Drive

Memories, built and broken. The cinematography was excellent. The scenes when he's hanging out with Irene and Benicio, I especially liked the way the camera wasnt steady. It made the moments feel real and intimate. When he was hanging out with them, and the scenes with him & Irene in the house, like when they were putting Benicio to bed, made me emotional. I teared up during both of those times and it made me feel deeply for such a simple thing. The scene when hes taking them for a drive and showing them the nature was really, really beautiful, as well as a lot of the colors when they were driving around. In the elevator scene, I think the imagery of him pulling Irene behind him, into the light, representing how he wants to protect her and keep her pure from all this violence was excellent. The kiss went on for longer than I thought it was going to, but I think it did a great job of highlighting his desperation, love, compassion. I knew he was going to attack the other guy, but I was surprised at the level of violence. This is obviously intended, and it shows how he's going too far in order to protect what he loves, and that pushes what he loves away from him, amplifying his loneliness. I thought the framing of every shot the Driver was in was done very well. I liked how whenever there was meaningful dialogue between the Driver and a lot of the characters, it would focus on one of them while they talked, but not both of them. The empty space between the 2 of them was really good, I especially liked one of the first shots when they're going into their respective rooms at the same time. He's very close to the camera, and she's very far away, but their movements are similar. They have a connection, but she's too different, and he's too broken, so they can't be together; they have completely different lives that aren't compatible with one another. I also really enjoyed how slow the first part of the movie moves. It did an amazing job establishing his connection with Irene, and the memories they built together, especially with how beautiful the scenes were. The film felt so...small & intimate. The cast was so few, and all the characters are done so well. The lack of side characters does a lot for the movie and really allows for a deeper emphasis and connection with it. My only issue is that the web of connections was kind of convoluted, but that's pretty minor.