Ryan Lambie Nov 1, 2016
Maverick director Nicolas Winding Refn talks to us about The Neon Demon, out this month on disc, and creativity in the digital age...
The breakthrough hit Drive aside, Nicolas Winding Refn's films seldom play nicely with their audience. Only God Forgives, the Danish director's follow-up to Drive and also starring Ryan Gosling, was a garish revenge fantasy set in Thailand but seemingly shot in the depths of hell; released in 2013, it received an openly hostile reception at Cannes.
See related Crazyhead episode 2 review: A Pine Fresh Scent Crazyhead episode 1 review: A Very Trippy Horse Buffy The Vampire Slayer: an episode roadmap for beginners Wolfblood: Buffy for the Cbbc generation
Likewise The Neon Demon, another fantastical horror-thriller which depicts Hollywood as a kind of colour-saturated purgatory. Young waif Jessie (Elle Fanning) shows up here with ambitions of becoming a top model; she achieves her ambition, but...
Maverick director Nicolas Winding Refn talks to us about The Neon Demon, out this month on disc, and creativity in the digital age...
The breakthrough hit Drive aside, Nicolas Winding Refn's films seldom play nicely with their audience. Only God Forgives, the Danish director's follow-up to Drive and also starring Ryan Gosling, was a garish revenge fantasy set in Thailand but seemingly shot in the depths of hell; released in 2013, it received an openly hostile reception at Cannes.
See related Crazyhead episode 2 review: A Pine Fresh Scent Crazyhead episode 1 review: A Very Trippy Horse Buffy The Vampire Slayer: an episode roadmap for beginners Wolfblood: Buffy for the Cbbc generation
Likewise The Neon Demon, another fantastical horror-thriller which depicts Hollywood as a kind of colour-saturated purgatory. Young waif Jessie (Elle Fanning) shows up here with ambitions of becoming a top model; she achieves her ambition, but...
- 10/25/2016
- Den of Geek
Two years ago, I interviewed director Liv Corfixen on her film My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, about her husband and the making of Only God Forgives. Refn was there as well, and one of the points that had come up in the film, and that both Corfixen and Refn elaborated on, was the difficulty of balancing work and family life. Refn liked to have his family with him when he was in production, but was saddened by how little time he had with them, and that the expectation of care always fell to his wife, with little regard for his own desire to look after his children. Raising Films, a UK-based advocacy group, has recently completed a study on the state of family...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/27/2016
- Screen Anarchy
The Neon Demon will eventually elicit some strong reaction from every viewer, and Nicolas Winding Refn has made clear that it shouldn’t be any other way. Our review was among the most negative we posted at Cannes, speaking for both its immediate grade and the force of its criticisms, and our own Brian Roan experienced something that, had it gone just a bit further, would be plastered across every one of the film’s TV spots and Blu-ray cases. Winding Refn seemed rather amused when I showed him the tweet on my phone, though his verbal response was terse: “I have two kids, so I know what it’s like.”
Despite the stated desire to provoke, there’s a clear humility when discussing The Neon Demon‘s development, and this writer-director — one who’s often held as a symbol of masculine-artist impulses run rampant — often admits that his film...
Despite the stated desire to provoke, there’s a clear humility when discussing The Neon Demon‘s development, and this writer-director — one who’s often held as a symbol of masculine-artist impulses run rampant — often admits that his film...
- 6/22/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The Danish-born director, Nicolas Winding Refn, has helmed a few popular movies such as Drive (2011), Bronson (2008), and the Pusher trilogy. This success has been only slightly marred by a handful of far-less-favored works including Fear X (2003) and Only God Forgives (2013) starring Ryan Gosling.
Ironically, that latter disaster supplied grist for one of the best scenes in the documentary, My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, which was helmed by Refn's wife, the talented but put-upon Liz Corfixen. Near the end of her engaging feature on her self-absorbed spouse, Refn, lying on his bed after the Cannes opening of Only God Forgives, mutters, "Why do critics have to be so cruel?" Then he reads aloud off his cell phone this Hollywood Elsewhere critique by Jeffrey Wells:
"Movies really don't get much worse... It's a shit macho fantasy -- hyperviolent, ethically repulsive, sad, nonsensical, deathly dull, snail-paced, idiotic, possibly woman-hating, visually suffocating, pretentious... [T]his is a defecation by an over-praised, over-indulged director who thinks anything he craps out is worthy of your time. I felt violated, shat upon, sedated, narcotized, appalled and bored stiff."
What I found so fascinating here, besides Refn's reaction to such verbiage ("That's how you know when you made great cinema. When half love and half hate it."), was that Mr. Wells will be able to reuse his review word for word for The Neon Demon.
This tale focuses upon a sixteen-year-old virgin, Jesse (Elle Fanning), who arrives in Los Angeles to begin a modeling career. Her first job is to lie on a couch with her neck supposedly slit and the fake blood streaming everywhere. The photographer is the young, kind-hearted Dean (Karl Glusman, who exposed his erection throughout Gaspar Noé's equally dull Love (2015)). The chap instantly falls in love with her.
Please don't ask why a nice guy would have a young woman pose with her body mutilated, other than it is a striking visual to open a film with. Anyway, Jesse has no time for love. Admitting herself talentless except for being pretty, she has only one item on her bucket list: to be a top model. Seemingly, she will succeed because when this young woman enters a room, everyone stares. Men. Women. Goats. Chimpanzees.
The very next day she's hired by a modeling agency. Twenty-four hours later she's posing for a top brooding photographer (Desmond Harrington), who after spotting her, has everyone leave the studio, orders Jesse to strip, then rubs metallic paint all over her body. Hopefully, it's not lead-based.
Soon every blonde model in L.A. with an Olive-Oyl physique hates her for stealing their jobs, and to top it off, the manager (Keanu Reeves) of the cruddy motel she's staying in is a rapist with a Lolita fixation. Uh-oh. Can there be more? Poorly directed party scenes, stray wildcats and eyeballs, cannibalism, a vile depiction of a horny lesbian, necrophilia in a mortuary, and a dastardly over-the-top performance by Alessandro Nivola as a shallow fashion designer just scrape the top layer of the slime that slithers about as The Neon Demon.
Mr. Refn has noted his goal was to make a satire about the modeling industry and America's facile addiction to externals. He also wanted to explore the 16-year-old girl that resides within himself. As if that weren't enough inspiration, he's spouted, "One morning I woke and realized I was both surrounded and dominated by women. Strangely, a sudden urge was planted in me to make a horror film about vicious beauty."
Now if Mr. Refn had an iota of wit (visual or otherwise) or if he respected women (his wife says he just wants her around as a housewife) or if his half-baked ideas spent ten more minutes in the oven, this offering could have been a gas. Paul Morrisey, John Waters, or even Greg Araki might have shaped this hodgepodge into a tongue-in-cheek funfest. But if Refn is aiming for intentional laughs, he fails. He seems to have been treading more into David Lynch territory but was swallowed up by the quicksand of his own dullardry. More Blue Polyester than Blue Velvet.
