Touted as the fashion movie of 2016, The Neon Demon, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, most notably known for his debut movie Drive which featured Ryan Gosling, is opening to general release tomorrow. Having been booed at the Cannes Film Festival, notoriety and controversy surrounded this movie from the onset and I have to say I was intrigued to see why.
Based on the story of a fresh faced 16 year old (Elle Fanning) who has just moved to LA in search of modelling stardom, Jessie (Fanning) is propelled into the fast lane of fashion due to her youth, radiance and being ‘a diamond among a sea of glass’ as one designer describes her. This beauty becomes the backbone to a story of jealousy, a quest for youth, obsession and narcissistic rage. Fanning’s casting was a stroke of genius, using her own youthful, doe eyes as a prop for her character, Refn toys between childhood innocence and fleeting glimpses of sinister vixen moments with ease. Revered by all those in the industry and reviled by her fellow models, it is their quest for never-ending beauty that ultimately leads to a backdrop of violence and descending degrees of disturbing behaviour.
Make no mistake this movie is stylish; it is ridiculously stylish – strobe flashlights were used to heighten tension, neon lights to create ambience and panned in and out shots of Fanning’s face that make you understand how important her face was to the making of the film. There are moments when you feel like you are watching a souped-up music video or longer stills of fashion editorials, however, Refn takes this desire to stylise every frame too far. Some frames feel like they have no significance at all other than to make you stare, but they linger too long, in fact so long there was time enough to sneak out to the bathroom and back again. The whole movie feels like an assault on the senses, from oratory to visual, as the scenes range from pitch blackness to bleached white studio frames with each slow moving scene played out to a hypnotic but overpowering soundtrack, again making you feel like you are part of a visual exhibition rather than a movie. This style over substance, unfortunately, dominates the movie, and it is only when the movie is over that you are left with resonating questions that were never answered, especially around Elle’s character. There were glimpses of something some sinister beneath her character ‘You know what my mother used to call me? Dangerous. “You’re a dangerous girl.” She was right. I am dangerous.’ But this never transpires, leaving you with a strong anti-climactic feeling or wondering what her purpose was in the movie. But maybe that again was an intention of Refn, she has no purpose because she works in the fashion industry?
Refn is known for his stylish noir tales of dysfunctional youth as seen in his filmography, but with The Neon Demon, using the fashion industry as his vehicle for rape, necrophilia, and cannibalism it left me feeling bewildered by Hollywood and their constant negative representation of the fashion industry. Over the decades we have seen countless movies focus on the industry with such narcissistic and negative connotations; making all who work in it appear as clichéd soulless beings that aspire only to be beautiful. “Beauty isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.” As proclaimed in The Neon Demon. Having worked in the industry in both the UK and Ireland and having witnessed both the bad, good and the beautiful; it is the constant and relentless misrepresentation that is not only insulting but patronising.
How is it that Hollywood can use style and fashion as the essence of their movie, to use it as their silent partner to create something truly memorable; films like Blade Runner, Kill Bill, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and even Rehn’s own Drive evoke feelings of beauty and happily flaunt it to their own gain? However, when Hollywood tackles the fashion industry as its core subject it is portrayed as fundamentally stupid, frivolous and narcissistic. It seems the only time the fashion industry can do right is to film the industry themselves, most notable documentaries such as The September Issue, Dior & I or when a designer himself gets behind the lens such as Tom Ford’s The Single Man.
What Refn set out to achieve in The Neon Demon, I am still unsure of, maybe I am a little too close to the subject having worked in the industry for nearly 20 years. Although creativity, style and visuals are my usual playground; this time, I would have preferred more focus to be on a story that evolves and develops and doesn’t lapse into stylish violence and unnecessary nudity just for the sake of a good shot with a beautiful beat. However, I may be wrong, to others they might view this movie as a lingering visual expedition that will continue to stay in their thoughts when the film ends. This is an audience divider for sure and a movie that is bound to turn dinner party conversations on their head; if this is what Rehn wanted to achieve, then he has succeeded. For good or for bad, make no mistake The Neon Demon is certainly controversial.
Release date: 8 July
Stars: Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves
Cert: 18
Running Time: 117 mins
Written by Editor and founder of maven46 Tanya Grimson, read more of her work here!
