REVIEW: Drive

The genius behind the films Bronson and Valhalla Rising is back with perhaps his best work to date, Jake Steers reviews.

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The genius behind the films Bronson and Valhalla Rising is back with perhaps his best work to date, Drive. Drive tells the story of an unnamed stunt man/car mechanic with a hidden identity as a getaway driver for criminals. Ryan Gosling portrays this mysterious, tough and tense character known only as The Driver.

It would be fair to say that director Nicolas Winding Refn has managed to get the best out of Gosling. Throughout the film we see Gosling’s character limited when it comes to speaking. To some this may be frustrating; to me it shows the Gosling's sheer talent. While he remains a mystery to the end, we never doubt The Driver's fundamentally good nature and by saying little he is able to hide his emotions. That is, until he meets Irene.
 
Carey Mulligan plays Irene. Her character is all edgy and wet-eyed, yet sweet and innocent. Irene is swept away by The Driver’s quiet strength and self-assured charm. These characters go hand in hand and the chemistry is there throughout the film. What makes this film so unusual is the lack of physical contact between these characters, yet we can still tell they are in love with one another. This is made possible partly due to the superb soundtrack that Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis have produced.
 
Bender and Ennis were nominated for the ‘Best Achievement in Sound Editing’ Oscar and it is surprising that they didn’t win it. The audio is expertly mixed, we see a mixture; from soft dialogue to intense car chases. From its roaring engines and visceral blows to its brisk scripting, the film is an altar to the power of great sound design. The music that they use for Drive brings us back to the era of the 1980's electro-synthesiser.
 
The nostalgic music sets the tone of the film; it is able to develop a soothing tone that helps us understand The Driver's emotions. At first when he is a getaway driver the song (Tick of the Clock – Chromatics) is used to represent him as a tense and tough person that is shut off from the world. However, we see a change of genre with A Real Hero by College ft. Electric Youth. This song in particular unravels The Driver’s emotions and we see his good, warm and caring side for the first time.
 
There is something undeniably retro about Drive, with its 80’s infused soundtrack and neon opening titles reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. But the film still seems remarkably fresh. Refn has done a superb job; this is not like any other action or romantic film before, it’s totally unique. You can always tell how good a film is by the soundtrack and this soundtrack is the cherry on top.
 
The film is an electric mixture of beautiful, lingering cinematography, a pulsating soundtrack, lean dialogue and short bursts of graphic, bloody violence.

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