Cast: Elle Fanning, Jena Malone and Keanu Reeves
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Genre: Psychological horror
Synopsis: Elle Fanning stars as Jesse, a 16-year-old newcomer to Los Angeles who is quickly declared the new It Girl in the modeling industry, much to the chagrin of older, less relevant models. The film follows her as she navigates the often deranged world of fashion.
This past week, I went to see two films at Bíó Paradís; The Shining and The Neon Demon. I have chosen to review the latter as it has stayed with me since I saw it a few days ago and I think that is telling. When I left the cinema I felt compelled to digest what I had spent the last 118 minutes watching. The Neon Demon is not the best film I have seen this year, but it is the most compelling.
Nicolas Winding Refn relies heavily on visual storytelling rather than meaningful dialogue, but this might be intentional; a critique of the industry’s materialistic values. I also noticed a stark contrast between Jesse’s interactions with her boyfriend and people in the industry. They speak slowly in carefully constructed sentences that sound like catchphrases from perfume adverts (i.e. “Beauty isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”) whereas Jesse’s conversations with her boyfriend are more genuine and grounded. A good example of visual storytelling in the film is Jesse’s “transition”. The scene happens during her first runway walk but it is here that we are first introduced to the triangle motif. It is possible that the three triangles represent the film’s three main antagonists. They are lit blue at the start of the scene but they turn red towards the end of the scene, signifying that Jesse is buying into the narcissism and losing her sense of humility through smart visual cues and no dialogue. This also happens in the background during the scene when Ruby draws on a mirror.
Nicolas Winding Refn teamed up with his long-time collaborator, Cliff Martinez, for the film’s score. Martinez uses synths as opposed to strings or piano, creating a more ambiguous atmosphere. The score resembles 80’s melodramas but veers towards horror films during the third act. It really builds on the overall atmosphere of the film while not being too apparent.
The Neon Demon is a neo-noir film, with some exceptions. It ticks many of the boxes: it features an urban location, a bleak ending, a pessimistic view of society, dark and oppressive lighting and even a European director! Nearly all of the female characters can be considered femme fatales and the film does not include a notable male protagonist like most noir films do. Mirrors are used frequently in the film, possibly to stress how image-obsessed the industry is. The film purposefully disorients viewers through clever use of lighting and editing, such as the party scene early on in the film. The strobe lighting and quick flashes of imagery makes the scene difficult to watch in a literal sense and keeps viewers on the edge. Another example of this is a straight cut from a very dark frame to a completely white frame, blinding the audience temporarily.
The film follows a three act structure and the third part is arguably the most interesting of the bunch. The ending is delightfully foreshadowed early on in the film when Ruby asks Jesse whether she is “food or sex” when discussing what their lipstick would be called. When Jesse rejects Ruby’s sexual advances, she becomes food. (I also noticed a reference to The Shining in this scene. Ruby mentions a lipstick called “Red Rum”). The ending is undeniably campy but brimming with metaphors – “dog eats dog”, “eat or be eaten”. It efficiently captures how the industry figuratively consumes models and spits them out when it is done with them.
It is rare that a film stays with me as long as The Neon Demon did, forcing me to think about the meaning of each scene. The dialogue could have had more weight to it, but I was able to look past that as I enjoyed the visual and metaphorical aspects of the film so much. I would not recommend this film to my parents (it is not easy to watch) but I can imagine that this film will gain a cult following in the upcoming years.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Genre: Psychological horror
Synopsis: Elle Fanning stars as Jesse, a 16-year-old newcomer to Los Angeles who is quickly declared the new It Girl in the modeling industry, much to the chagrin of older, less relevant models. The film follows her as she navigates the often deranged world of fashion.
This past week, I went to see two films at Bíó Paradís; The Shining and The Neon Demon. I have chosen to review the latter as it has stayed with me since I saw it a few days ago and I think that is telling. When I left the cinema I felt compelled to digest what I had spent the last 118 minutes watching. The Neon Demon is not the best film I have seen this year, but it is the most compelling.
Nicolas Winding Refn relies heavily on visual storytelling rather than meaningful dialogue, but this might be intentional; a critique of the industry’s materialistic values. I also noticed a stark contrast between Jesse’s interactions with her boyfriend and people in the industry. They speak slowly in carefully constructed sentences that sound like catchphrases from perfume adverts (i.e. “Beauty isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”) whereas Jesse’s conversations with her boyfriend are more genuine and grounded. A good example of visual storytelling in the film is Jesse’s “transition”. The scene happens during her first runway walk but it is here that we are first introduced to the triangle motif. It is possible that the three triangles represent the film’s three main antagonists. They are lit blue at the start of the scene but they turn red towards the end of the scene, signifying that Jesse is buying into the narcissism and losing her sense of humility through smart visual cues and no dialogue. This also happens in the background during the scene when Ruby draws on a mirror.
Nicolas Winding Refn teamed up with his long-time collaborator, Cliff Martinez, for the film’s score. Martinez uses synths as opposed to strings or piano, creating a more ambiguous atmosphere. The score resembles 80’s melodramas but veers towards horror films during the third act. It really builds on the overall atmosphere of the film while not being too apparent.
The Neon Demon is a neo-noir film, with some exceptions. It ticks many of the boxes: it features an urban location, a bleak ending, a pessimistic view of society, dark and oppressive lighting and even a European director! Nearly all of the female characters can be considered femme fatales and the film does not include a notable male protagonist like most noir films do. Mirrors are used frequently in the film, possibly to stress how image-obsessed the industry is. The film purposefully disorients viewers through clever use of lighting and editing, such as the party scene early on in the film. The strobe lighting and quick flashes of imagery makes the scene difficult to watch in a literal sense and keeps viewers on the edge. Another example of this is a straight cut from a very dark frame to a completely white frame, blinding the audience temporarily.
The film follows a three act structure and the third part is arguably the most interesting of the bunch. The ending is delightfully foreshadowed early on in the film when Ruby asks Jesse whether she is “food or sex” when discussing what their lipstick would be called. When Jesse rejects Ruby’s sexual advances, she becomes food. (I also noticed a reference to The Shining in this scene. Ruby mentions a lipstick called “Red Rum”). The ending is undeniably campy but brimming with metaphors – “dog eats dog”, “eat or be eaten”. It efficiently captures how the industry figuratively consumes models and spits them out when it is done with them.
It is rare that a film stays with me as long as The Neon Demon did, forcing me to think about the meaning of each scene. The dialogue could have had more weight to it, but I was able to look past that as I enjoyed the visual and metaphorical aspects of the film so much. I would not recommend this film to my parents (it is not easy to watch) but I can imagine that this film will gain a cult following in the upcoming years.