Description

Danish Director Nicolas Winding Refn discusses his movie Only God Forgives 2013 starring Ryan Gosling and Kristin Scott Thomas. The film is about the seedy underworld of Bangkok and a drug smuggler seeking revenge for his brothers death. Refn discusses his style, he wanted the movie to look like a pin-up magazine. His stylish and violent films come from a place he feels are 'fetishised and arousing'. Refn talks of how he shot the film in chronological order and his admiration for Gosling as an actor who portrays the 'turnable' hero so fearlessly. Refn discusses casting Scott Thomas as the sexy - Lady MacBeth style character and how wonderful she was. Pusher 1996 was Refn's first film about drugs and the criminal underworld in Copenhagen, he financed the film himself and screened it at this uncle's cinema - it was very popular among young critics but older critics hated it. A distributor in the UK finally picked it up. Unfortunately for Refn his next two films Bleeder 1996 and Fear X 2003 bankrupted him. He says Fear X was a disaster, full of mistakes, the elements just didn't fit together but he learnt so much from this experience. Refn discusses having to make Pusher 2 & 3 as part of a trilogy in order to pay off his debts. From here Refn was asked to direct Bronson 2008 a rather clownish and funny TV film about the notorious prisoner starring Tom Hardy. Drive 2011 is the last film discussed, Refn and Gosling joined forces and secretly shot this highly stylised indie film that went on to screen in Cannes with Refn winning Best Director.

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