That Refn had no idea what he was creating with Demon was not a new occurrence for this vanquished auteur. He has said of a previous effort, "I've spent three years on this movie, and I don't really know what it's about." Then after the filming and the editing of Only God Forgives was completed, he observed to his wife," I wasted six months of our lives." Happily, for us, with his latest, our wasted time clocks in at one hour and 57 minutes. It just feels like six months.
(The Neon Demon, which had its world premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival to several boos, opens in theaters on June 24th.) - Brandon Judell
Mr. Judell has written on film for The Village Voice, indieWire.com, the New York Daily News, Soho Style, and The Advocate, and is anthologized in Cynthia Fuchs's Spike Lee Interviews (University Press of Mississippi) and John Preston's A Member of the Family (Dutton). He is also a member of the performance/writing group FlashPoint.
Ironically, that latter disaster supplied grist for one of the best scenes in the documentary, My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, which was helmed by Refn's wife, the talented but put-upon Liz Corfixen. Near the end of her engaging feature on her self-absorbed spouse, Refn, lying on his bed after the Cannes opening of Only God Forgives, mutters, "Why do critics have to be so cruel?" Then he reads aloud off his cell phone this Hollywood Elsewhere critique by Jeffrey Wells:
"Movies really don't get much worse... It's a shit macho fantasy -- hyperviolent, ethically repulsive, sad, nonsensical, deathly dull, snail-paced, idiotic, possibly woman-hating, visually suffocating, pretentious... [T]his is a defecation by an over-praised, over-indulged director who thinks anything he craps out is worthy of your time. I felt violated, shat upon, sedated, narcotized, appalled and bored stiff."
What I found so fascinating here, besides Refn's reaction to such verbiage ("That's how you know when you made great cinema. When half love and half hate it."), was that Mr. Wells will be able to reuse his review word for word for The Neon Demon.
This tale focuses upon a sixteen-year-old virgin, Jesse (Elle Fanning), who arrives in Los Angeles to begin a modeling career. Her first job is to lie on a couch with her neck supposedly slit and the fake blood streaming everywhere. The photographer is the young, kind-hearted Dean (Karl Glusman, who exposed his erection throughout Gaspar Noé's equally dull Love (2015)). The chap instantly falls in love with her.
Please don't ask why a nice guy would have a young woman pose with her body mutilated, other than it is a striking visual to open a film with. Anyway, Jesse has no time for love. Admitting herself talentless except for being pretty, she has only one item on her bucket list: to be a top model. Seemingly, she will succeed because when this young woman enters a room, everyone stares. Men. Women. Goats. Chimpanzees.
The very next day she's hired by a modeling agency. Twenty-four hours later she's posing for a top brooding photographer (Desmond Harrington), who after spotting her, has everyone leave the studio, orders Jesse to strip, then rubs metallic paint all over her body. Hopefully, it's not lead-based.
Soon every blonde model in L.A. with an Olive-Oyl physique hates her for stealing their jobs, and to top it off, the manager (Keanu Reeves) of the cruddy motel she's staying in is a rapist with a Lolita fixation. Uh-oh. Can there be more? Poorly directed party scenes, stray wildcats and eyeballs, cannibalism, a vile depiction of a horny lesbian, necrophilia in a mortuary, and a dastardly over-the-top performance by Alessandro Nivola as a shallow fashion designer just scrape the top layer of the slime that slithers about as The Neon Demon.
Mr. Refn has noted his goal was to make a satire about the modeling industry and America's facile addiction to externals. He also wanted to explore the 16-year-old girl that resides within himself. As if that weren't enough inspiration, he's spouted, "One morning I woke and realized I was both surrounded and dominated by women. Strangely, a sudden urge was planted in me to make a horror film about vicious beauty."
Now if Mr. Refn had an iota of wit (visual or otherwise) or if he respected women (his wife says he just wants her around as a housewife) or if his half-baked ideas spent ten more minutes in the oven, this offering could have been a gas. Paul Morrisey, John Waters, or even Greg Araki might have shaped this hodgepodge into a tongue-in-cheek funfest. But if Refn is aiming for intentional laughs, he fails. He seems to have been treading more into David Lynch territory but was swallowed up by the quicksand of his own dullardry. More Blue Polyester than Blue Velvet.
That Refn had no idea what he was creating with Demon was not a new occurrence for this vanquished auteur. He has said of a previous effort, "I've spent three years on this movie, and I don't really know what it's about." Then after the filming and the editing of Only God Forgives was completed, he observed to his wife," I wasted six months of our lives." Happily, for us, with his latest, our wasted time clocks in at one hour and 57 minutes. It just feels like six months.
(The Neon Demon, which had its world premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival to several boos, opens in theaters on June 24th.) - Brandon Judell
Mr. Judell has written on film for The Village Voice, indieWire.com, the New York Daily News, Soho Style, and The Advocate, and is anthologized in Cynthia Fuchs's Spike Lee Interviews (University Press of Mississippi) and John Preston's A Member of the Family (Dutton). He is also a member of the performance/writing group FlashPoint.
- 6/15/2016
- by webmaster
- www.culturecatch.com
If you saw the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, then you witnessed Refn's anxiety and anguish as his movie Only God Forgives debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013. The documentary by his wife Liv Corfixen tracked the movie's production and release, including its muted reception at Cannes, yet it also showed how quickly he bounced back the next morning, ready to move on to his next project. That project proved to be The Neon Demon, set to premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival on Friday. The horror thriller follows an aspiring model (Elle Fanning) who moves to Los Angeles and encounters a group of voracious women. The ladies are obsessed with beauty and very much desire the aspiring model's youth and vitality. Here's the latest...
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- 5/18/2016
- by Peter Martin
- Movies.com
The Neon Demon
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writers: Mary Laws, Nicolas Winding Refn
Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn, who has since attained cult status thanks to the success of 2011’s Drive (which snagged a Best Director award at Cannes), struck divisive chords with his 2013 follow-up Only God Forgives, which was booed at Cannes and resulted in a documentary about the experience the following year from Refn’s wife, Liv Corfixen (My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn). In a response to critiques of misogyny in his narratives, Refn returns with the Los Angeles set The Neon Demon, a femme centric horror film written by Mary Laws and co-financed by Wild Bunch and Gaumont (explaining its eligibility for our foreign films list). Starring a notable cast consisting of Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Keanu Reeves and Refn favorite Christina Hendricks, the director describes it as a ‘horror film about vicious beauty,’ concerning...
