4. Nicolas Winding Refn Gets A Taste Of Fame, Forgets The Audience
While Tarantinos ego grew after a career of constant praise, Nicolas Winding Refn had suffered from a sudden fling into the limelight. Stuck in Danish cinema for a good decade, his breakout English movies, Bronson and Valhalla Rising, were stylistically adored, but never really connected with anyone. Then something unexpected drove in (aha). Drive was really more in the same vein from Winding Refn; its shot in a hyper reality with an attention paid to the cinematography of its subject we havent seen in years, led by a mysterious silent type. With a mixture of his widest release to date and a gleefully misleading trailer the film was a quality hit, catching the attention of cine-fans the world over. Theres just something very ethereal about it, not to mention the frankly shocking explosions of violence, that has it stick in your memory longer than similar films would. Turns out we really shouldn't have praised Refn to the extent we did, because the fan adoration led to him being able to make the most selfish vanity project of 2013. Described by Empire Magazine as a showcase of Refns directing skills, starring Ryan Gosling (as opposed to Drive, which was oddly described as a Ryan Gosling film brought to you by Refn), Only God Forgives was a pure shambles; at best pretentious, but most likely devoid of any intended meaning. Winding Refn had real promise, but a simple taste of critical success had him leaving the style that had initially won him the plaudits.