'Drive'
The beginning (and most of the rest) of the film invites comparison with Walter Hill's 1978 film The Driver, with Gosling even resembling Ryan O'Neill at times - at the film's credit in low-key lighting and from a low angle I, just for a minute, thought it was Ryan O'Neil.
Parttime stunt driver, parttime mechanic, parttime getaway driver and fulltime toothpick chewing 'brooder' Ryan Gosling plays the unnamed lead, with no past he just drifts into his closest friends life like a Sergio Leone hero, and dares to dream of a future as he becomes involved with a young mother (Carey Mulligan) and her son.
The films aesthetic is what endeared me most, like the protagonist it is quiet and calm; for all the action credentials highlighted by the films trailer, the reason the film found itself at the centre of a court case for not being like the Fast and Furious film series. The opening 'action' scene, the first getaway, glides onto the screen rather than explodes, there is no non-diegetic music to remind us that this is exciting, only the roar of the engine and a screech of the tyres remind us of the urgency of the situation; he only breaks the speed limit twice for a few seconds in the whole four and a half minute sequence. The photography is beautiful throughout, lit in neon pinks and blues and features a very lovely synth-pop (a term I may have just made up) soundtrack, I assumed the film to be set in the late 70s or 80s - an unambiguous line of dialogue where the driver is told about the films made "back in the 80s" cured me of that disillusion. There is also a beautiful dream-like quality to whole film when all of these elements tie together, this perhaps coming from the directors approach: 'I read Grimm fairytales to my daughter a few years ago, and the idea with Drive was similar.'
(Guardian, 2011)
I wasn't blown away by Nicolas Winding Refn's well received debut Pusher (1996) and the subsequent trilogy (2004/2005), but I think he has frequently made interesting, visually arresting films, Fear X (2003), Bronson (2008) and Valhalla Rising (2007) being my favourites (along with Drive), and I would love to see his two Miss Marple episodes. Overall, I loved Drive. Quiet, controlled and beautiful, which is just how I like my films - and my explosions incidentally, but that is wholly another matter. J
I watched Drive quiet recently on Netflix (which I would seriously recommend you use if you don't already; tones of great films and tv shows on there for a cheap monthly fee plus you get the first month free. I swear I was not payed to say that) and loved it. I'd actually consider it one of my all time favourite films. I thought the tone and pacing were perfect and Ryan Gosling did a great job in the role. I felt Carey Mulligan was under used in her role as I've seen her act brilliantly in 'Never Let Me Go' (another great film). I felt that the use of sound in the film war particularly effective and made some of the scenes all the more suspenseful and exciting. The gun shot in particular felt so much more amplified than in other films, as did the cars.
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