Drive (Refn, 2011)

[kaytee]

Fucking Fantastic...Most Anticipated movie for me this year has to be this...

Drive

[ayaa1977]

Really amazing trailer, but I hope Refn for once tell a story without showing off with unnecessary flourishes that just kills the pacing like he did wit Bronson and Valhalla Rising .

[theoddball]

Hated the clunky player for the above link. Here's the same red band on YouTube:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/IbYhofSkT-Y&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/IbYhofSkT-Y&rel=1</a>

[kaytee]

This one is coming out on 15th Sept in Dubai... Can't wait...

[animatedude]

why don't share the whole month schedule if u know it?

[shariqq]

It's advertised in the papers and the cinemas - and the cinema's website.

[animatedude]

Which website?

[shariqq]

http://grandcinemas.com/movies/movie-details.aspx?ci=0&fi=1412

http://tickets.voxcinemas.com/visSelectTickets.aspx?cinemacode=0005&txtSessionId=40329

[fizz]

That old adage about how a film is not ‘what it's about but how it's about it’ is very true of Drive. Watching it evokes a familiar feeling, but it’s also unorthodox in many ways, especially in its visual stylization. Director Nicolas Winding Refn does wonders with the minimalist script and turns the film into one of the most hypnotic cinema experiences of the year.

The story seems conventional but bear with me. A man known only as the Driver (Ryan Gosling, in a performance of understated brilliance) works part time as a stunt car racer for Hollywood B movies when he’s not fixing cars at a garage. He also secretly moonlights as the getaway guy for criminals, being the wheels of the crime. When he gets involved with his neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son, whose husband is about to return from prison and needs help keeping out of trouble with the mobs, things get complicated and very, very violent.

As a film experience, Drive relies heavily on its low-key mood and deliberate pacing, a hallmark of its director, to carry it through these introductions and setups. It almost seems eerie in the silence of those early scenes. The opening heist for example is nearly wordless and Gosling’s man for hire is also a man of very few words. These aspects works strongly in the films favour. When later we see him taking charge of situations going out of control, the intensity he displays has a white-knuckle edginess about it. There is a scene where he threatens a woman who may have double crossed him with nothing but his gloved, clenched fists and you see the conviction in his eyes. This is not someone you would want to mess with, especially if both of you were behind the steering wheel.

A lot of what makes Drive works, and it works, extremely well, relies on its execution and technique. Low lying camera work, extreme close-ups, cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel’s choice of lighting (look closely at the radiance shifts in the brilliant elevator scene which turn that moment into a crazed dream), but above all, Refn’s inventive direction lift the film from its generic pulp setting and turn it into art house fare. Even the choice of synthesized songs on its soundtrack give it a distinct, cool retro feel and Drive is equally a homage to the violent exploitation films of the 70’s as it is to film noir.

If the romance at the centre of the film, from which extends the main thrust of the protagonist, feels clunky, it is because it probably has no basis in reality and in observing this we realize that the film isn’t as realistic as it is fantastic. The Driver’s need to help Irene and his misplaced idea of heroism puts him in the same league as perhaps Travis Bickle. The old school machismo that he demonstrates however is rare in today’s film world and he is surrounded by terrific supporting characters, both good and bad, who make LA seem raw and unpretentious. When it unloads in its last act, Drive is horrifically brutal and precise. The film is neither for the faint of heart nor for those who are looking for something conventional. If you venture into it knowing this, your viewership will be aptly rewarded.

Rating: 4.5/5

[shariqq]

Kaytee mentioned that some key scenes were cut due to the UAE censors, hence I kept away from it. You notice them?

[fizz]

There were a couple of cuts that I noticed yes - mostly to do with being topless in a bar. I would not miss out on the opportunity to see this on the big screen. The films technique, sound and overall aura demand it and the impact of this will definitely be lost. Go for it I say. We're used to see films with snips here in the UAE and this has not been a problem in the past.

[kaytee]

I also realized that there were cuts during scenes of gore. But I agree 100% with on the movie and that watching it on the big screen is very very rewarding. The visuals, soundtrack and direction is brilliant. Like i mentioned to Shariqq, Ryan Gosling is our generations Robert Deniro who expresses a lot with his eyes and minimal use of dialogue.

[X.]

I just came back from a screening. It's fun and nice to look at. (As Fizz makes note in his review, cinematographer Newton Thomas Siegel did really really well.) Refn's paying all kinds of homage to his usual movie gods (Kubrick, Jordorowsky, et al), but he's got his own weird Nordic groove going on. And it works; well, kinda.

I didn't buy Gosling's internalized/repressed character at all -- and he plays The Kid with all the hokey finesse of a "method actor". But is this performance *right* for the film and its director's theatrical proclivities? Absolutely!

To me, Refn has to struggle with what comes easy to, say, Michael Mann: namely, creating an quotidian quality for his film world...everything is important, nothing is important. For Refn he has to struggle to sell the machismo cool. (Case in point: some old trucker who The Kid helped out once recognizes him, and in a thundering revelation of the darkness that lurks within, the Kid quietly warns, "Keep your mouth shut. Or I'll kick those teeth down your throat." Then the camera dollies into his face for a closeup! I believe Gosling also scowled and grit teeth. Scaaaarry....not.)

But the style is well and there. It's borderline music video, but Refn's got good taste and knows his art/film/pop culture history well, and he is able to keep things in check. What can I say; he's got real talent and it can only get better.

Re. the UAE censorship, the scene they may have snipped, if I can hazard a guess, would be where The Kid walks into the dressing room and assaults Nino's henchman with a hammer. Lots of strippers sitting topless in makeup chairs. It's got a distinctly Kubrickian vibe from EYES WIDE SHUT and THE SHINING. You need to see it.

P.S. On a technical note, the film was shot on the new Arri Alexa, the first digital cinema camera that I've actually liked. The nighttime photography is luminous; and it *almost* makes the daytime stuff tolerable to my eyes. (*Film* is still king when it comes to how faces are rendered in daylight situations.)

P.PS. Fizz makes an excellent point of LA seeming raw and unpretentious. All those LA "Valley" locations that feature in the film are places we Angelenos frequent on an everyday basis, and the film got big laughs from the local audience here. And it's true: Reseda Blvd. is littered with car shops (I take mine there when needed!). DRIVE makes LA look *exactly* the way it looks, during the day and night.

[shariqq]

I agree with all that Fizz and Kaytee say about this movie. Loved the pacing, mood and especially the way some shots are shown, like those from within the car: slo-mo, stationary foreground, moving background. Good performances all round, but I just don't get Ms Mulligan. She has a smirk permanently (de)formed on her face that just makes some serious expressions look wrong.

And man, is Catherine Hendricks ugly.

The violence in the movie is gratitious, and slightly over-the-top. Perhaps it is intentional, but it does keep the movie interestingly unrealistic.

This movie deserves another watch.

[shariqq]

Also, gotta love Ron Perlman saying "Motherfuckerrr". Him, PSH and John Malkovich gotta be in one movie cursing their lives out.