MYST Post #1: Drive
The first movie I chose to do my Movies in Your Spare Time post was Drive. We had watched the trailer in class, which intrigued me enough to go home and watch it. Incase you guys happen to forget a summary may be necessary. The movie is about an unnamed driver (Ryan Gosling) who on the outside seems to be a normal person, but we begin to know him as a get away driver for thieves after they commit their crimes. His rule is to not work for the same person twice, and he only gives the criminals a 5 minute window to complete their robbery. Without giving too much of the plot, the driver meets Irene is neighbor (Carey Muligan) whom he begins to get interested in. There is one problem. Irene has a husband who is getting out of jail. The movie goes on to follow the journey of the driver with Irene and her husband Standard Gabriel (Oscar Isaac) and the trouble that Standard must get help to get out of.
I thought the director, Nicolas Winding Refn to be very interesting in the styles and techniques that he uses throughout the movie. One thing I wanted to note before I continue is how Refn never gives a full shot of the driver, which I think is interesting. This makes the character more of a dramatic kind of guy, and it also symbolizes his importance because he is always right up to the camera. Refn also uses the low angle to show the driver at times when he is very serious, or very aggressive. Whenever the driver is in the car, the picture frames represent underexposure because it is always a dark background, meaning not much light is entering the camera. The editing of the film also turned out to be interesting. The music and sound added a whole new feeling especially when the tones are switching back and forth.
The best scene of this movie was definitely in the first ten minutes when the driver organizes and follows through with a getaway. The driver lays down the law with the robbers on the phone saying his deal where they only have 5 minutes with him. The drivers seriousness and the darkness of the room add to the drama. The darkness also makes the character's voice stand out more because there is not much else to see but him. The chase scene between him, the police and the helicopter was very exciting. The driver used a good tactic on how he hid under the bridge to evade the cops temporarily. This scene got me hooked. There is not much talking going on when he picks up the robbers. There is just suspense drawn through the camera angles and other techniques. There is also a police walkie talkie inserted into the car so you can hear their search for him through the device. There are fast changes between the road and the driver to show what he is thinking and why he makes his decisions. He spots several cops out that are looking for him and he pulls over immediately and turns off his lights to evade them. The best part is how the driver anticipates the end of the clippers game and uses the crowd to is advantage for his escape.
This movie is a bit different from ones normally today. At times it is a silent film, such as the scene i was talking about above, or times between the driver and Irene. This represents some of the older films because they all used to be silent back in the day. An example of one we watched was Duck Soup. I had never heard of the director, so i decided to do some research on him. He is from Denmark, and an interesting fact about him is that he moved to the United States in 1978 and he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts but he was expelled. I found this to be very unusual. Anyway i found that he is most famous for directing the Pusher Films. All in all i give this movie a 4 out of 5 stars. It was very suspenseful and intriguing to me.
