james-re

If Drive was the perfect amount of Refns style then only god forgives is him over stepping that line into pure Refn territory. Everything that made Drive what it is has been doubled here, tripled. Characters talk slower, move slower, Ryan goslings has even less dialogue, and the violence is more grisly. Gone are the quick flashes of exhilarating bloody violence from Drive, replaced now with darker grimier moments of violence that are at times hard to watch.

While the basic plot may be simple, sequences are drawn out to a point where you start to forget what is actually going on in regards to the plot because each individual scene envelops you with an incredible atmosphere that is sometimes beautiful and other times down right nasty, the nastiness and the beauty often happening right beside each other. The effect in the end is like some vivid nightmare that you want to wake up from but can't help but be entranced by.

When I first watched the film I loved some scenes and hated others. I have now seen it multiple times and it's as if it reshapes its self every time, morphing into something different, conjuring up different abstract thoughts each time, different feelings, past feelings, repressed feelings, creative thoughts. Something there is resonating with me deeply. I don't know what it is, but it keeps me coming back. Just the fact that Refn had the bravery and vision to make something like this, to run the risk of it being called pretentious, boring or worse, it's inspiring to me. It makes me feel more confident in taking artistic risks without the fear of what others will think of it. I am truly glad for films like Only God Forgives, and for filmmakers like Refn.

Kubrick sets his film during a fictional war so as not to draw attention to the details of who these soldiers are fighting but rather relate it to the entire idea of war itself and the paranoia and psychological effects they can have on someone, the fears and desires that will rise up to the surface when faced with certain situations.

In the middle of these woods the paranoia and isolation awaken the inner fears and desires of these four men in unexpected ways. The fear of confronting a group of enemy soldiers, the desire to survive, the thrill of the kill, or the dilemma the young man faces when he realises that he is alone with a beautiful woman who they've captured prisoner and this could be his last day alive, his desires and his morals clashing together all at once until he goes mad. A particularly effective sequence sees the soldiers ambushing a group of enemy soldiers who are unknowingly in the middle of their final meal. As each enemy soldier is slaughtered we see the spattered remains of their food in placement of any blood and gore, the desire for both food and bloodshed becoming intermixed for these men. "Better grab something to eat", one of them says, "It may be a long time till our... next feast." Kubrick himself went on to hate the film and didn't want anyone to see it as the years went by. And no, it wasn't up to the standards of his later films (obviously). Budgetary reasons and lack of experience led to certain issues. There is some poor sound design, some weak acting some distracting errors in continuity. Two of the actors from the main group of soldiers even play an extra role each, acting as two enemies towards the last act... but then I recognised the genius of this, it only emphasises the fact that the real battle is the one we fight with ourselves. Pretentious? Maybe a little. Genius? A little of that to. But that idea of having a detail like that where we are unsure if the director intended such a thought-provoking poetic idea or if it's just us overthinking things is something that Kubrick continued to do through out his future films (2001 and The Shining stand out for me), the details and ideas in his future films became more hidden and abstract yet are skilfully implemented and undeniably intentional once you look hard enough.

With such thought-provoking ideas, unconventional editing, striking and haunting images, it's hard not to be at least a little interested in what this filmmaker would go on to do next. And who could've guessed he would go on to develop such a reputation, earn such respect from audiences and filmmakers across the world, create films of various different genres that broke the rules and dealt with a magnitude of themes and ideas. This is where it begun.

Possibly the most accurate depiction in cinema of how a nightmare looks, sounds and feels. The dark cramped spaces, the unusual behaviour from the people around me, repetitive uncomfortable sounds. This film has it all. In fact it captures it so well that once youre watching it you barely even question it. It instantly grips you with its surreal imagery and hypnotic sound design. Yet when I was sitting there watching eraserhead and seeing such strangeness, I barely even questioned it. It was as if I didn't need to. It was like stepping into a dream. How can something so utterly strange feel so familiar. It is as if lynch has gone into the dark recesses of my mind and pulled out my secret fears and desires and presented them to me in an incredibly abstract yet deeply powerful way. Calling it a horror film which its often labelled feels wrong, this thing goes beyond that. It goes deeper. Forget about classifying it into a genre. It's a film that even defies words. Just don't even try to sum it up in words. You'll sound like a fool. This is something that you immerse yourself in. This is something that needs to be experienced