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writers: Mary Laws, Nicolas Winding Refn
Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn, who has since attained cult status thanks to the success of 2011’s Drive (which snagged a Best Director award at Cannes), struck divisive chords with his 2013 follow-up Only God Forgives, which was booed at Cannes and resulted in a documentary about the experience the following year from Refn’s wife, Liv Corfixen (My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn). In a response to critiques of misogyny in his narratives, Refn returns with the Los Angeles set The Neon Demon, a femme centric horror film written by Mary Laws and co-financed by Wild Bunch and Gaumont (explaining its eligibility for our foreign films list). Starring a notable cast consisting of Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Keanu Reeves and Refn favorite Christina Hendricks, the director describes it as a ‘horror film about vicious beauty,’ concerning...
- 1/13/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
“It's a very autobiographical film,” director Nicolas Winding Refn has previously said of “Bronson,” his 2008 comedy-drama that launched Tom Hardy’s career to new levels and solidified Refn as an international cinematic force, and he reiterates that point when I first meet him on the back patio of La institution Cinefamily. “I made the film at a certain time of my life where we [Refn and wife Liv Corfixen] had our first child,” Refn explains. “I had crashed financially, and creatively I went through a lot of soul searching. It was very important that I was able to do that at a young age so I could carry it on my shoulders.” After three further films and an intimate documentary made by Corfixen (“My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn”), audiences can understand Refn’s approach of “art as an act of violence” with the benefit of hindsight. He’s showing “Bronson” at Cinefamily for...
- 6/8/2015
- by Charlie Schmidlin
- The Playlist
This week on Off The Shelf, Ryan is joined by Brian Saur to take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week of May 26th, 2015, and chat about some follow-up and home video news.
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Episode Links & Notes
News
Masters Of Cinema & Eureka in August: Cruel Story Of Youth, Medium Cool, the Town That Dreaded Sundown
Screen Archives Entertainment have some new and exclusive Code Red Blu-ray titles, available now. Guy Magar’s Retribution, Tobe Hooper’s Spontaneous Combustion and Shakma.
Twilight Time new releases for June will go live for pre-order Wednesday, May 27the st 4 Pm Eastern: Absolute Beginners (1986), State Of Grace (1990) , Mississippi Mermaid (1969), The Young Lions (1958) , The Night Of The Generals (1967) the approximate street date is June 9th.
New Releases
Ballet 422 Cannibal Ferox The Confession Da Sweet Blood of Jesus Double Indemnity Empire Of The Ants / Jaws Of Satan...
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Episode Links & Notes
News
Masters Of Cinema & Eureka in August: Cruel Story Of Youth, Medium Cool, the Town That Dreaded Sundown
Screen Archives Entertainment have some new and exclusive Code Red Blu-ray titles, available now. Guy Magar’s Retribution, Tobe Hooper’s Spontaneous Combustion and Shakma.
Twilight Time new releases for June will go live for pre-order Wednesday, May 27the st 4 Pm Eastern: Absolute Beginners (1986), State Of Grace (1990) , Mississippi Mermaid (1969), The Young Lions (1958) , The Night Of The Generals (1967) the approximate street date is June 9th.
New Releases
Ballet 422 Cannibal Ferox The Confession Da Sweet Blood of Jesus Double Indemnity Empire Of The Ants / Jaws Of Satan...
- 5/27/2015
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
New details have emerged about the Nicolas Winding Refn-directed horror flick The Neon Demon, courtesy of Dazed & Confused and What Culture. We'll start with D&C, who last month spoke with Liv Corfixen, Refn's wife and My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn director. She says The Neon Demon is inspired by the tale of Countess Bathory, a 16th century serial killer who (as the story goes) would wash herself with the blood of virgins to maintain her youth....
- 3/17/2015
- by Jesse Giroux
- JoBlo.com
Given his track record, Nicolas Winding Refn honestly has my money as soon as he announces a new project. With gripping character study Bronson, stylish modern classic Drive (possibly my favorite movie of all-time) and the hypnotic Only God Forgives under his belt, the filmmaker is one of the most unique voices working in cinema today. And judging by new tidbits about his upcoming horror movie The Neon Demon, that’s not about to change anytime soon.
While being interviewed by Dazed and Confused last month about her documentary My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn, the filmmaker’s wife, Liv Corfixen, let slip some fascinating details about The Neon Demon‘s inspirations – including that the film is inspired by Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a notoriously cruel 16th-century countess who was rumored to bathe in the blood of local virgins. Báthory tortured these young girls and murdered them in hopes of...
While being interviewed by Dazed and Confused last month about her documentary My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn, the filmmaker’s wife, Liv Corfixen, let slip some fascinating details about The Neon Demon‘s inspirations – including that the film is inspired by Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a notoriously cruel 16th-century countess who was rumored to bathe in the blood of local virgins. Báthory tortured these young girls and murdered them in hopes of...
- 3/16/2015
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
The only official information we have on Nicolas Winding Refn's next film, The Neon Demon, is that it's a horror tale with a young female driven cast, written by Refn and Mary Laws. That's not much to go on, but now Dazed Digital and What Culture (via The Playlist) reveal some new information after speaking with Refn's wife and director of My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn, Liv Corfixen. First we learn the story was inspired by the tale of Countess Bathory, who inspired many a vampire myth with sadistic rituals that included bathing in the blood of virgins. The Los Angeles-set movie is said to be a bit like the survival thriller Alive (1993) meets Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999). Corfixen isn't entirely sure what it's about, at least thematically, adding, "I don't know yet. Maybe it's about spirituality but I'm not sure," while revealing he's been purchasing Christian movies of late.
- 3/16/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Filming starts this month on Nicolas Winding Refn's "The Neon Demon," with Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Keanu Reeves and Abbey Lee starring in the film. But there hasn't been much in the way of plot details. We do know that the script was co-written by Mary Laws, and that the film is set in Los Angeles, but outside of that things get fuzzy. However, things are becoming slightly more focused. Last month, Dazed And Confused caught up with Liv Corfixen, Refn's wife and the director of "My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn," who revealed that the film is inspired by the tale of Countess Báthory, the serial killing sixteenth century countess who apparently bathed in the blood of virgins to stay young (the last detail is apocryphal, but makes for a good yarn). Moreover, the movie will apparently be like a mix of the...
- 3/16/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
I quite enjoyed My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn, the behind-the-scenes look at the making of Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives, shot by his wife Liv Corfixen. Here's a snippet from my review: Corfixen's intimate documentary presents the story with such compassion and caring for its subject and yet you can see where she struggles to be the one Refn can count on for strength and reassurance as she too is also searching for an identity and purpose. Not to mention taking care of the couple's two young children all day long. The film is playing in limited theaters right now and On Demand, and recently the couple sat down for an interview at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York (via The Playlist) and the interview actually lasts 24 minutes longer than the brief, 58-minute movie itself. Now I haven't had a chance to listen to this whole thing,...
