There were few films last year as divisive as Nicolas Winding Refn‘s “Only God Forgives.” The near silent, intensely violent, measured, methodical picture didn’t carry with it the slick cool of “Drive,” and many couldn’t get with the movie that featured an emasculated Ryan Gosling hunting down the cop who killed his brother, at the insistence of his viperous mother. And you can count Gary Oldman as among those who didn’t roll with the movie.
Speaking with Empire, when asked what the last movie he walked out of was, Oldman replied he doesn’t really do that sort thing, but: “I suffer it. I was very perplexed by ‘Only God Forgives.’ I’m a fan of Ryan Gosling and the director, but let’s say I had an itch all through that. But I sat to the end.”
So, the next time you feel like bailing on movie, just remember that Gary Oldman always sits through to the credits. [via TV3]
I was perplexed by Gary Oldman being in the RoboCop remake.
"The near silent, intensely violent, measured, methodical picture" ha ha, if only…more pantomime violence, leaden performance and a plodding narrative…the worst film I can remember sitting through.
It was like a spoof 'edgy' film but without the irony or humour to help it along, referencing David Lynch in the context of this dreadful film, only makes clear you're not really 'getting' Lynch.
I sat through it all too, it looked stunning, had a tantalising dream/sub conscious theme but not one single character. I pitied the actors trying to create something out of nothing more than cardboard (a testament to KST's brilliance) and if you're going to have sparse dialogue it needs to be more interesting than the banalities these guys were given. Refn clearly loves movies and maybe pop videos and commercials too, he knows how to style it out but so far so empty. He wishes he was David Lynch or a Kubrick but I'm not sure he actually gives a crap about life beyond the movies, which I guess is enough for many but I think it's a shame.
Refn defied everyone's expectations… and paid for it with an underperforming movie that, one day, will probably get a reappraisal by critics and the public down the road. Not that people didn't understand it, but narrative conventions were upended and turned inside-out, and I think most folks simply didn't know what to make of it.
I found it oddly compelling, a twist on hero tropes (the real hero of the film is the guy we hate the most… Lieutenant Chang… but he's the moral center of the movie, basically… making Julian and his obnoxious turd of a family the villains of the movie.
Rodie, If Lynch directed it it would be getting even more hate.
Such an underrated movie! Oldman should watch it again lol. I mean, if David Lynch had released it, people would be calling it a near masterpiece. But it's Refn, so it gets hate.
the only aspect of the film that is less than stellar was the screenplay. acting, cinematography, directing, music, editing all are great. the screenplay is a bit juvenile.