PRETTY WOMAN And Fist Metaphors : Melissa Talks With NICOLAS WINDING REFN About ONLY GOD FORGIVES

One of the most discussed and debated films of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, ONLY GOD FORGIVES marks the second collaboration between Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling. Recently, I sat down with Refn to talk about the film that has been causing quite a buzz with critics and audiences. Check it out below.

Julian (Ryan Gosling), a respected figure in the criminal underworld of Bangkok, runs a Thai boxing club and smuggling ring with his brother Billy.  Billy is suddenly murdered and their crime lord matriarch, Crystal (Kristin Scott Thomas) arrives from the U.S. to bring back the body.  When Crystal forces Julian to settle the score with his brother’s killers, Julian finds himself in the ultimate showdown.

You went from writing and directing the PUSHER series – to films such as DRIVE, and now ONLY GOD FORGIVES. What has your journey been like from PUSHER to now?

NICOLAS WINDING REFN:  Fun. Well, it’s hard. What was it like? I mean, I still make the films I make. I think everything changed when I made BRONSON. That was me forcing into english speaking films. I realized that’s where I wanted to stay. I’ve just been able to make the movies that I want to make. I still live in Copenhagen. I still live a mundane, boring life with a wife and kids. I do mundane, boring stuff.

You’ve collaborated with Ryan Gosling on two projects now. What is it about the relationship, or dynamic between you both that works so well? Is it true that he sought you out for DRIVE? 

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: Yeah. He asked if I would make a movie with him. It’s good. It works… on a professional level, which is important, and on a personal level. It’s about having trust and respect for each other.

ONLY GOD FORGIVES was planned before DRIVE. Why did you put DRIVE first?

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: Well, I had… I was ready to make ONLY GOD FORGIVES, and then I decided to go to America to do a film called THE DYING OF THE LIGHT, because Paul Schrader had this script that I wanted to make with Harrison Ford in it… or cast Harrison Ford in it… and then that film didn’t happen. I was like “Fuck!” I went to America and nothing happened. It’s a cliché. Then DRIVE came about, and I said “I’m not going to leave this city without making a movie.” – and so I did DRIVE knowing that I would do ONLY GOD FORGIVES after.

You’re films kind of have a Spaghetti Western feel to them. A kind of Clint Eastwood, Sergio Leone quality – where your leading man is a “man with no name”… the strong, silent type. I’m curious if those types of movies influence you? Where do you find influence and inspiration?

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: I get influence from everywhere, of course. I’m a child of cinema. I like cinema. I can’t get enough of it. But then again, I could be looking out the window, I could be staring out a plane, I could be going on a bus brining my kids to kindergarten. I could be hearing a piece of music. Music a lot! It’s very inspiring because I don’t do drugs anymore, so music enhances my emotion, which is what you tap into to be creative. You tap into your emotions. So, it’s all over. I try not to be dogmatic about anything. I don’t get up at 9 o’clock every morning and start working unless I have to. If I don’t have to I do it at night.

Building off of the last question, what in particular inspired you to write this?

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: Many things. I think the first thing that really appeared in my mind was – I had this idea about doing a film about – when I held my arm like this [holds arm up with a clenched fist, palm side facing him] – the sense of the physical metaphor – the sexual metaphor of the erection that essentially can be an act of violence through your fists. And then going like this [moves hand down] is submission… and in this movement, I knew there was going to be a movie.

This is a random question, but I notice you don’t use the same DOP (Director of Photography) for your films. Is there a reason for that?

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: It forces me to always add a different look to my films. It forces me to never be too much in a comfort zone. Always to remind myself – every film I make – how I want to make it different from the one I did before. If I repeat myself I’ll be really depressed.

You wrote and directed this film, but you didn’t write DRIVE. Do you prefer to write your own script, or do you prefer to adapt?

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: To me, it doesn’t really make a difference as long as I can make the film that I want to make. Filmmaking is a directors medium. I was lucky enough on drive to have great source material, and have a wonderful screenwriter working with me. It took a lot of burden off my shoulders. To me, it doesn’t really matter who does what as long as I can control what I want to make. If anyone’s there to help me, then great. It’s good to know how to do it yourself, just incase you have to. You know, that’s an important lesson.

You acted in PUSHER, but you haven’t really acted since. [Refn laughs] Is there a reason for that, or do you prefer to stay behind the camera?

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: [Laughs] I think, I’m suppose to be very good at comedy. So, Ryan and I talked that we have to do a comedy next, because he’s also very good at comedy. I just never really pursued it.

I’ve noticed a bit of a pattern. BRONSON was done in England, VALHALLA RISING in Scotland, DRIVE in America, and then Thailand for ONLY GOD FORGIVES… Your locations go in a circle around the globe. How important is it for you to always use a different filming location, and environment? Also, were you conscious of this circle? 

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: I like to go be a stranger in a strange land because it takes me out of my comfort zone. It means I won’t make the same movie that I did before because I’m somewhere else. Going from Nottingham to the Scottish Mountains is pretty different. And then going from a Scottish Mountain to LA is very different. From LA to Bangkok is very different. So, it’s a constant seeking… other places. It forces me to do something different each time.

You mentioned your love for cinema… What are some of your favorite movies?

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: Of all time?

Sure! You can even through some guilty pleasures in!

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: I like all kinds of films. I love PRETTY WOMAN.

Really?

NICOLAS WINDING REFN: I think that’s one of the few films that I’ve actually paid numerous times to see in the cinema. I think it’s an incredible piece of , of just the greatest trick played on an audience. And it’s so enduring and charming and romantic and fluffy – and yet so twisted. I like all classic, American TCM movies. There’s this film called METROPOLIS that I really like.

Refn is currently writing his next film, I WALK WITH THE DEAD, co-produced with Wild Bunch and Gaumont, and is also turning his attention to television to develop BARBARELLA.

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ONLY GOD FORGIVES is in theaters now