Director of 'Drive' reveals new Gosling images from 'Only God Forgives' via Twitter

Ryan Gosling will give you all the punches.

Credit: Nicolas Winding Refn

I'm really curious to see how Twitter evolves in the future. It's gone from what I considered a ridiculous idea the first time I heard about it to a very powerful form of social media where information is shared in new ways and at lightning speed. I think people are trying to figure out how to game Twitter in some cases, and in other cases I see people simply being people, using it in a very pure and sincere way, and there's no rules that dictate how it has to be at this point.

I know that there is actual language in contracts these days that mandates that certain people have to maintain a social media presence, and there are agencies that exist to provide people who can manage that presence for you. In some cases, when you read the Twitter feed of a public figure, you're getting something that's been vetted, something that is written by committee and used to release certain publicity materials at certain times.

Nicolas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling working together is automatically interesting after their collaboration on "Drvie." I think it's safe to say that they now demand a certain level of curiosity just by virtue of what they each bring to the table. Gosling's taste is great nine times out of ten, and that tenth time, I can almost always understand what attracted him to the project. He picks his scripts and his directors with care, and I think it speaks well of him that filmmakers seem to like to work with him more than once if possible.

I'll have a review next week of "The Place Beyond The Pines," which sees Gosling working once again with Derek Cianfrance, who directed "Blue Valentine," and I'm very excited to see "Only God Forgives," which is the Refn film. 

Anyway, Refn's evidently signed up for Twitter. I saw Twitch's Twiter feed mention it, and sure enough, it says it's him and he's posting pictures so.. we'll see. Either way, here's a great still that was shared tonight:

The directors who really work well with him get that he's an actor who appreciates the power of iconography. If you want to make a highly stylized film, he's a guy who will work with you to find the tone that you're trying to pull off, and he seems game for the extremes.

Here's a shot of a character called "The Angel Of Vengeance," and considering the way Refn uses violence in films like "Bronson" and "Drive," I am seriously scared of that big-ass knife.

Finally, here's one last image from the movie:

Helloooooo, Kristen Scott Thomas. Nice to see you.

If you want to pretty much know every beat of the movie, you can read the synopsis that Twitch posted, but I had to stop reading it about halfway down because it felt like a beat-for-beat, and I'd rather walk in cold if possible. I know it takes place in the world of underground Thai boxing. That's it. That's fine.

No word yet on when we'll first see "Only God Forgives," but I've got my fingers crossed for Cannes.

Drew McWeeny
Film Editor

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A respected critic and commentator for fifteen years, Drew McWeeny helped create the online film community as "Moriarty" at Ain't It Cool News, and now proudly leads two budding Film Nerds in their ongoing movie education.