- 3/4/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Two new documentaries opened this weekend on VOD and in limited theatrical release, but aside from being non-fiction they share absolutely nothing in common. Well, nothing obvious anyway, but through sheer will power and the finessing of a few adjectives I feel confident saying that these two wildly different films are both focused on exploring the human heart. The Widowmaker is obvious as it’s quite literally a look at a specific type of heart attack that has killed millions of people even though it’s quite possibly a preventable incident. The doc explores a quick and inexpensive test called a Coronary Calcium Scan and its two decade-long fight to be recognized as a crucial tool in the fight against heart disease. My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn is a bit looser fit as it eschews the literal heart in favor of the metaphorical one we attribute with controlling our loves and passions. The...
- 3/1/2015
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
‘Les Loups’ is the first great Quebec film of 2015
The dark unforgiving waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the mouth of the St. Lawrence river provide the backdrop to Les Loups, a beautifully crafted melodrama. Set in a small island Quebec town during the spring thaw, a stranger arrives during the height of the controversial seal hunts. Vibrant and mysterious, many suspect that Elie, the young woman from Montreal, is not who she says and is likely a reporter or an activist bent on portraying the townsfolk in a bad light… read the full article.
‘The Phantom Menace’ and the goodness of Star Wars nostalgia
A long time ago…in 1999, the pop culture zeitgeist was caught in a Star Wars maelstrom. Writer-director George Lucas and his crack creative team had gone back to the well that made space opera cinema what it is known and appreciated as today by producing...
The dark unforgiving waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the mouth of the St. Lawrence river provide the backdrop to Les Loups, a beautifully crafted melodrama. Set in a small island Quebec town during the spring thaw, a stranger arrives during the height of the controversial seal hunts. Vibrant and mysterious, many suspect that Elie, the young woman from Montreal, is not who she says and is likely a reporter or an activist bent on portraying the townsfolk in a bad light… read the full article.
‘The Phantom Menace’ and the goodness of Star Wars nostalgia
A long time ago…in 1999, the pop culture zeitgeist was caught in a Star Wars maelstrom. Writer-director George Lucas and his crack creative team had gone back to the well that made space opera cinema what it is known and appreciated as today by producing...
- 2/28/2015
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Filmmaker Liv Corfixen brings us a documentary about her director husband. Here's Ryan's review of My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn.
When Only God Forgives made its debut at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, it’s fair to say the reaction was somewhat mixed. Some hooted and derided the film. A few got up and left. Many, on the other hand, championed director Nicolas Winding Refn’s follow up to his critically-acclaimed Drive, also starring Ryan Gosling.
The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw, for example, prized the film, and for this writer, it was a disturbing counterpoint to the more commercial Drive - if that film was a sun-drenched dream in which Ryan Gosling played an archetypal male hero, then Only God Forgives is the nightmare: a view of machismo gone horribly awry.
If some critics were appalled by the film, Refn had misgivings of his own. The director’s self-doubt...
When Only God Forgives made its debut at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, it’s fair to say the reaction was somewhat mixed. Some hooted and derided the film. A few got up and left. Many, on the other hand, championed director Nicolas Winding Refn’s follow up to his critically-acclaimed Drive, also starring Ryan Gosling.
The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw, for example, prized the film, and for this writer, it was a disturbing counterpoint to the more commercial Drive - if that film was a sun-drenched dream in which Ryan Gosling played an archetypal male hero, then Only God Forgives is the nightmare: a view of machismo gone horribly awry.
If some critics were appalled by the film, Refn had misgivings of his own. The director’s self-doubt...
- 2/27/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Liv Corfixen chronicles the making of her husband's critically skewered 2013 "Drive" followup "Only God Forgives," an under-appreciated film that I suspect and hope (perhaps in vain) will blossom over time. If you haven't seen "Only God Forgives," it's like if David Lynch took quaaludes and directed a spaghetti Western in Thailand. A sort of extended making-of doc, "My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn" is a fascinating portrait of the artist and his anxieties, closing in on Refn's masochistic need to deliver greatness by reproducing the international success of "Drive," his 2011 Cannes smash that won him Best Director and $75 million at the box office. "I've spent three years making this film and I don't know what it's about," Refn opines in one of the opening sections in which Corfixen gives us a glimpse at their shared world, with their two adorable blond children along for the ride in Bangkok, where "Only God.
- 2/27/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
A filmmaker's significant other not only has unbridled access to their personal life, but they also have a unique perspective on the filmmaker's personality and psyche; so, as we watch Liv Corfixen's My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, we learn that the title of the "behind-the-scenes" documentary by Refn's wife has a multitude of meanings. Though My Life Directed may seem like an everyday documentary about a filmmaker contending with the pressures following a critical and commercial success, that description surely does not do Corfixen's film the justice it deserves.
- 2/27/2015
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
This review was originally published during Fantastic Fest 2014.
My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn gives us just a peek into the mind of one of cinema’s most celebrated directors. Directed and shot by his wife Liv Corfixen, My Life… is a documentary that follows the Danish director during the making of his 2013 film Only God Forgives. While her film can be appreciated as simply a small portrait of the acclaimed director, it also taps into the fear and anxiety every artist feels during the creative process. A daring undertaking for someone who has never made a documentary before.
Even though we see Refn in the most mundane situations (waking-up, playing with his kids), he still comes across as cool and enigmatic, not unlike his on-screen heroes. Often we see him in a contemplative state. There’s always a long pause for reflection before he answers a question or responds in a cryptic manner.
My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn gives us just a peek into the mind of one of cinema’s most celebrated directors. Directed and shot by his wife Liv Corfixen, My Life… is a documentary that follows the Danish director during the making of his 2013 film Only God Forgives. While her film can be appreciated as simply a small portrait of the acclaimed director, it also taps into the fear and anxiety every artist feels during the creative process. A daring undertaking for someone who has never made a documentary before.
Even though we see Refn in the most mundane situations (waking-up, playing with his kids), he still comes across as cool and enigmatic, not unlike his on-screen heroes. Often we see him in a contemplative state. There’s always a long pause for reflection before he answers a question or responds in a cryptic manner.
- 2/27/2015
- by Michael Haffner
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
As Nicolas Winding Refn prepares to begin production on "The Neon Demon," his upcoming foray into horror, you can take a peek into his process thanks to the new documentary "My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn," which was made by his wife. There's a reason "Hearts Of Darkness" is often considered one of the best behind-the-scenes films about filmmaking, and it's because Eleanor Coppola had access that no one else would have. The same is true here, and it captures Refn at the moment where he was working to follow up his breakthrough hit "Drive." It's a fascinating moment for any filmmaker. In Refn's case, he did a lot of great work before "Drive," but everything came together on that movie in a very special way. Ryan Gosling was at peak cool, and there was something compelling and immediate about that title and those trailers. When you make a...
