15 Ocak 2014 Çarşamba

ABOUT FINDING YOURSELF IN A DARK PLACE... "DRIVE"

I fully intend to get more “up to date” on my reviews by the way. Just putting it out there. I was chatting to a colleague at work the other day and I was glad to hear that I am in fact not the only person who makes about ten New Year’s resolutions. I mean, you know, it’s good to have spares. I have like 5 or 6 this year. Tidying up the blog is one of them. Making my reviews more up to date comes under that heading. I mean, I will keep these randoms. Because this blog has always been about me going “Oh my God you guys, you’ll never guess what I discovered!” But yeah. Let’s  not lag too far behind either. I know this isn’t the clearest possible description of what changes I have in mind for the blog but don’t worry, it will become clearer. In the meanwhile let us concentrate on a more important question. How the heck did I take nigh on 3 years to watch Drive? It’s only, oh I don’t know, one of my top 5 favourite movies.
The driver (Ryan Gosling) is a man of few words. When you talk to him, you get the feeling life has made him this way. And to be absolutely frank, the life he leads doesn’t leave him much time to be touchy – feely. By day, he is a stunt driver on Hollywood movies. By night, he is one of the best get-away drivers that can be had for the right amount of cash. Meet his terms and he is yours, no matter what. And more often than not, he will get you out of no matter what. In short, as far as driving is concerned, he has a God given talent and he is using it every single way he knows how. And he has a rather solitary if fast-paced existence until his next-door neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her little son come into his life. This in itself is not a bad thing; it’s not a bad thing at all. It’s when his relationship with his neighbours enters a head-on collision course with his dark night-time dealings that the driver reaches a very dangerous point. He will need all his courage and talent to salvage even some of the things he loves. If he makes it out alive that is.
Ok, several things. First of all, be warned this film is full of dark places. I mean, you know me. I’m all about dark places and ultra-realism and all those things that make a film… Well not a fluffy romantic comedy. You know what I mean. No. The world of the driver is hard and dark. You may, at the beginning, be tempted to judge our hero as “bad” but it soon becomes very obvious that he is just keeping his feelings under lock and key. Why? We can only imagine. Because even in the credits Ryan Gosling is listed as “Driver” –we never even learn the hero’s name. And then, a ray of sunlight enters his world. A true, bright, warm ray of sunlight he cannot help but turn to. Unfortunately though, as is often the case with these things, clouds quickly scurry on to cover the sun and the driver is left bewildered and more vulnerable than before. Because those feelings he had under lock and key were there for a reason and now innocent lives are at stake.
Ryan Gosling is absolutely marvellous as the driver. One thing I loved about the whole film is that he is completely silent for a very large part of it. It is almost the character’s trademark. This, among other things, makes it very easy for us to project ourselves onto him. Well think about it; since you’ll be using your own experiences and imagination to figure out what’s going through his head, you will create a character sympathetic to yourself. Thus, anyone who has anything marginally similar to the Driver is going to end up adoring him. You might have been down on your luck relationship-wise and feeling lonely. You might be in a job you’re not particularly happy in and desperately want to get out. You might have been unlucky enough to have been backstabbed or may, for whatever reason, feel you need to keep your emotions hidden. You will like this guy. You will find something of yourself in him. The genius of the film is the fact that it makes it so easy for you to put it there J . Oh don’t get me wrong. I love the driver too. I’m just pointing out to you I reckon this comes about.
And then of course there is the supreme contrast of this state with his changed state when Irene enters his life. Pay attention and you will see all the little details like the changes in the lighting, the softer colours… But more importantly, the Driver speaks. He smiles. And the couple work so well together, the acting is just so brilliant your heart swells. I mean, at this point a word or two needs to be said about Carey Mulligan. She is one of the brightest stars of our time and yet I love the fact that she pulls of being completely, believably normal.  Yes, even an old cynic like me was rooting for a happy ending on this one. Did I get what I wanted? Well… Like a lot of things in life – and in this film – nothing is black or white. You will have to watch the film and figure the answer out for yourselves.
What I love about this film is that it is so close to real life and I saw – as I am confident a lot of you will – so many emotions I have felt and psychological places I have found myself in. I know that some people advocate a completely different you know, restful world where all the problems are nicely tidied up and any rough edges on characters are nicely filed down by the end. Thing is, that doesn’t tap into my real emotions. Life simply does not work out like that. I find it is rare that a film grips me at the heart strings like this and has me pausing the film now and again, simply because I just feel so tense I just can’t take any more adrenaline. It will not come on you all at once, oh but it definitely will grow on you… Now go watch the darn thing…


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