AceShowbiz -

One would have never thought that a Ryan Gosling starrer could possibly receive a chorus of jeers from audience at such prestigious festival as Cannes Festival. When "Only God Forgives" was premiered at the France-set festival on May 22, the film apparently ended with a lot of boos, a situation director Nicolas Winding Refn would not have imagined before.

"When one painfully long torture sequence concluded with eye and ear mutilation, the audience revolted. When one character stuck his hand inside a woman's slashed body, the audience locked and loaded its boos," Vulture reviewed the press screening of the bloody film. "Gosling doesn't have much to say in this movie, but the auditorium sure did."

Gosling himself did not witness such shameful sight since he did not attend the premiere. Currently working on his directorial debut "How to Catch a Monster", the Hollywood star wrote a letter of apology which Refn read during a press conference.

"Can't believe I'm not in Cannes. I was hoping to come but I'm on week three shooting my film in Detroit," Gosling wrote (via The Associated Press). "Miss you all. Nicolas, my friend, we really are the same persons in different dimensions. I'm sending you good vibrations."

Asked whether he had hard feelings towards Gosling's decision, Refn said that he would choose the same thing if he was in the actor's situation. "One thing is being an actor. When you're directing, it's another arena. But I speak to him every day on the phone. In a way, he is here," the filmmaker told reporters.

Set for a July 19 release in the U.S., "Only God Forgives" follows Julian, who is forced by his mother to track down and kill the individual responsible for his brother's recent death. The film marks the second time Refn works with Gosling after teaming up in "Drive".