Scene from The Neon Demon receives Nicolas Winding Refn commentary

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Nicolas Winding Refn's latest film THE NEON DEMON is in theatres now, drawing in audiences and dividing opinions. Opinions are even split within the JoBlo Movie Network – while Jake Dee gave the movie a 7/10 review here on Arrow in the Head, Eric Walkuski gave it a 4/10 review at JoBlo.

Starring Elle Fanning, Alessandro Nivola, Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, Abbey Lee, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote and Karl Glusman, THE NEON DEMON has the following synopsis: 

When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.

I can't weigh in on the movie, I haven't seen it yet, but I was intrigued to see that the New York Times has featured a clip from it as part of their Anatomy of a Scene series. The scene in question involves the first casting session attended by the lead character, played by Fanning. Her quest to become a supermodel requires her to audition for the catwalk wearing only her underwear.

Refn provides commentary, talking about how he approaches the shooting of scenes in general, revealing what thoughts went into the choice of shots for this specific scene, and why he chose the location it was filmed in.

I don't know how exactly the scene fits into the film, but it was interesting to hear Refn discuss its anatomy for 4 minutes. If that sounds interesting to you, watch the video below.