Plot
Julian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok's criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother's recent death.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 6.4/10 (5,670 voted)
Director:Nicolas Winding Refn
Storyline
Bangkok. Ten years ago Julian killed a man and went on the run. Now he manages a Thai boxing club as a front for a drugs operation. Respected in the criminal underworld, deep inside, he feels empty. When Julian's brother murders an underage prostitute, the police call on retired cop Chang - the Angel of Vengeance. Chang allows the father to kill his daughter's murderer, then 'restores order' by chopping off the man's right hand. Julian's mother Jenna - the head of a powerful criminal organization - arrives in Bangkok to collect her son's body. She dispatches Julian to find his killers and 'raise hell'.
Trivia:
The film was largely shot chronologically and scenes were often edited the day they were shot. See more »
Quotes:
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User Review
Author:
Rating: 7/10
Critics have gone way too hard on this movie. Lots of violent, strange
et slow films have been presented at the Cannes film festival since its
creation but yet every time a film pushes the boundaries of violence
while keeping its own style, most critics go mad and sometimes shout at
the screening, even leaving the theater before the end and calling it
"outrageous". This film, along with "Anti-Christ" is a perfect example
of the type of scandals that go on at Cannes for quite stupid reasons.
First of all, forget about Drive. If you know Nicolas Winding Refn's
style and like it then you'll enjoy this movie but if you've only seen
Drive and believe this is going to be in the same style (because of the
same actor, similar cinematography, same musical style...) believe me
you'll be disappointed. The trailer might give this impression, but
this film is very different. The director had already made other movies
just like this, but they did not encounter a really large audience. His
works were mostly known by cinephiles, artsy people and intellectuals
interested in film analysis (in a general way of course). Drive was his
first really big success and also his first film taking place in
America, starring a worldwide known star (Gosling) and going deep into
its message while keeping a more specific style than his other films.
Here Refn feels a lot more philosophical, and comes back to his
original style in directing films such as Valhalla Rising : great
visuals, slow-pasted action, scenes that seem a bit detached from
one-another, deep character development, little dialogue, extreme
violence mixed with soft and/or trance-electro music... all of which
are here to deal with philosophical, deep, hard subjects like revenge,
good and bad, mother/son relationship etc...
When it comes to the acting Gosling does not disappoints however this
time Refn wanted to do the opposite that he did in Drive : showing the
weakness of his character. Also, even though he does pull-off a very
convincing performance, Kristin Scott Thomas is surprisingly
captivating and gives her character a much more "real" dimension than
it could have been (like it is most of the time, when a woman is
supposed to play a drug-lord badass). But saving the best for the end,
Vithaya Pansringarm, an actor totally unknown to me until know, plays
wonderfully his role as the mystical bad guy, and really did surprise
me by the quality of his acting. He completely understood the movie's
atmosphere and makes his character feel mysterious and fascinating.
To sum-up this is a very atmospheric, deep movie with great
actors/actresses and dealing with difficult and serious themes, with
some philosophical analysis possible, but definitely not in the same
style as Drive, even though it has some similarities with it.
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