The new project of the Danish visionary Nicholas Winding Refn, whose provocation and scandalousness is not inferior to Lars von Trier, who blew up the Cannes Film Festival, is positioned by the world cinema community as a radical and neo-Gothic arthouse drama. "Neon demon" clearly demonstrates the soullessness and ruthlessness of the current fashion industry.
Psychological Glam Horror
Although the actors of the movie “Neon Demon” claim that the picture is primarily about how unbearably difficult it is to be a woman in our chaotic modernity, the director, who took the fashion industry as the main character as a background, managed to demonstrate her ins and outs without using satire. Refn gave preference to the horror genre, and was not mistaken - being a woman is sometimes really awful.
In cinema, Nicholas was previously known as the director of exclusively male films such as the crime biopic “Bronson”, the historical epic “Valhalla: The Viking Saga” and the neonuar thriller “Drive”. However, the director, who easily works in different genres, sooner or later had to shoot a female picture. And so it happened: the movie “Neon Demon” (2016) was released, the actors El Fanning, Jena Malone and Karl Glusman performed the roles of central characters in it.
Production Features
In each next masterpiece of Nicholas Winding Refn, the action, plot development, the number of dialogs and the demonstration of the acting game are reduced, and more and more timing is given to a clean image. The director, being in constant creative search, travels a lot. He was born in Denmark, grew up in the United States, worked in Britain, returned to Denmark, then again to America, with each of his movements cutting off from his work what seemed to him superfluous. His desire for absolute purity, according to the actors of the film “Neon Demon” (2016), led to the fact that the tape is torn off from narrative, plot and other designs and is a real gallery video art.
By the way, Nicholas is dysletic and color blind, so he relies entirely on the perception of the picture of his editor Matthew Newman. The specialist knows exactly what the visionary wants to achieve, so he has a lot to explain to those involved in post-production. All the actors of the film “Neon Demon” (2016) were forced to listen to his authoritative opinion.
Short storyline
The work has a secondary plot in a certain sense. The narration in the film “Neon Demon” (2016), the actors and the roles of which will be remembered for a long time by the viewer, introduces the beholder to the main character - the angel-like big-eyed and blonde beauty Jesse (El Fanning). A girl living in a hotel room in Pasadena dreams of becoming a supermodel. On the Internet, she met photographer Dean (Karl Glusman) and now poses for him as a model. Immediately after leaving school, the girl, led by her dream, went to conquer Los Angeles. In a big city, she has no close and trusted close friends. During the filming of a pretty engineering draws attention to Make-up artist Ruby (Jena Malone), he invites the girl to a party. On it, Jesse gets acquainted with two supermodels that took place - sad Sarah (Abby Lee) and regularly improving her appearance with the help of plastic surgery Gigi (Bella Heathcote). Thanks to a fortunate combination of circumstances, Jesse quickly takes off at the Olympus modeling business, but whether she can stay there is a big question.
All the circles of hell
The director, realizing his idea, slowly leads the central character “through all circles of hell”, including a cheap motel. It shows his aggressive owner (episodic, but cool role Keanu Reeves), a leading model agency manager (Christina Hendricks), recommending inflating, as 16 is too small, endless trials in which Jesse immediately overshadows Sarah, the first serious show and first triumph and intoxication with glory. The director makes the viewer wonder if Jesse is as simple and naive as she might seem at first glance. What happens if you disgrace fellow models? Moral dilemmas are successfully accompanied by a riot of colors, the pulsation of electronic music, an abundance of blood and beauty. The actors of the film “Neon Demon” (2016), whose professionalism is not in doubt and criticism, help in the implementation of the plan. As a result, the rating of the IMDb picture: 6.20.
El fanning
The actors and roles of the Neon Demon are perfectly selected by the types, but among others, undoubtedly, El Fanning stands out, who was opened several years ago by the legendary Francis Coppola, choosing the role of a vampire girl in his project Between. The actress is really very attractive, and in the features of her face there is something “wrong”, extraterrestrial, which has repeatedly led many directors to offer her gothic images. By the way, at the initial stage of production, the producers considered the candidacy of Carey Mulligan as the leading performer.
In preparation for the filming process, Nicholas asked Fanning to review a series of horror films and cult music films, The Inside of the Dolls Valley and Dolls Valley. According to the director, the performer harmoniously combines the best features of the greatest movie stars from the time of silent cinema and the most talented actresses of our time. He was shocked by her amazing ability to transform, assuring that the camera loves the performer.
According to the confession of El Fanning herself, the horror of Refna has become a landmark for her. The actress loves the world of fashion, which she rightly considers to be an integral part of her life. El began acting in films from early childhood, after she took an active part in many fashion photo shoots, participated in fashion shows.
Acting Ensemble
The actors of the “Neon Demon” before this project had experience in creative collaboration. For example, Christina Hendricks, El Fanning and Alessandro Nivola starred in the movie "Bomb".
Many film critics noted among the shortcomings of Refn’s picture the lack of characters and a clear depiction of the characters of secondary characters. Indeed, in terms of acting, there is a complete vacuum, as Jena Malone, who played the role of make-up artist Ruby, attracts spectator attention in all key scenes. Fans of the actress will be very surprised at her new role after the Hunger Games and Donnie Darko franchises.
Undoubtedly, the character of Keanu Reeves was also interesting, but too little time was given to him.