It is very beautiful, the emotion captured in Gosling's face when he has very little to no dialogue can speak volumes. My only reasoning for its want to have been directed before Drive is that mainstream audiences have since identified with Drive and Gosling as a Refn favourite. It is no secret that Gosling is definite eye-candy and was somewhat of a anarchic rockstar in Drive. To deliver this outing will leave a bit of an odd taste in the mouth of that audience.
Julian (Gosling) is an expatriate who runs a muy-thai club in Bangkok. His unhinged brother, Billy, is found dead for brutally raping and killing an underage prostitute. The father of the daughter delivered the brother's death and in turn receives an amputation from Lieutenant Chang for letting his daughter continue her line of work. Chang is known as the Angel of Vengeance and wears a thoughtful yet sullen expression when night falls. Refn's token shots of ultra-violence are plentiful yet still make the heart skip a beat, mainly because the film's action sequences are quite sparse. There are beautifully crafted wide angles that do not flinch when faced with some of the film's more harrowing scenes of violence. In this respect, it is quite a slow moving piece.
Julian is bemused by the actions of Chang and sets out on the long and seemingly arduous task of pursuing him. Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm) delivers most of the violent action throughout Only God Forgives accompanied by Cliff Martinez' brutally crescendoing score. Its strings leaving constant reminders of Wendy Carlos' work on The Shining but with a Thai twist that chills.
The true star of this outing is Kristin Scott Thomas as Julian's mutton-dressed-as-lamb mother Crystal. Her entire display wreaks of alcohol and anger with hints of an incestuous relationship left ambiguous until the end. Some of her lines that are delivered so venomously are memorable."How many cocks can entertain that little cum dumpster?" she asks of prostitute Mai played by the alluring Rhatha Phongam, who is posing as Julian's girlfriend. "I'm sure he had his reasons," she spits upon hearing the reason behind Billy's death.
It's a sordid vengeance tale that has a bitter aftertaste with little in the way of filled narrative closely resembling the eye-for-an-eye morality tale. This is a film that feels like it was long over before the end credits. It is nevertheless a beautifully crafted film with plenty of dreamlike visuals and a colour palette bleeding with Bangkok nighttime. The ending leaves the viewer an air of questioning, finally hearing Chang's karaoke song ominously leaving apparent our anti-hero's fate despite the miniscule presence of Gosling from the opening.
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