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I absolutely love the score (own the vinyl) and the cinematography. But good god, the movie is still pretty awful and close to embarassing-level to recommend to anyone.
The image is the thing. Yes this movie is literally about cannibalism. You really think Refn wanted to make a movie 'about' anything–especially one presenting some 'sophisticated take' on competitive jealousies in the LA fashion world? I don't think you know how he works.
One of those films where a brief synopsis of the premise and the trailer made me realize that I never want to watch it. I have a pretty low tolerance for psychological dissolution movies filmed in a garish style.
Oh believe me, I usually preface my admiration for it woth a disclaimer that I can't exactly recommend it to most people. Not until I've gotten to know someone well enough to know for sure that it'll be right up their alley at least. Otherwise, yeah, approach with caution, I readily admit this one isn't for everyone. :p
I like this movie a little more every time TGM talks about it.
In Refn's own words:
"I wanted to make a film about beauty, and the power of it. If you go through our history, our culture, our mythology, beauty has always been a very dominating factor in our culture. I have two daughters, so I read a lot of fairy tales and beauty is very much a common definition of women. And their power over men is strong. But, with the invention of the fitness centre, physical strength lost a lot of its importance but beauty remained. Beauty is like a new class system. The world is so obsessed with beauty, it has been for the last 2,000 years, it’s the one stock that’s never gone down, the one stock that’s never gone out of fashion. The longevity of beauty has continued to shrink. It's becoming younger and younger, so, eventually, it will always feed on itself, don’t you think?"
Yeah. The movie gets better (if that's even possible) when you read about the myth of Narcissus and how it relates to the Refn's imagery. And yeah, it is about cannibalism. It's not a coincidence that that blurb by Refn contains the word "feed".
Not even this one?:
https://youtu.be/0LZh0nrqvIU
I didn't have high expectations for this after OGF, and because its sold as about modeling, but....I dug it. At least better than OGF (currently). It was interesting to watch at a time when I've been discussing The American with baby doll and he made some legit points about style v substance v content. Still trying to figure out Refn. This film was super interesting in that context. For first half I'm thinking this is the premier example of style over substance. Its gorgeous....and vapid. But then it shifts and shifts and shifts. (Here come the initial gut thoughts, dont hold me to em). It doesnt really gain any real substantial depth...but then makes me think...Refn seems to do things on purpose. So he must know how obviously surface this is to the point hes doing it on purpose, so perhaps that's his point.
Sidenote: I know Keanu isnt respected as an all time actor, but who else can go from being a blockbuster action star to a scumbag motel pedophile pimp back to mainstream star without batting an eye? Somewhere in there he was a cannibal cult leader...respect.
I loved Keanu in this. I believe I ranked it among my favorite performances from that year. Glad you dug this one. :cool:
Keanu can be very good in specific instances ("Parenthood," "Bill & Ted," "My Own Private Idaho," "Man of Tai Chi") and yeah he's great here.
I didn't like A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night or whatever its called, but The Bad Batch was interesting. As was Keanu in it.