The Neon Demon is definitely a gorgeous film. Each shot is painterly, giving a sense of personality and energy to every frame. I can't quite name one shot that couldn't be framed and hung up at an art gallery. The soundtrack too is completely gorgeous, nailing a distinct mixture of haunting electro beats and fairytale synths. The Neon demon is definitely a welcome and fresh surprise in this barren apocalyptic landscape that is current movies, but it's not completely free of sin.
The main problem with the movie is the screenplay. While it skirts along from one epic artsy- setpiece to the next(The nightclub scene, the gold paint shoot scene, the runway scene, the eyeball scene), the connecting tissue to those scenes isn't as strong. The characters are mostly vapid and since this is a movie about Los Angeles and the modeling industry I completely understand that, but it can become a bit tiresome after a while. It's obvious that Nicholas Winding Refn is trying to give the main character (Elle Fanning) a certain sense of innocence and naivety as to make her transformation (during the pivotal runway scene) all the more jarring, but once she makes that transformation, she doesn't really follow through on it. There's one scene where she gives her sort-of boyfriend the cold shoulder, but other than that she (spoiler alert!) dies before she can even do anything. I would have liked to see become as cold as the models preying on her, and perhaps kill the character of Ruby, who isn't a part of the shocking set-piece at the end of the movie.
Besides those problems, there's only a couple other minor grievances I have with the film. The models were all very good, and Jena Malone was fantastic, and also extremely daring and ballsy (a particular scene in a morgue is quite disgusting and shocking). The only character I particularly disliked was the male fashion designer, who was just completely absurdly unrealistic. The fact is that most male fashion designers are gay, and even if they aren't, their not as alpha and brooding as he was. The worst scene in the film is a conversation between Elle Fanning's sort-of boyfriend and the fashion designer, where the fashion designer says "Beauty isn't everything, it's the only thing". The boyfriend replies with: "I think it's what's inside that counts". WHAT? This is a line that betrays the character first of all (in the opening shot he is shooting Elle Fanning draped over the couch, dripping fake blood from her neck), and also just comes off as completely disingenuous. The film's entire aesthetic is beauty. It's beauty for beauty's sake. The film, up to that point, is not about feminism or ideology. It's merely bathing in aesthetics. You can make a film about how "Whats on the inside counts" but this is certainly not that film. If I were Nicholas Winding Refn I would not have let that line fly. At least next time you'll know, hopefully.
All that aside, I implore Hollywood to look at unique, interesting and well-made films like this and say "Let's do more of those". I don't know how many more ugly, stale Marvel films I can watch before my head explodes from boredom. I haven't seen all of Nicholas Winding Refn's films, and I'll admit that some of his earlier work isn't for me. I didn't really dig Valhalla Rising or Bronson, or the first Pusher for that matter (I know the sequels are better and I'm looking forward to seeing them), but what he's been doing recently, with Drive, Only God Forgives and now this, I'm pretty sure I'll be the first in line to see whatever he does next.
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