Nicolas Winding Refn
The Neon Demon

In this latest film of his from 2016 ahem, dedicated with a little heart to LIV, Refn not only directs it but also takes care of the subject, the screenplay, the production and does so brilliantly, yet compared to some of his previous films let's say from “Bronson” onwards (I haven't seen them all) I find it less successful even if it says many things or perhaps just one and I won't be here to explicitly tell you but you will detect it throughout the reading.

Surely this film would have met the favor of David Foster Wallace (r.i.p.) whose book I am reading “Tennis, tv, trigonometry, tornadoes (and other fun things I will never do again)” from 1997, which in the chapter “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction” immerses us in the ephemeral power of “beauty” as used by that mass media that is television which devours and regurgitates everything (and here I recall the eye scene in this film by NCR) in a play of mirrors where the viewer is also represented while being watched watching and is used by the advertisements or sponsors that keep up the pace of what is fed from the screen to billions of TV dependents, speaking of the "eye" it also plays its part in 2009 in his film Valhalla Rising...

This time I will narrate the plot but in my own way, trying not to spoil too much (so you have been warned and you can skip this paragraph if you want), okay the film begins roughly with a dialogue in which Ruby (a makeup artist who also works at the morgue) meets for the first time Jesse, a 16-year-old aspiring model, orphan, and surprise surprise “virgin” and it goes like this:

Ruby - Would you like to come to a party with me tonight?

Jesse - What kind of party is it?

Ruby - ...Fun!

Which isn't much, considering no one would invite someone they just met to an unfun party, a few days later Ruby invites Jesse into the villa of which she is caretaker and gardener and here the film takes a semi-dreamlike but significant turn.

And since in the two previous reviews the soundtrack of the excellent ahem, drummer Cliff Martinez was highly praised, I will say that I didn't find it 100% suitable, in fact the main theme seemed boring, out of place and slightly hypnotic/repetitive, instead I appreciated the metaphor of the two felines, one in flesh and blood the other not, that appear at different moments but well summarize some aspects linked to the good and evil that lie dormant within us and sometimes emerge when we least expect it.

p.s. nes didn't like the adjective “stylish” while I find the highly elaborate adjective “parallactic” used by Omega Kid in his pleasant review out of place and that's that.

2nd p.s. oh yes, I promised myself not to forget one of my favorite actors Keanu Reeves who makes a decent cameo here that deserves applause at least from me.