Text And Drive Analysis
Cinematic images can only work if there is a connection between story and style. These qualities are important based on how a director presents them. This presentation creates a style that is identifiable. For example, Wes Anderson’s symmetry, Tim Burton’s gothicness, and Michael Bay’s extravagant explosions are very distinct. This attention creates long lasting films that are memorable. Furthermore, images should add to plot and impact the viewer. In film, The possibilities of communicating are endless. Sight and sound are used to carry our emotions and to help build a relationship between the film and the audience. Drive is one of the best examples. The employment of music, subdued cinematography, and symbolism help achieve that relationship. Drive is a 2011 crime drama directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. It is about an unnamed man who works as a stunt driver by day, but is a getaway driver by night. The Driver
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meets a woman, Irene and her son, Benicio. The Driver forms a budding relationship until her husband, Standard, returns from jail. In order to save her and Benicio, The Driver must help Standard with a robbery, but it goes awry. Hence, The Driver is forced to leave his new world behind.
One of Refn’s most effective methods to show The Driver’s world is symbolism. The Driver’s world is dictated by cold blue. It represents the criminal underworld. Irene’s world is centered around red and orange. These colors represent her innocence. These colors set the mood for the rest of the film. Even though these colors complement each other, they are very different. These colors first collide when The Driver is in her apartment. This is essentially her world. Irene’s apartment walls are blue and orange. The blue represents Standards’ darkness, this being him in prison. Furthermore, as The Driver and Irene talk, they are in front of different backgrounds. The Driver is front of a blue background, while Irene is in front of an orange background. She asks him, “What do you do?”. The Driver doesn’t tell her the truth as he further dodges her questions. Meanwhile, she moves into the blue background. As a result, Orange becomes more prevalent as they grow closer. For example, The Driver is walking through an orange light hallway as he hold a sleeping Benicio. However, he is still wearing blue and Irene is still married to Standard. When Standard gets out of jail, The Driver goes back to cold blue and wears his scorpion jacket. With this in mind, he finds Standard beaten up in a cold blue parking lot. Their worlds have collided and their is no innocence. Without Irene, the apartment is dark. Furthermore, their worlds are cracking and the whole family is being dragged into it.
Finally, the most important piece of symbolism is the scorpion on his jacket. There is a scene in which The Driver calls Bernie and says, "You know the story about the scorpion and the frog? Your friend Nino didn't make it across the river." This fable is important because it relates to his dual nature. Basically, a scorpion asks frog to cross the stream, but it attacks the frog and they both drown. However, I believe that both the scorpion and the frog represents The Driver. The Scorpion is the evil and the frog is the good. It is within the scorpion’s nature to sting him. Thus, he is violent by nature. The Scorpion and the Frog is about how we can’t escape our true nature and that life is controlled by external forces. This plays an important role in a scene later on.
The music in a film shouldn’t be background noise, it should create an identity and tell a story unto itself.
Drive is drenched in synth based music and Cliff Martinez’s electropop score. The music is reminiscent of 80s’ music. The music not only makes us part of the action, but it represents The Driver and his emotions. In this case, Refn used synthpop artists such as Desire, Chromatics, Kavinsky, and most importantly College. College’s “A Real Hero” is essentially The Driver’s theme. Is The Driver a real hero? Is he a real human being? The song tells a story and furthers the plot. It creates emotion. According to Refn, the song “had a lyric that also described my idea for the movie. To me it was the story about a character, the protagonist, who lived in two worlds. By day he was a human being and by night he was a hero." It reinforces his point. Meeting Irene and Benicio showed him that he could be like regular people, but Standard getting out of jail and the events after is why he doesn’t. Furthermore, it complements the violence and creates a
contrast.
However, Drive is also characterized by its silence. Throughout the film, The Driver barely speaks. Furthermore, this silence also shows his detachment from other people. It emphasizes his loner attitude. Refn puts more focus on the silence between characters in order to create emotion. In horror films, silence is an integral part of the film. Silence is used to build tension. This also applies to Drive. Take, for example, the pawn shop robbery scene. We never really see the crime taking place. The scene is focused on The Driver, who is just sitting in his car and waiting. Suddenly, Standard is shot by the owner. This gunshot creates an intense emotion from the audience. As can be seen. Refn uses this technique in greater effect during the motel and elevator scene.
Different shots give the audience information about what is going on in the scene. Refn and cinematographer, Newton Thomas Sigel chooses their shots carefully. Drive evokes not only film noir, but 1980s films in general. However, that makes the film more complex. For example, in the opening scene, The Driver’s back is toward the camera. The camera becomes centered on the scorpion logo on his jacket. The camera then follows him around his room. His room is cloaked in shadow and darkness. This creates a sense of mystery and shows that The Driver is hiding something. This secret is his dual nature. Whenever The Driver’s back is turned, it is showing his criminal side. On the other hand, when The Driver is shown front faced, we are seeing him as a regular man. Thus, The Driver is like a werewolf, he is a different person at day and at night. This is emphasized when Standard comes back. There is a scene in which The Driver is at home, he is shown in cold blue and his back is turned again. He has lost his happiness and goes back to crime.
