foremost a cinematographer who lensed stuff like Torgny Wickman’s Inkräktarna (The Intruders) 1975 and Ta Mig I Dalen (Girl on her Knees 1977 – both available from Klub Super 8), Ragnar Frisk and the Mats Helge Olsson produced Attentatet (Outrage 1980, which starred Christina Lindberg in one of her last roles before her twenty year absence from theatre screens).  He also edited several films for Mats Helge Olsson and Ragnar Frisk. But it didn’t stop there, he also wrote the script to Claes Fellbom’s Agent 0,5 och Kvarten – fattaruväl! But if’s mainly Brandhild’s camerawork and self made short films that make up his legacy if we where to designate him with one. There’s no real record of the amount of shorts he shot, but some of them are still around, and even one of them – Girlography, a 14 min short from 1986 where Brandhild cruises from inner city to archipelago of Stockholm checking out the chicks and sights – is included as a bonus on this release…

…and talking bonuses, holy fucking sleazebag, this disc is a treasure chest of filth, musky odours and sexy dancing. Funny loops, seedy reels and even a randy documentation of the nightclub show at the sex club Chat Noir. The short “Where the Action Is” was a strange souvenir film available to buy in the establishment after spending the evening watching live acts, stripteases and corny magicians to take home and watch at your own leisure. With this release you get Where the Action is a couple of Danish and Swedish stag loops, facsimiles of gentleman magazines of the time, an interactive map of the smut parlours of Stockholm, and the hilarious, Nana’s Christmas Cabaret, where strippers and nightclub dwellers sing Swedish Christmas carols.

Out now in Sweden, Rapport från Stockholms sexträsk (with a cover designed by yours truly) is obligatory viewing for Swedish sin and Mondo fans, or even those perversely curious to what really went on in the seedy underbelly of beautiful Stockholm in the seventies. English Subtitles in English are optional on this release, as they are on KlubSuper8’s other titles in this batch; Gunnar Höglund’s Vill så gärna tro (Want So Much to Believe) 1971 and a double shot of Mac Alhberg, Molly – Familjeflickan (Sex in Sweden) 1977 and Jag en Markis (The Reluctant Sadist) 1967.

As the tagline states: “Reveals all, shows all!” Get it here!