- 2/26/2015
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
Nicolas Winding Refn worked steadily before achieving any kind of mainstream appreciation, and even when he achieved just that, it felt like a minor score. His movies are sometimes damnably arty, but infused with a kicky, stylistic verve that can appeal to broad audiences. You could tell that Refn was steeped in the kind of films that art house audiences might not have been familiar with. His work willfully combines disparate influences to create a wholly intoxicating new concoction. They also share a kind of barely contained rage. "Drive," his first commercial hit, cemented him as a director to watch and made all of his bloody obsessions palpable (and won him a Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival). But as a public figure, Refn has remained goofy and affable. If something darker lurked inside, he never showed it. Which is what makes "My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn...
- 2/26/2015
- by Drew Taylor
- The Playlist
★★★☆☆ Liv Corfixen's My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (2014) starts from the unfortunate position of being wide open to comparison with another behind-the-scenes peek, Eleanor Coppola's Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991). Where that film followed the incredible disasters that befell Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979) shoot, this documents the far less eventful making of Danish enfant terrible Refn's Only God Forgives (2013). While Corfixen's film - clocking in at just under an hour - is little more than a DVD extra, it's also an intimate look at her husband's struggle with artistic satisfaction and her own with a life indentured to his blossoming career.
- 2/26/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
This weekend, Olivia Wilde stars in "The Lazarus Effect," a horror movie about med students who figure out a way to resurrect people from the dead, Will Forte is "The Last Man on Earth" in the new Fox comedy premiering this Sunday night at 8 p.m. Et, and Kevin Spacey returns as the ruthless politician Frank Underwood in "House of Cards;" the entire third season arrives on Netflix when the clock strikes midnight Friday morning.
Also in theaters this weekend: "Focus" stars Will Smith as a veteran con man whose latest scheme is turned upside down when a femme fatale (Margot Robbie) from his past reemerges. Directed by David Cronenberg, "Maps to the Stars" stars Oscar-winner Julianne Moore and Robert Pattinson in a tale about a Hollywood family chasing celebrity, one another, and the relentless ghosts of their pasts. "'71" stars Jack O'Connell as a young and disoriented British soldier...
Also in theaters this weekend: "Focus" stars Will Smith as a veteran con man whose latest scheme is turned upside down when a femme fatale (Margot Robbie) from his past reemerges. Directed by David Cronenberg, "Maps to the Stars" stars Oscar-winner Julianne Moore and Robert Pattinson in a tale about a Hollywood family chasing celebrity, one another, and the relentless ghosts of their pasts. "'71" stars Jack O'Connell as a young and disoriented British soldier...
- 2/26/2015
- by Jonny Black
- Moviefone
“I’ve spent three years making this film, and I don’t really know what it’s about,” director Nicolas Winding Refn admits, head bowed as he sits on the edge of his bed, contemplating the agony and ecstasy of making Only God Forgives.
Coming off Drive, his most commercial and acclaimed work, it can’t have been easy for Refn to jump headlong into another project, despite knowing from the get-go that it wouldn’t even slightly resemble his last. The director’s musings and misery as he faces the possibility of disappointing a newly galvanized (and much expanded) fanbase serve as the meat and potatoes of My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, a brisk, 58-minute documentary made Hearts of Darkness-style by Refn’s wife, Liv Corfixen.
Whether Corfixen set out to make a home video or always intended to explore her husband’s painful creative process is unclear.
Coming off Drive, his most commercial and acclaimed work, it can’t have been easy for Refn to jump headlong into another project, despite knowing from the get-go that it wouldn’t even slightly resemble his last. The director’s musings and misery as he faces the possibility of disappointing a newly galvanized (and much expanded) fanbase serve as the meat and potatoes of My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, a brisk, 58-minute documentary made Hearts of Darkness-style by Refn’s wife, Liv Corfixen.
Whether Corfixen set out to make a home video or always intended to explore her husband’s painful creative process is unclear.
- 2/26/2015
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Written and directed by Liv Corfixen
USA, 2014
The Life of Nicolas Winding Refn Directed by Me might have been a more appropriate title for Liv Corfixen’s first documentary, which provides a behind-the-scenes insight into the making of her husband’s latest film Only God Forgives. Following on from his remarkable critical and commercial success with Drive, Refn is under pressure to produce more of the same and in doing so satisfy both his financial backers and his artistic ambitions. It is also the first time that Corfixen and the couple’s two daughters have joined Refn for an extended shoot abroad, creating a completely new environment in which he must balance his personal and professional lives.
Regardless of what the title suggests, My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn has little to do with Corfixen or the impact Refn’s film is having on her.
Written and directed by Liv Corfixen
USA, 2014
The Life of Nicolas Winding Refn Directed by Me might have been a more appropriate title for Liv Corfixen’s first documentary, which provides a behind-the-scenes insight into the making of her husband’s latest film Only God Forgives. Following on from his remarkable critical and commercial success with Drive, Refn is under pressure to produce more of the same and in doing so satisfy both his financial backers and his artistic ambitions. It is also the first time that Corfixen and the couple’s two daughters have joined Refn for an extended shoot abroad, creating a completely new environment in which he must balance his personal and professional lives.
Regardless of what the title suggests, My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn has little to do with Corfixen or the impact Refn’s film is having on her.
- 2/26/2015
- by Rob Dickie
- SoundOnSight
Note to filmmakers: If you capture the legendary Alejandro Jodorowsky in conversation with another filmmaker and he turns to the camera to ask you a question, be sure to lead with that. Wisely, that's what first-time filmmaker Liv Corfixen does with her new documentary, My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn. Jodorowsky is speaking with Nicolas Winding Refn, who appears to be seeking the older man's counsel. The veteran director dispenses a nub of wisdom, and then turns his attention to Corfixen, blithely ignoring conventionality. There is no "fourth wall" in modern documentaries -- reality shows have broken our collective spirit, and we know that cameras are everywhere -- yet Jodorowsky's forthright inquiry sets the tone for the movie as a whole: it's awkward, unplanned,...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 2/25/2015
- Screen Anarchy
Portrait of an Artist: Corfixen’s Familial Doc an Interesting Conversation Piece
There everyone was, in high anticipation at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, with Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives about to be unleashed in competition. Two years prior, he had unveiled Drive in the same place, where it took home Best Director for Refn and a wave of international critical praise by the time it had released theatrically later that same year. Reuniting once more with star Ryan Gosling, stakes were impossibly high and Refn seemed determined to do anything but repeat himself, resulting in his decision to tackle an idea he’d had for something decidedly un-commercial. A wave of boos from the fickle Cannes audience greeted Refn, followed by an incredibly divisive response upon its continued release. During the making of the film and right through the premiere, Refn’s wife, actress Liv Corfixen, was filming...