In like manner, lighting is used to show The Driver’s character. In an interview with movieScope, Sigel said that he regards “lighting as a character, as expressionistic, as something which is trying to make a statement in terms of story, emotion and character, so I look for a way to do it which is expressive but has credibility”. The most compelling evidence that showcases, this is the scene in which The Driver kills Nino. Nino is drenched in darkness while sitting in his car. Suddenly, the Driver’s headlights appear within the darkness that is outside. It’s symbolic. The Driver is the light that shines in the darkness. In other words, he is the good coming from evil.
All of these qualities culminate in the infamous elevator scene. Irene and The Driver enter an elevator. He knows what will happen. The Driver decides to reveal himself and sacrifice his relationship knowing that this will probably be the last time he sees her. The camera then focuses on Irene and him, the lights dim. Refn has put them in their own world while the hitman does not react. This light represents the light within the darkness. It conveys the emotion that has grown throughout the film. It also represents the innocence of Irene. The Driver brutally kills a hitman in order to protect Irene. Foundational to this, The Driver up to this point is drenched in a cold blue darkness, but in this one scene, he is in front of orange, the elevator. Meanwhile, Irene was presented in the bright orange, but she is now in a parking lot saturated with blue. Throughout this scene, the character's emotions are expressed visually. According to Refn, "Every movie has to have a heart.” In other words, this scene is the epitome. Refn shows a separation between the two through his use of colors. It also shows their different natures. Irene is in his violent world now. The Driver is exposed as the person he truly is, a monster. Refn also employs the back turned shot again. The scene is now focused on the scorpion. It also looks like that it’s breathing. Thus, the scorpion has taken over. It also relates back to the tale of the Scorpion and the Frog. The Driver will always be violent by nature. Furthermore, not a single word is spoken. Refn complements the violence to create tension. The elevator scene is significant on the grounds that it denotes the point where he surrenders the likelihood of going clean. Lastly, it builds upon the idea of life being controlled by external forces.
Drive is one of the most visually stunning films I have ever seen and it has influenced me as a director. The result is Refn allows the audience to make up their own minds and forcing importance on the visuals. The level of visual detail elevates the film to a greater degree. A director can impact a film to a point where it goes beyond being an ordinary film. An artistic product is created through stunning visuals and brilliant stories. An artistic product is created through this. Drive is a prime example of why films are made and used to tell stories.
meets a woman, Irene and her son, Benicio. The Driver forms a budding relationship until her husband, Standard, returns from jail. In order to save her and Benicio, The Driver must help Standard with a robbery, but it goes awry. Hence, The Driver is forced to leave his new world behind.
One of Refn’s most effective methods to show The Driver’s world is symbolism. The Driver’s world is dictated by cold blue. It represents the criminal underworld. Irene’s world is centered around red and orange. These colors represent her innocence. These colors set the mood for the rest of the film. Even though these colors complement each other, they are very different. These colors first collide when The Driver is in her apartment. This is essentially her world. Irene’s apartment walls are blue and orange. The blue represents Standards’ darkness, this being him in prison. Furthermore, as The Driver and Irene talk, they are in front of different backgrounds. The Driver is front of a blue background, while Irene is in front of an orange background. She asks him, “What do you do?”. The Driver doesn’t tell her the truth as he further dodges her questions. Meanwhile, she moves into the blue background. As a result, Orange becomes more prevalent as they grow closer. For example, The Driver is walking through an orange light hallway as he hold a sleeping Benicio. However, he is still wearing blue and Irene is still married to Standard. When Standard gets out of jail, The Driver goes back to cold blue and wears his scorpion jacket. With this in mind, he finds Standard beaten up in a cold blue parking lot. Their worlds have collided and their is no innocence. Without Irene, the apartment is dark. Furthermore, their worlds are cracking and the whole family is being dragged into it.
Finally, the most important piece of symbolism is the scorpion on his jacket. There is a scene in which The Driver calls Bernie and says, "You know the story about the scorpion and the frog? Your friend Nino didn't make it across the river." This fable is important because it relates to his dual nature. Basically, a scorpion asks frog to cross the stream, but it attacks the frog and they both drown. However, I believe that both the scorpion and the frog represents The Driver. The Scorpion is the evil and the frog is the good. It is within the scorpion’s nature to sting him. Thus, he is violent by nature. The Scorpion and the Frog is about how we can’t escape our true nature and that life is controlled by external forces. This plays an important role in a scene later on.
