Dear ladies and gentleman, hard copy book lovers, Type-O-Negative, Latvia, Tarkovsky, Gaper Noe and the distinguished arts community of the Russian Federation and Eastern Europe. Bukowski, Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa, Dersu Uzala, Wong Kar Wai, and Fatih Akin. On top of the dumpster of reboots and half dead superheroes the Summit Cinema glistens. Since when did Comic-Con dictate global cinema? We here at The Summit know cinematic nectar when we screen it. Nicolas Winding Refn has done it again the man has ripped the roof off the dumpster. "Drive" was a beautiful operatic fairy tale. Inspired by Thomas Mann and 1980's Michael Mann. "0nly G0d F0rgive$ is a ghost red room nightmare into beautiful hell. The film immediately draws correlations to Lynch's "Fire Walk With Me" and Wong Kar Wai's "In The Mood for Love". The establishing shot of Gosling's outstretched arms and clenched fists book end the last image seamlessly. Julian is a man who has killed his father with these bare hands and loves his mother. Oedipus and Greek tragedy have been commented on by numerous viewers and critics. Critics complain that the film has cardboard characters, is visually over indulgent, no hero, and complain at Gosling's 12 lines of dialogue. I have a response to these allegations. Learn to sit and read a hard copy book like a film. Refn obviously feels confident with assigning his lead actor little to no dialogue. This forces the true cinephile to go internal on a wild ride with a visual pleasure cake in a pulpy, haunted, neon Bangkok, Thailand. The stares of Gosling reveal a man who has always been in the shadow of his brother, emasculated by his mother and is methodical about every decision.
Cliff Martinez drives a stake through the heart of a vampire with a haunting fever dream of a score. I have never seen karaoke utilized as a serious art form and a way of life. Vithaya Pansringarm is the Thai police chief who from his opening shot wearing wing tipped shoes on a rain slicked Thai alley has the vision of a samurai and a surgeon. He defines intensity simply by standing erect. Many would call Chang the villain, but I see him as a judge. Everyone he punishes is from the criminal underworld and I agree he is despicable. Yet he never dies and for Refn he perhaps takes the human form of God as Michelangelo illustrated in the Last Judgement.
Kristin Scott Thomas plays Crystal Julian's mother. She is the character I love the most! The range of Thomas as an actress is astounding. In "Loved You So Long" by Phillipe Claudel she delivered one of the most emotional performances in years. Here she has been shaped into an ice sculpture by Refn he claims Lady Macbeth and Donatella Versace were primary influences. The hotel check in and family dinner sequences are show stoppers.
On to the best part. The cinematography by Kubrick's Larry Smith is flawless. The red hall ways with exquisite Dragon wall paper are jaw dropping. The blue slit lighting in Gosling!s eyes in a solid red room are genius. The slow motion sequence of the two Thai Hitmen in flip flops wearing sunglasses on a neon lit dreamscape is my favorite visual in the movie. There is no dialogue just lips
moving and hypnotic techno. The reds lead the viewer literally into hell. Ghosts were definitely in
the machine. Even if Cannes booed the film it is meaningless. It was a hit at our festival. The
Summit Cinema thanks our hits from Latvia. Until next keep your eye on the screen and not the smartphone. Stay tuned for part 3 of the Summit Cinema festival and enjoy the ocean this summer!!!
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