There everyone was, in high anticipation at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, with Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives about to be unleashed in competition. Two years prior, he had unveiled Drive in the same place, where it took home Best Director for Refn and a wave of international critical praise by the time it had released theatrically later that same year. Reuniting once more with star Ryan Gosling, stakes were impossibly high and Refn seemed determined to do anything but repeat himself, resulting in his decision to tackle an idea he’d had for something decidedly un-commercial. A wave of boos from the fickle Cannes audience greeted Refn, followed by an incredibly divisive response upon its continued release. During the making of the film and right through the premiere, Refn’s wife, actress Liv Corfixen, was filming...
- 2/25/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Despite some consummately intimate footage, behind-the-scenes doc My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn proves frustrating because writer-director Liv Corfixen works harder to coddle Drive director Refn, her husband and subject, than she does to get inside his head. While the title of Corfixen's hour-long film suggests marital strife, she lovingly boosts her husband by applauding his creative struggles during the filming of his beguiling artsploitation gem Only God Forgives. Corfixen's fly-on-the-wall style is compelling, but it finds her too often circumspect, as when Refn asks Corfixen if she thinks Only God Forgives is better than Drive. She pauses before replying, "[Only God Forgives] isn't as commercial. Don't you reali...
- 2/25/2015
- Village Voice
Plot: Having enjoyed worldwide success with his neo-noir Drive, director Nicolas Winding Refn tackles a much different journey with his follow-up film, Only God Forgives, while his wife documents the highs and lows of the production. Review: My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn (sometimes referred to as simply "My Life Directed") is my favorite kind of documentary: the kind examining the agony and the ecstasy of making a movie. Naturally, anyone who loves the cinema will be...
- 2/25/2015
- by Eric Walkuski
- JoBlo.com
"It would be boring if we all just made safe films." So says Nicolas Winding Refn following the premiere of Only God Forgives at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. The quote comes from the brisk, 58-minute documentary My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn, shot by Refn's wife Liv Corfixen during production of Only God Forgives, largely during the couple's time in Bangkok with glimpses back home in Denmark during post production and finally at the film's premiere on the Croisette in Cannes. It's a fascinating look at a filmmaker I've personally come to anticipate his every next feature, though I'm not afraid to admit Only God Forgives was a bit of a let down, as it seems it was for Refn... or was itc The most fascinating aspect of this doc is to lay witness to Refn's inner turmoil. From the beginning he's stuck in his own head, looking at...
- 2/23/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's streaming on Netflix, we've got you covered.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
"Beyond the Lights"
Writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood's triumphant return is a labor of love worth your love. This romantic drama stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Noni, a self-destructive pop singer who's tired of the limelight and all it entails. An off-duty cop named Kaz (Nate Parker) steps in to save Noni from making a terrible decision, and naturally, they fall for each other hard and fast. Mbatha-Raw and Parker have great chemistry. Plus, Minnie Driver is excellent as Noni's stage mom.
"Watership Down"
Martin Rosen's emotionally devastating animated film, based on the novel by Richard Adams, has gotten a spiffy Criterion restoration. There aren't a ton of bells and whistles on this Blu-ray, but those little bunnies have never looked so good.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
"Beyond the Lights"
Writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood's triumphant return is a labor of love worth your love. This romantic drama stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Noni, a self-destructive pop singer who's tired of the limelight and all it entails. An off-duty cop named Kaz (Nate Parker) steps in to save Noni from making a terrible decision, and naturally, they fall for each other hard and fast. Mbatha-Raw and Parker have great chemistry. Plus, Minnie Driver is excellent as Noni's stage mom.
"Watership Down"
Martin Rosen's emotionally devastating animated film, based on the novel by Richard Adams, has gotten a spiffy Criterion restoration. There aren't a ton of bells and whistles on this Blu-ray, but those little bunnies have never looked so good.
- 2/23/2015
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn is a unique insight into the life of one of the world’s most exciting filmmakers as he struggles to reconcile a fast growing international career with his role as a family man and father. Liv Corfixen documents, with uncompromising realism, her husband’s journey making Only God Forgives, the follow-up to the biggest film of his career to date, Drive. Corfixen’s camera follows Refn as he and his family decamps to Bangkok for the 6 month production of Only God Forgives, up to and including its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. It demonstrates the warm friendship between Refn and Ryan Gosling, gives the audience a glimpse of cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky's tarot readings for both Refn and Corfixen, and reveals first-hand that directing a large scale international film, while simultaneously keeping a wife, two kids, a cast of actors...
- 2/23/2015
- by noreply@blogger.com (Tom White)
- www.themoviebit.com
I don't think anyone will be surprised to learn Fifty Shades of Grey managed to secure the top spot at the box office for a second weekend in a row. I also don't think anyone will be surprised to hear it did it with a drop greater than 73% as the S&M franchise starter scored $23.2 million this Oscar weekend, bringing its domestic cume to $132.5 million in just ten days. The $40 million budgeted film is killing it overseas where it's already brought in $280.5 million for a worldwide cume of $413 million. In fact, the top two spots remain the same from last weekend with Kingsman: The Secret Service hauling in $16.1 million for a 54% second weekend drop, which, again, seems perfectly obvious. It isn't until the fourth spot on this weekend's chart that you find one of the week's newcomers and it's McFarland, USA taking honors as the highest grossing new release with $11.3 million,...
- 2/22/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Looks like it's getting to be about that time again where interest in this column is waning. Only 20 comments last weekc Makes me sad... Oh well, I'll keep going until I get tired of it unless, like last time we had this problem, interest begins to kick in again. As for what I watched this week, the week began with Criterion's new Blu-ray release of Federico Fellini's Satyricon, which I'll be reviewing later this week, as well as screenings of The Duke of Burgundy (read my review here), Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (read my review here), Timbuktu (read my review here) and My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, which I'll be reviewing this week. Finally, I watched Tombstone late Friday night and that is a movie that I truly love, but can't ignore the fact it has some serious issues. Nevertheless, Val Kilmer is so great in that movie and,...
- 2/22/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
After Bronson, Valhalla Rising, Drive, and Only God Forgives, Nicolas Winding Refn is one of the most exciting directors working today. Refn burst onto the film scene in the late 1990s with the delightfully nasty Pusher trilogy, and has continued to produce some of the most thought-provoking and visually spectacular genre-benders of any modern auteur. From Tom Hardy’s career-defining titular Bronson to Mads Mikkelsen’s feral One Eye to Ryan Gosling’s icy cold Driver, Refn has time and again crafted nuanced portraits of deeply conflicted but undeniably charismatic antiheroes.
In My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn, Refn’s own deep conflict is swinging in the breeze as we witness him wrestle with the particularly challenging production of Only God Forgives. Directed and shot by his wife Liv Corfixen over the duration of the production and subsequent Cannes debut, My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn captures the...