The music in a film shouldn’t be background noise, it should create an identity and tell a story unto itself.
Drive is drenched in synth based music and Cliff Martinez’s electropop score. The music is reminiscent of 80s’ music. The music not only makes us part of the action, but it represents The Driver and his emotions. In this case, Refn used synthpop artists such as Desire, Chromatics, Kavinsky, and most importantly College. College’s “A Real Hero” is essentially The Driver’s theme. Is The Driver a real hero? Is he a real human being? The song tells a story and furthers the plot. It creates emotion. According to Refn, the song “had a lyric that also described my idea for the movie. To me it was the story about a character, the protagonist, who lived in two worlds. By day he was a human being and by night he was a hero." It reinforces his point. Meeting Irene and Benicio showed him that he could be like regular people, but Standard getting out of jail and the events after is why he doesn’t. Furthermore, it complements the violence and creates a
contrast.
However, Drive is also characterized by its silence. Throughout the film, The Driver barely speaks. Furthermore, this silence also shows his detachment from other people. It emphasizes his loner attitude. Refn puts more focus on the silence between characters in order to create emotion. In horror films, silence is an integral part of the film. Silence is used to build tension. This also applies to Drive. Take, for example, the pawn shop robbery scene. We never really see the crime taking place. The scene is focused on The Driver, who is just sitting in his car and waiting. Suddenly, Standard is shot by the owner. This gunshot creates an intense emotion from the audience. As can be seen. Refn uses this technique in greater effect during the motel and elevator scene.
Different shots give the audience information about what is going on in the scene. Refn and cinematographer, Newton Thomas Sigel chooses their shots carefully. Drive evokes not only film noir, but 1980s films in general. However, that makes the film more complex. For example, in the opening scene, The Driver’s back is toward the camera. The camera becomes centered on the scorpion logo on his jacket. The camera then follows him around his room. His room is cloaked in shadow and darkness. This creates a sense of mystery and shows that The Driver is hiding something. This secret is his dual nature. Whenever The Driver’s back is turned, it is showing his criminal side. On the other hand, when The Driver is shown front faced, we are seeing him as a regular man. Thus, The Driver is like a werewolf, he is a different person at day and at night. This is emphasized when Standard comes back. There is a scene in which The Driver is at home, he is shown in cold blue and his back is turned again. He has lost his happiness and goes back to crime.
In like manner, lighting is used to show The Driver’s character. In an interview with movieScope, Sigel said that he regards “lighting as a character, as expressionistic, as something which is trying to make a statement in terms of story, emotion and character, so I look for a way to do it which is expressive but has credibility”. The most compelling evidence that showcases, this is the scene in which The Driver kills Nino. Nino is drenched in darkness while sitting in his car. Suddenly, the Driver’s headlights appear within the darkness that is outside. It’s symbolic. The Driver is the light that shines in the darkness. In other words, he is the good coming from evil.
All of these qualities culminate in the infamous elevator scene. Irene and The Driver enter an elevator. He knows what will happen. The Driver decides to reveal himself and sacrifice his relationship knowing that this will probably be the last time he sees her. The camera then focuses on Irene and him, the lights dim. Refn has put them in their own world while the hitman does not react. This light represents the light within the darkness. It conveys the emotion that has grown throughout the film. It also represents the innocence of Irene. The Driver brutally kills a hitman in order to protect Irene. Foundational to this, The Driver up to this point is drenched in a cold blue darkness, but in this one scene, he is in front of orange, the elevator. Meanwhile, Irene was presented in the bright orange, but she is now in a parking lot saturated with blue. Throughout this scene, the character's emotions are expressed visually. According to Refn, "Every movie has to have a heart.” In other words, this scene is the epitome. Refn shows a separation between the two through his use of colors. It also shows their different natures. Irene is in his violent world now. The Driver is exposed as the person he truly is, a monster. Refn also employs the back turned shot again. The scene is now focused on the scorpion. It also looks like that it’s breathing. Thus, the scorpion has taken over. It also relates back to the tale of the Scorpion and the Frog. The Driver will always be violent by nature. Furthermore, not a single word is spoken. Refn complements the violence to create tension. The elevator scene is significant on the grounds that it denotes the point where he surrenders the likelihood of going clean. Lastly, it builds upon the idea of life being controlled by external forces.
Drive is one of the most visually stunning films I have ever seen and it has influenced me as a director. The result is Refn allows the audience to make up their own minds and forcing importance on the visuals. The level of visual detail elevates the film to a greater degree. A director can impact a film to a point where it goes beyond being an ordinary film. An artistic product is created through stunning visuals and brilliant stories. An artistic product is created through this. Drive is a prime example of why films are made and used to tell stories.