Andrew reviews the divisive directorial debut by Ryan Gosling.
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| "Welcome to the mouth of hell. Please no Detroit jokes." |
Starring Christina Hendricks,
Eva Mendes and Matt Smith, the film is a dreamy wade through Detroit in ruin
with an impoverished family. Think the
Xenia, Ohio wasteland of Harmony Korine’s Gummo
and nonlinear narrative of Spring
Breakers through the eyes and ears of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives. Less driven by a formal plot and realism,
Ryan Gosling stands on the shoulders of Gaspar Noe, Mario Bava, Alejandro
Jodorowsky, David Lynch, Harmony Korine and his close friend Mr. Refn. It all looks and sounds like the masters, but
the real question becomes whether or not Mr. Gosling’s first film behind the
camera is worth making the comparison.
After
the Cannes fallout and debate over whether or not it was worth releasing in
theaters instead of directly to video, that we’re seeing it released at all is
miraculous. While the backlash against
Gosling’s directorial debut is understandable, it’s a bit unfair. Michiganders will get the most satisfaction
out of seeing Benoit Debie’s gorgeous cinematography adorning the abandoned
buildings, overgrown grasslands and broken pavement with lush, deep purples
contrasted by neon reds and blues.
To
say Gosling’s film successfully transforms Detroit into a dreamland is putting
it lightly. While slow motion dolly pans
across derelicts don’t hide the nastiness of the broken city, Detroit has never
looked more beautiful and rich than it does here. The vivid kaleidoscopic visual schema
wouldn’t be nearly as haunting without an equally dense and lovely soundscape
thanks Glass Candy’s Johnny
Jewel. An electronic score of ambience,
white noise and retroactive analog synth echoing the scores of both Drive and Only God Forgives, the soundtrack (set to come out on a purple
vinyl later this year) is so good it’s an essential listen!
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| "I just love my Barbie microphone!" |
Many
of the detractors dead set against whatever it was Gosling was hoping to do
with what is objectively speaking a pretentious wannabe, they’re as right as
they are wrong. Yes, the film’s
self-indulgence, lyrical narrative and emphasis on audiovisual spectacle over a
straightforward piece of storytelling can be trying if not totally alienating
to some. The film’s overall sense of
oppression and occasionally startling moments of extreme violence and gore
(clearly Refn inspired) won’t sit well with everyone either.
As a fan of pure cinema where the focus is
entirely on moving images irrespective of content, Lost River is an admirable stab at the vaguely defined movement
more and more modern directors are applying to their films. Compared to directorial debuts like Jon
Stewart’s Rosewater or Tom Green’s Freddy Got Fingered where you wonder how
entertainers of their stature managed to turn over such lousy efforts,
Gosling’s surreal travelogue through Detroit is handsome to behold. Whether
you like the film or not, you won’t be able to deny it looks great and sounds even
greater!
-Andrew Kotwicki