Drive

Yo so this might just be a masterpiece. On my first watch of this it felt kind of underwhelming. Minimal dialogue, "screw that" - the old me probably however I'd like to believe that I've grown a whole lot since that. I think that my harsh judgement of it was also grounded in the massive popularity that this and more specifically Ryan Gosling possessed. Specifically all the "literally me" guys really turned me off from this and sort of created a bias for me going in. Now there were three reasons for my rewatch. 1. The song A Real Hero being stuck in my head for the last few days. Absolutely banging song by the way, easily the best needle drop of the film. 2. Me wanting to dive deeper into the filmography of Nicolas Winding Refn. I began watching Refn's gritty danish underground movies this year after years of my brother referencing a line from Pusher that I never understood until I watched it and my mind was blown. I also really enjoyed Bleeder, actually I preferred it to Pusher. It just hit the right spots for me emotionally. In conclusion, Refn's movies are pretty damn good so why wouldn't I give Drive a second chance? 3. Finally my rewatching of this, to me represents giving movies a second chance. Not just a second chance by a rewatch but also giving a film a real shot even though there'd be things to warrant a negative bias for a film going in for me. Drive is Nicolas Winding Refn's (as far as I've made it through his filmography) masterpiece. Now that may be premature, I've not finished the Pusher trilogy, seen Bronson or any of his other neon like movies from the 2010s and he's like only 56, he's definitely got a bit more juice in the tank. But that's just how good I think Drive is. Refn is truly at the top of his game in this. Abandoning his dark, gritty and ugly Copenhagen underground style for the sun and neon lights of Los Angeles. But what I think is so apparent and such an important change for Refn is how he sort of takes that ugly violence he's used to and throws it into a slightly hopeful European drama while adapting a Michael Mannesque neonoir action as a backdrop. It's just an undeniable formula for magic. Drive is another addition in Refn's series of cynical takes on society and violence, and I think this is where he goes full force with it. In Pusher and Bleeder violence happens, its ugly, the screen is grainy and it often happens in ghetto areas or even warehouses. But here Refn just lets it out. The violence is clean, it happens and in the grand scheme of things is pretty unimportant. It happens everywhere, from empty parking lots to motels or even restaurants. All this in broad daylight where the perpetrators face no consequences but more violence done unto theme that continues the evil cycle. What more is there to say that's in my head right now I don't know but this is an excellently directed movie with a spectacular screenplay, hypnotic cinematography and visuals with some really grounded and hard hitting performances. This was my first letterboxd review written from a computer and I really enjoyed writing it. I felt really locked in and will try to make more of these.