On Style and Violence in Drive

Stylish, violent and terse. Nicholas Winding Refn’s film and his lead protagonist of Drive, known only as driver, are all these things. In keeping with the classic representation of heroic men (brusque, romantic, brave) so common amongst western films, Refn creates a contemporary hero with an added dimension. Psychotic. This extra dimension makes for interesting cinema. The scenes with Ryan Gosling’s driver (excellent as always) work brilliantly; Gosling is able to make the brooding, threatening good guy work. Where the film moves away from Gosling and deals with the external gangsters who threaten his steady existence it struggles. The dialogue feels very clichéd and a return to driver’s actions are badly needed. Yet, overall this strange mix of genres (western, neo-noir, action) works very well and that is mostly down to the superb direction and lead performance.