Only God Forgives (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2013)

8/10
I think when I reviewed Drive I called it a triumph of style over substance (which I probably stole from some other reviewer at some point so I'm not patting myself on the back). It seems Nicholas Winding Refn took that idea and pushed it even further out there. It's hard to not see this as a response/reaction to Drive (or a response to the reaction Drive got), and it's not exactly a pleasant one. I have to believe Refn was conscious of exaggerating or subverting everything that was so successful in his previous film, and I wonder how much of it was in his mind when making this one...from Drive's pop pink and blue palette to OGF's harsh reds and yellows, to the 180 done by the characters Ryan Gosling portrays - superficially similar but complete opposites.
I feel like this is a very dumb movie, and very clever in its own way. When I say "dumb" I just mean there's no deep meaning or hidden symbolism to look for - it's all laid out there and the joke is on the viewer who, rejecting what's unfolding before him/her, looks in vain for something more. It's aggressively, enjoyably stupid.
As for the actual film, I was hypnotized by it - the movie practically throbs from beginning to end, pushed along by sharp visuals, an amazing score, and a glacial pace that seats it somewhere between film and experimental video art. It's the kind of movie I enjoyed a lot, but can't blame anyone else for hating. Actually, it made me think of Lars von Trier's Antichrist in a lot of ways - both in how I felt towards it (and how audiences feel towards it), and in its approach: an interloping European auteur using Hollywood's own weapons against it. Interestingly, both movies feature somewhat absurd dedications before their closing credits (Antichrist to Tarkovsky, OGF to Jodorowsky).
I am half-seriously hoping Refn's next film will be a 90-minute wordless feature composed of shots of Gosling in a white shirt surrounded by amorphous green blobs, backed by maybe an Italian disco soundtrack. Just to take this thing to its logical conclusion.