In My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn, Refn’s own deep conflict is swinging in the breeze as we witness him wrestle with the particularly challenging production of Only God Forgives. Directed and shot by his wife Liv Corfixen over the duration of the production and subsequent Cannes debut, My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn captures the...
- 2/20/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Occasionally a making-of documentary comes along that transcends the format's more usual DVD-special-feature status. Eleanor Coppola's Hearts Of Darkness springs to mind, as does Les Blank's Burden Of Dreams. And now here's a new one to potentially join that select pantheon. Check out the trailer for Liv Corfixen's My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn, in which she documents her husband's fraught emotional journey bringing Only God Forgives to the screen.Much like Eleanor Coppola, it's clear that Corfixen's relationship to her subject gave her access to moments where any normal documentary crew would have told to push off for a while. Refn is generally a self-deprecating character in interviews anyway, but it's fascinating to see him quite this vulnerable. "I've been making this film for three years," he opines at one point, "and I have no idea what it's about."My LIfe Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn...
- 2/19/2015
- EmpireOnline
In a small amount of time, director Nicolas Winding Refn has made a name for himself as a unique auteur filmmaker, building up an impressive fanbase of cinephiles. Refn found himself in the spotlight after the success of Drive starring Ryan Gosling, and if you've ever wondered what it's like being a filmmaker working on your next project after such success, then you'll want to check out this documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, directed and shot by Refn's wife Liv Corfixen. The film follows Refn as he works on Only God Forgives up through its debut at Cannes, and a trailer has surfaced. Watch! Here's the trailer for My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn from Radius-twc: My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn is directed and shot by the titular filmmaker's wife Liv Corfixen and captures private and intimate moments to which a traditional documentary crew simply wouldn’t have access.
- 2/18/2015
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Radius-twc has unleashed the first trailer for the acclaimed documentary, My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. The film shines a spotlight on the director’s unique process in a behind-the-scenes style expose and in particular, it pays close attention to the period during which Refn shot Only God Forgives in Bangkok.
In the trailer, writer-director of the piece, Liv Corfixen, provides unfettered access to the visionary filmmaker. Why? Because she’s his wife. What’s brilliant about that imposed closeness is that we’re offered a more aggressive line of questioning toward Refn, whose spouse dares to ask questions that no film journalist would dream to pose. From this sneak peek into the movie we’re able to witness a snapshot at the stresses and strains placed upon the director, when faced with creating a successful follow-up to Drive.
The familial relationship between Refn and Corfixen – which permits an...
In the trailer, writer-director of the piece, Liv Corfixen, provides unfettered access to the visionary filmmaker. Why? Because she’s his wife. What’s brilliant about that imposed closeness is that we’re offered a more aggressive line of questioning toward Refn, whose spouse dares to ask questions that no film journalist would dream to pose. From this sneak peek into the movie we’re able to witness a snapshot at the stresses and strains placed upon the director, when faced with creating a successful follow-up to Drive.
The familial relationship between Refn and Corfixen – which permits an...
- 2/18/2015
- by Gem Seddon
- We Got This Covered
I wasn't all that curious about seeing My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, a film short by director Nicolas Winding Refn's wife, Liz Corfixen, during and following the filming of his most recent film, Only God Forgives, but this trailer has changed that. I wasn't a huge fan of Only God Forgives, but after seeing it I read an early draft of the screenplay and realized just how much the film had changed from script to screen and then there's one quote in this trailer where Refn says, "I've spent three years making this film, and I don't really know what it's about." I'm not necessarily convinced Refn knows now what it's about, or at least has a firm grasp on what it became. My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn will hit theaters and On Demand on February 27, watch the trailer below. yt id="devdfefm1VY" width...
- 2/18/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
You may not have heard about it, but there's a documentary coming out next week about director Nicolas Winding Refn. Word is finally starting to get out for the flick, which his fans will want to check out, particularly as it offers a deeper glimpse at a filmmaker who generally prefers to keep his motivations to himself. Helmed by his wife Liv Corfixen, the appropriately titled "My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn" takes viewers on location to Bangkok during the making of "Only God Forgives." It finds Refn grappling with the anticipation following the success of "Drive," and whether to cater to expectations or to follow his own creative path. Indeed, this quote is telling: "I've spent three years making this film, and I don't really know what it's about." The documentary opens in cinemas and hits VOD on February 27th. Watch below.
- 2/18/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
The festival’s 25th edition will feature a contribution from Ai Weiwei and competition titles including Whiplash, Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher.
The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 5-16) is to present its Achievement Award to Us actress Uma Thurman.
The Kill Bill star will will visit Stockholm to receive the prestigious Bronze Horse and meet the audience during an exclusive “Face2Face”.
Thurman will also take part in the inauguration ceremony, which will include the unveiling of an ice sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Weiwei was a Stockholm jury member last year but since he wasn’t allowed to leave China, he sent an empty chair named ”The Chair for Non-attendance” as symbol of his absence.
He is still not allowed to leave China so will send a design that will be portrayed in the form of a large ice sculpture symbolising this years’ Spotlight theme - Hope.
Brazil
The festival will focus this year on Brazil...
The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 5-16) is to present its Achievement Award to Us actress Uma Thurman.
The Kill Bill star will will visit Stockholm to receive the prestigious Bronze Horse and meet the audience during an exclusive “Face2Face”.
Thurman will also take part in the inauguration ceremony, which will include the unveiling of an ice sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Weiwei was a Stockholm jury member last year but since he wasn’t allowed to leave China, he sent an empty chair named ”The Chair for Non-attendance” as symbol of his absence.
He is still not allowed to leave China so will send a design that will be portrayed in the form of a large ice sculpture symbolising this years’ Spotlight theme - Hope.
Brazil
The festival will focus this year on Brazil...
- 10/16/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Every year in Austin, Texas, the Alamo Drafthouse holds Fantastic Fest, a celebration of all things wild, weird, and wonderful in worldwide genre cinema. Most of these movies feature one or more of the following: animal cruelty, full-frontal nudity, fountains of blood and some kind of weird Japanese business. (If it's missing one or more of these elements, then it was probably admitted by mistake.)
Most film festivals are divided into the screenings and the parties; what Fantastic Fest does (brilliantly) is combine these two elements into a non-stop, week-long smorgasbord of good times. (This festival also included Mondo Con, a convention dedicated to pop culture artwork.) This was our first year at the festival and as such we tried to drink it all in.
Below are all the movies we saw at the festival -- from best to worst. One of the greatest things about Fantastic Fest is that...
Most film festivals are divided into the screenings and the parties; what Fantastic Fest does (brilliantly) is combine these two elements into a non-stop, week-long smorgasbord of good times. (This festival also included Mondo Con, a convention dedicated to pop culture artwork.) This was our first year at the festival and as such we tried to drink it all in.
