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The Neon Demon
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival May 20,2016
PlotAn under aged model, Jesse, is getting a lot of attention for her beauty, which makes the other models jealous. Jesse is having a hard time living the dream when people are threatening to kill her. 
Blaine: Nicolas Winding Refn wanted to make a horror film with women and he didn’t know what it was going to be about at the time, but he knew there was going to be a lot of blood. Nicolas was at a fashion show and he found it interesting. It was what Nicolas needed for this horror film he wanted to make. The cinematography was done by Natasha Braier. I love her shots in “The Neon Demon”, especially during this one scene of Elle Fanning when she’s imagining herself on the other side and it’s showing the flashing light on her eye pupils. Director Nicolas Winding Refn is color blind it’s hard to believe because “The Neon Demon” has a lot of great colors in it. There’s great lighting in some shots and other shots they use a blue tint. Thankfully his cinematographer, Natasha Braier, was there to help him with the color. When Elle Fanning’s character, Jesse, goes in to do a photoshoot, Desmond Harrington’s character rubs gold body paint on her skin for his photoshoot and it looks like she is glowing in that shot. My dad pointed out that they used a lot of flare in the shots. Another shot I like is when Elle Fanning is on the diving board from a low angle and the tint of the shot is cool blue because it looks like she is floating in the air in that shot. The scene where Gigi is trying to throw up Jesse’s eye is also a good shot because of the background. The wallpaper in the background has these rectangles coming together like a maze in different kinds of blue like light and dark and the shape of the coach she is sitting on has a triangle shape on the top. It’s like Bella Heathcote, the actress who plays Gigi, is inside that triangle. A lot of the characters in “The Neon Demon” are either insane, stubborn or dangerous. You have Elle Fanning who is shy about entering the world of fashion and then other times she acts like nobody else matters because she’s letting her looks get to her. You have the models who want her dead. Someone puts a cougar in Jesse’s room and you don’t know who it is but it has to be either Sarah, Gigi or both because they know Jesse is going to give them trouble. Sarah looks like the suicide type at one point after losing an audition to Jesse. But then later on, Sarah comes back as the tough girl and smacks Jesse in the face. Abbey Lee Kershaw, who plays Sarah, really punched Elle Fanning in the face when they shot that scene. Gigi is all smiles a lot, like a creepy doll. And why wouldn’t she be like that, after all this is a horror movie. Gigi is calm on the outside, but inside she has hate and jealousy. The characters that are models in “The Neon Demon” only care about one person and that is themselves. They want to make it in the world of fashion. And then there’s Keanu Reeves, who don’t see much of in “The Neon Demon”. Keanu’s character is in charge of the hotel Jesse stays at and he’s creepy and dangerous to be around. There’s a scene where Keanu Reeves’ character comes into Jesse’s room while she is asleep and he puts a knife in her mouth and is trying to stick it down her throat. It looks impossible to get yourself out of a situation like that and I asked myself how will she get out of that? But turns Jesse was just having a bad dream, so she is alright. However, Jesse still feels it is not safe to be in that hotel because she can sense something off about the guy in charge. So Jesse stays with a friend of her’s, Ruby. Ruby has two jobs that both involve makeup. One is for models and the other is for corpses at a morgue. Ruby has a huge crush on Jesse and wants her. Ruby expresses her feelings to Jesse by trying to have sex with her, but Jesse pushes her away. Jesse behavior causes people to turn against her. She already shut out this photographer who was nice enough to help her pay off the room after a cougar made a mess of it. He was there for her when she needed someone, but that all changed. Like I said Jesse will let fashion get to her and she kicks the photographer out of her life because of that. Ruby was the only person left who was on her side. Jesse pushes Ruby away and so this romantic feelings have replaced with hate and she brings the girls together to put an end to Jesse’s life. Fashion can cause a lot of things in “The Neon Demon”, even cannibalism. The girls don’t just kill Jesse, they hide all of her remains in their stomachs. “The Neon Demon” is the type of movie you know someone is going to die, but you never would expect it to be the main character. “The Neon Demon” doesn’t stop there. The ending shows what becomes of Sarah and Gigi now that they’ve taken care of the person who was going to get in the way of their dreams. It also focusses on Ruby too. I think Ruby might have some regret for turning against Jesse. Ruby was obsessed with Jesse and now that Jesse is gone, Ruby feels empty. There’s a couple of scenes where Ruby does weird things. Ruby is the weird character in “The Neon Demon”. “The Neon Demon” ends with Sarah and Gigi posing for a photoshoot and Gigi is feeling sick to her stomach. Jesse’s life ended in a pool and the photoshoot happens in front of one. My dad pointed out that when Gigi saw the pool during the shoot, it reminded her of when they killed Jesse because they killed her in a pool. Gigi goes inside and Jesse’s eyeball comes out of her mouth. It’s a gruesome ending. Gigi can’t take the pain she is in, so she ends her life. All Sarah does is return to set after that because she doesn’t give a shit about Gigi. Like I said these models only care about themselves. The end credits of “The Neon Demon" have cinematography shots of that arid place and a sunset, while the song, “Waving Goodbye” by Sia, is playing in the background. Jesse is dead, but I’d like to think that she is the woman walking during the end credits as a spirit or something because the hairdo looks like Elle Fanning’s. During the end credits it shows these day glow images with moving sprinkles blowing down and flowing liquid in others. “The Neon Demon” can be strange, but that’s the point because a lot of strange things can happen in horror movies. And you gotta love those cinematography shots. My rating on “The Neon Demon” is four out of five stars Music The sound of Cliff Martinez’s music score sounds electronic with a lot of bass. Song: Mine Artist: Sweet Tempest Song: Waving Goodbye Director, Nicolas Winding Refn and Elle Fanning at the Cannes Film Festival 2016 
Neon Demon Cinematography Shots on Page 2 |