'Trash!' Unsurprisingly The Neon Demon Polarises Cannes
So Nicolas Winding Refn‘s The Neon Demon has just screened at Cannes and it passed without any comment from anyone because everyone agreed about its intentions…Ha! No, of course not, it’s completely polarised audiences – some have even claimed the reaction has been more divisive than the one booed at Only God Forgives.
You can’t help but feel this has pleased Refn – who, less we forget once said: “I can only say if you’ve polarized, you’ve done something right. If everyone likes it, you’ve done something wrong.” But what does all the hubbub mean? Well Cannes audiences are notoriously vocal with their disgust, both Taxi Driver and David Cronenberg’s Crash received a round of boos at their screenings and history has been pretty kind to both of them.
So away from the outrage – there were even some recorded instances of critics yelling obscenities at the screen perhaps in a desperate attempt to swear the movie into being sorry – what do the actual reviews say?
Well The Telegraph liked it:
“Sour milk and fresh meat is more or less what Refn has been serving cinema-goers for years. That his most celebrated film, 2011’s Drive, went on to become a serious commercial hit now seems like some kind of bizarre accident. His latest is another work of zero artistic compromise – a glittering, etherised nightmare, drenched in cold sweat, with a dark, coiled-panther energy that springs at you in fitful, snarling bursts.It’s by far the most divisive film to have screened in competition at Cannes this year: before the end credits had even begun to roll, some audience members were already on their feet, yelling abuse at the screen. (It’s only fair to report there was also a phalanx of applauders, of which I was one.)”
Laughing the whole thing off The Wrap said:
“But who goes to a Refn movie for good taste? (Although his last film, “Only God Forgives,” went so far overboard as to be almost repellent.) You could say that the director never knows when to stop — but it’s probably more accurate to say that he knows exactly when to stop, but doesn’t give a damn.“The Neon Demon is worthy of those boos and that abuse, and you can’t take it seriously for a second. But it’s also ridiculously, gloriously, stupidly entertaining, if you’re in the right mood.”
Indiewire offer some cautious praise for The Neon Demon while forlornly hoping for a return to the decidedly more commercial fare of 2011’s Drive:
“Nicolas Winding Refn’s “The Neon Demon” begins with the initials “NWR” hovering onscreen alongside the opening credits, indicating that the filmmaker has — like Lars Von Trier before him — has become a self-anointed brand. However, “The Neon Demon” represents only a modest attempt to get his snazzy groove back after the drab art-film posturing of “Only God Forgives.” This grotesque, hyperstylized treatise on the fashion industry recaptures some of the zany images and B-movie abstractions of Refn’s crossover effort, “Drive,” though it never quite gels on the same level of inspiration. But, sure, the brand is warranted — elegant, sensual, and blood drenched, this is a genuine NWR film on every level.”
Perhaps the best early review comes from The Independent’s overview of Cannes-ageddon where, quoting the review from Kino-Zeit, they say:“Early reviews are in, with Kino-Zeit's Beatrice Behn calling it an "absurd jerk-off lolita fantasy in a slow-motion sparkly neon dress with a side order of 90s music video aesthetics," and another critic simply yelling “trash!” in Spanish during the screening.”
Well, yeah, it is trash but well-made, provocative, artistically minded trash and, quite frankly, if the above quote doesn’t get bums on seats then I’ll eat my provocative artistically minded hat.
The Neon Demon opens on limited release on 24th June.