Below are all the movies we saw at the festival -- from best to worst. One of the greatest things about Fantastic Fest is that...
- 10/2/2014
- by Drew Taylor
- Moviefone
My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn gives us just a peek into the mind of one of cinema’s most celebrated directors. Directed and shot by his wife Liv Corfixen, My Life… is a documentary that follows the Danish director during the making of his 2013 film Only God Forgives. While her film can be appreciated as simply a small portrait of the acclaimed director, it also taps into the fear and anxiety every artist feels during the creative process. A daring undertaking for someone who has never made a documentary before.
Even though we see Refn in the most mundane situations (waking-up, playing with his kids), he still comes across as cool and enigmatic, not unlike his on-screen heroes. Often we see him in a contemplative state. There’s always a long pause for reflection before he answers a question or responds in a cryptic manner. It’s the...
Even though we see Refn in the most mundane situations (waking-up, playing with his kids), he still comes across as cool and enigmatic, not unlike his on-screen heroes. Often we see him in a contemplative state. There’s always a long pause for reflection before he answers a question or responds in a cryptic manner. It’s the...
- 9/30/2014
- by Michael Haffner
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
"Violence is like sex -- it's all about the build up." In a scene both hilarious and uneasy, Nicolas Winding Refn states the above (as he references pacing) to Ryan Gosling in the new documentary My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn. Refn's wife, former actress Liv Corfexin, turns the camera on him to document the ups and downs of life during the filming of Only God Forgives. Ups include Alejandro Jodorowsky reading tarot cards for Liv as well as the film's Cannes screening. Downs feature an alternately pissed off and depressed Refn, who believes that his film is not good enough. My Life premiered to a packed audience at Fantastic Fest 2014, full of fans eager for a peek into the director's personal life....
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 9/28/2014
- Screen Anarchy
After the huge critcal success of 2011.s Drive, director Nicolas Winding Refn and its star, Ryan Gosling, had the pick of any movie they wanted. They went with Only God Forgives, and audiences reacted poorly to their choice. Criticized for being self-indulgent, overly violent and failing to go beyond what the director-actor duo they had created with their previous collaboration, Only God Forgives was ravaged by critics and returned only $10.3 million at the box-office. But It turns out that making the eastern-noir-art house-crime-thriller wasn.t exactly a picnic for its director either. And so, like any loving wife would do, Refn.s spouse, Liv Corfixen, decided to film his toil for a documentary of her own. My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn premiered at the Fantastic Festival over the weekend, and while it has been generally well received, the most interesting points that have emerged regard Refn.s attempts...
- 9/24/2014
- cinemablend.com
Note to filmmakers: If you capture the legendary Alejandro Jodorowsky in conversation with another filmmaker and he turns to the camera to ask you a question, be sure to lead with that. Wisely, that's what first-time filmmaker Liv Corfixen does with her new documentary, My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn. Jodorowsky is speaking with Nicolas Winding Refn, who appears to be seeking the older man's counsel. The veteran director dispenses a nub of wisdom, and then turns his attention to Corfixen, blithely ignoring conventionality. There is no "fourth wall" in modern documentaries -- reality shows have broken our collective spirit, and we know that cameras are everywhere -- yet Jodorowsky's forthright inquiry sets the tone for the movie as a whole: it's awkward, unplanned,...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 9/23/2014
- Screen Anarchy
The world premiere of My Life Directed By Nicolas Winding Refn was held at Fantastic Fest yesterday in Austin. The wife of Refn, Liv Corfixen, and the renowned subject of her documentary walked the red carpet and greeted fans Saturday morning. Refn and his personal and artistic struggles during the making of Only God Forgives is the subject of Corfixen’s film.
You can find photos from the event below. Both spoke openly to me about the challenges they faced being behind and in front of the camera. Check out what they had to say.
What was his (Nicolas) reaction when you first approached him with the project?
Liv – He was open to it. We did a similar thing about 10 years ago. He has quite an exhibition side even though he doesn’t like to watch himself afterwards. We wouldn’t have been able to do it if he wasn’t so open to it.
You can find photos from the event below. Both spoke openly to me about the challenges they faced being behind and in front of the camera. Check out what they had to say.
What was his (Nicolas) reaction when you first approached him with the project?
Liv – He was open to it. We did a similar thing about 10 years ago. He has quite an exhibition side even though he doesn’t like to watch himself afterwards. We wouldn’t have been able to do it if he wasn’t so open to it.
- 9/21/2014
- by Michael Haffner
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The best way to describe how I approach Fantastic Fest is like summer camp. It happens once a year. You get back together with old friends. Yet in this case, this non-traditional camp is for fans of the most bizarre, violent, horrific, and Fantastic movies you could imagine. And even still, Fantastic Fest is so much more. This will be more third time attending Fantastic Fest and We Are Movie Geeks fourth time covering the crazy events that take place in Austin every September. For eight days I will be immersed in a world that is unlike any other film festival I have ever attended. What other festival is going to feature events like an opening night food fight, a karaoke party, a “nerd rap throwdown,” and the signature event at the festival – Fantastic Debates (which includes a verbal debate followed by a literal boxing match). These are just a...
- 9/15/2014
- by Michael Haffner
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Please tell me you know about Fantastic Fest. If not, this isn’t the first article you should be reading, it’s the last. Here are the final events and films that will be a part of the greatest film festival known to man.
Austin, TX – Wednesday, September 10, 2014 – Fantastic Fest celebrates its 10th Anniversary with its biggest year yet with 80 exciting films including 22 World Premieres, 43 North American & Us Premiere screenings and 38 short films. The finalwave includes Horns, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, The Hive, It Follows, Everly, Open Windows and guests Joe Lynch, Liv Corfixen & Nicolas Winding Refn, Edgar Wright, Ti West, Nacho Vigalondo, Alfonso Gomez- Rejon, and David Robert Mitchell. Fantastic Fest 2014 takes place September 18-25th in Austin, Texas at the newly reopened Alamo South Lamar and Highball.
“We promised that our tenth anniversary was going to be the most deranged yet and I’m proud to say...
Austin, TX – Wednesday, September 10, 2014 – Fantastic Fest celebrates its 10th Anniversary with its biggest year yet with 80 exciting films including 22 World Premieres, 43 North American & Us Premiere screenings and 38 short films. The finalwave includes Horns, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, The Hive, It Follows, Everly, Open Windows and guests Joe Lynch, Liv Corfixen & Nicolas Winding Refn, Edgar Wright, Ti West, Nacho Vigalondo, Alfonso Gomez- Rejon, and David Robert Mitchell. Fantastic Fest 2014 takes place September 18-25th in Austin, Texas at the newly reopened Alamo South Lamar and Highball.
“We promised that our tenth anniversary was going to be the most deranged yet and I’m proud to say...
- 9/10/2014
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
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