Only God Forgives - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Only God Forgives or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Only God Forgives

[riley]

Chang's outfit in the movie is what retired cops in Thailand wear.

[sophie]

Julian (Ryan Gosling) only speaks 17 lines throughout the film.

[edgar]

In his commentary, Nicolas Winding Refn states that Bangkok is a radically different city depending on the time of day. If it is daytime, it is, in his words, like Disney Land. By night, however, things are far more sinister.

[christina]

Nicolas Winding Refn directed Vithaya Pansringarm by whispering into his ear: "You are God".

[eli]

Production hit a snag when it became necessary to pay off the local authorities in order to get permission and protection to film at night, including firing gunshots, for certain scenes. Refn and star Ryan Gosling were invited to a film festival in Thailand. After some negotiating and taxes, they received 90,000 USD in cash for showing up. Refn recounts in his commentary how, having never seen that amount in cash in his entire life, he enjoyed counting it out himself. It was enough to bribe the necessary authorities, and production continued.

[jesus]

The second film by Nicolas Winding Refn dedicated to Alejandro Jodorowsky, after Drive (2011).

[jeffrey]

According to a Nicolas Winding Refn Q&A at Bam, the infamous insult "Cum Dumpster" was added into the movie after Refn (late one night) asked Ryan Gosling to come up with a list of the most vile words you could say to a woman. That word was at the top of his list.

[russell]

Ryan Gosling underwent rigorous Muay Thai training for two hours a day, four days a week with Muay Thai master Kiu Puk, and a traditional Thai diet to train for this role.

[chris]

Nicolas Winding Refn got the idea for the film while his wife was pregnant with their second daughter. He felt very existentialistic and felt he had much anger and violence in him, but did not know how to let it out. Suddenly he had the idea that the definite person to hold all the answers to existential questions and life's problems was God and imagined himself having a physical fight with God.

[miriam]

Crystal, Julian's mother, is modeled after Shakespeare character Lady Macbeth and fashion designer Donatella Versace.

[marc]

Nicolas Winding Refn's approach to the movie changed when his daughter saw a ghost in her room in Thailand. He said that in the west, they'd have locked him up if he said there was a ghost, but in the Orient they called a shaman to make the spirit go away. He claimed that that experience made him realize that spirituality had another meaning in Asia, and that he wanted to make a movie with that kind of mysticism.

[victoria]

Kristin Scott Thomas has herself said she finds the movie very disturbing and hard to watch.

[darrell]

The name "Chang" is Thai for "Elephant," considered a sacred animal in Thailand due to its place in Buddhist mythology as possibly being the Father of Buddha itself.

[tamara]

Nicolas Winding Refn said that Gaspar Noé's work was an inspiration during the making of the movie. The latter was seen visiting the set during the shooting in Bangkok. He is also in the Special thanks of the credits.

[mathew]

The film was largely shot chronologically and scenes were often edited the day they were shot.

[harry]

Nicolas Winding Refn has hinted that One-Eye from Valhalla Rising (2009) might appear in this film in a new reincarnation. Refn has hinted that it might be Chang.

[beth]

In an earlier version of the screenplay, Chang didn't use a sword. He used anything that was at his reach.

[janice]

The film's cinematographer Larry Smith has said that nearly the entire film was shot with practical lighting and that only one or two scenes were lit with traditional movie lights.

[chris]

The fight scene between Chang and Julian turned out differently in an earlier version of the script: Chang and Julian wore traditional clothes and before fighting they both performed a traditional dance, and at some point of the fight Julian was winning until Chang says "I forgive you" and ends up beating Julian.