Drive is a film of stark contrasts. In sound, it covers the entire dynamic range from soft silence to explosive loudness. Moments of tenderness between Irene and the driver give way to moments of ultra-violent brutality. Generosity and greed. Endangerment and rescue. Pretense and authenticity. In the driver alone, we see contrasting qualities of virtue and viciousness.
The driver's involvement in "the evil that men do" comes out of what we might call love for Irene. Early in the film, before Standard comes home, the romantic chemistry between Irene and the driver is fairy-tale love at first sight. I'm a little disappointed that Standard is even in the picture. But when he does return and needs the driver's help to save his family, the driver actually wants to preserve the very thing that makes Irene unattainable.
It's fairy-tale love, but it's also fairy-tale sacrifice. Once the job goes bad, and Standard IS out of the picture, he's faced with the possibility that Irene and Benecio will be hurt on account of his involvement. His violent actions from that point on seem motivated by a mixture of protection AND attachment. I think he wants the family he's trying to save, but he also is willing to die for their safety.
Now here is your prompt: First, take some time to think about how this film plays with the fairy-tale elements of heroism and villainy. How does the driver complicate our understanding of good and evil? Second, in all of its extremes, does this film seem interested in something real finally? What is the draw of the film if it lacks the reality principle we've seen in, for example, Hunger and Festen?
The driver complicates how we understand good and evil by displaying both traits, sometimes back to back. When he is first introduced it is as a getaway driver for a robbery. Further in the story he has that eye locking moment with Irene and I thought “woo-hoo, love interest”. He was gentlemanly by carrying her groceries, checking out her car when it broke down and drove her home when she dropped the car off at the garage. These are all things a hero would do and they are good. Then we see the driver get violent. He slapped Blanche, stomped in a guy’s head and had no problem killing Nino. These are villainous actions. We are never told why he is proficient at violence but the movie gave me the idea that he was trying to be a different person.
ReplyDeleteThe draw of the movie is unattainable love. At first the driver could not be with Irene because she was married. He could not demonstrate his feelings the way he would like so he showed it in other ways. He assisted her when needed, spent time with her son and tried to help Standard get out of money trouble. After Standard was killed and he figured out the robbery of the pawn shop was a set up, he made sure Irene was protected. He killed the hit-man who came after Irene and made a deal with Bernie to make sure no harm would ever come to her or her son. Seeing the driver do this out of love is something I think we all want. We want someone who is willing to go to the lengths the driver did and make sacrifices for us.
The movie Drive plays with the fairy-tale elements of villainy and heroism by making one person play both of the roles. In most mainstream films, there is usually a villain and a hero, only sometimes are they one in the same. In the first getaway, the driver is clearly an accessory to a crime, but it’s almost heroic how he fled the police and walked away without getting caught. We also see a soft side to him when he meets Irene and Benicio and takes on a role in their lives voluntarily. It is while trying to be Standard’s hero that we see his villainous side come out. Suddenly, the driver is forced to become violent and start killing people in an effort to save the two people who have become most important to him. The driver complicates our understanding of good and evil because it as though his evil prevails when he is trying his hardest to do a good thing.
ReplyDeleteWhile I felt like the plot of the film was more suited for a television crime drama, I do feel like some of the emotions generated by the film are real and relatable. The movie doesn’t focus so much on the beauty of love, but the realness of the pain that can come from love. The driver becomes immensely loyal to Irene and Benicio, but he is denied Irene because she is married. The driver then illustrates his loyalty to them by helping Standard get the money and get out of trouble. However, this plan is foiled when Standard gets shot and the driver has to assume the role of a “bad guy”. Once this happens, it is obvious there is no way for the driver and Irene to be together. This movie seemed a little more real to me because heartbreak is something everyone can unfortunately relate to and this film was full of it.
The driver complicates how we perceive good and evil throughout many instances in the movie. In the beginning we see him as a getaway driver for robbers. This gives us a sense of a villain. Then he meets Irene and they just click all of a sudden and his character begins to take a different twist. He becomes more of a likeable guy. Helping her out with the groceries, working on her vehicle, hanging out with her child and becoming part of their life. It seems like he is a hero at this point in the movie. Then the character takes a twist maybe for the worst, maybe for the best. Its all interpretation. I see it as just a twist, possibly a fallen hero. He slaps that lady, kills a man, and kills nino with no remorse whatsoever. I don’t blame him for doing it though.
ReplyDeleteI think that this movie represents what we as human being will do when someone we love in our life needs to be protected and needs our help. The driver did what anyone would do in my opinion. He had the balls to go the extra mile, to do what some could never imagine, and he did it all in the name of love. To protect and ensure the safety of Irene and her son. The driver even did the robbery for Irenes husband so that they would be safe, bc that is what he felt he had to do. The movie to me seemed real. The driver was a fallen hero who took drastic lengths to ensure that Irene and her son were safe, even when there was no way that they would ever be able to work it out. Its almost a tragedy bc he rises from a fallen hero when he meets Irene, and then in a way to me becomes more heroic by going to the lengths he did to ensure their safety, when in the end, I am pretty sure he died. Selfless act of courage by a hero.
The driver complicates our understanding of good and evil because of his love for Irene and his involvement with the evil men along with being a driver for robberies. The driver is considered a hero but he is willing to help someone he does not care for to save the lives of Irene and her son Benecio. In the beginning of the movie, before the driver met his neighbor Irene, I consider him more bad than good. The driver was empty of emotion and came off to have a cold hard shell. As he met and got to know Irene, we start to see him open up and show more of his feelings. He cares for Irene because she is the only emotion the driver has in his life. The driver is considered evil because of the brutality and violence he shows. However, he does this to serve and protect the people around him.
ReplyDeleteIn all its extremes, the film seems interested in something real because it is based off of a love story that can be more realistic. I am certain that there have been many situations like this in our world that have gone through a similar situation like this. There is always crime and deviance in today’s society involving gangs. In many situations where a person owes money, gang members will threaten to hurt that individual’s family if the money is to not be paid. This is very similar to the situation of the driver attempting to help Standard rob the money from the pawn shop in order to keep Irene and Benecio safe and away from harm. The draw of the film is the motivation and dedication driver has to helping out the ones he cares for. If the driver was all bad and evil, then we would not be able to see the good person inside of him to create this reality principle.
Fairy tales have both heroes and villains. It is not too difficult to see aspects of both in the driver. On one hand, he goes to great lengths to save Standard, the husband of the woman he adores and the father of the boy he has been watching after. He is hero to Standard, and to Benicio and Irene. How he saves them is where the fairy tale goes dark. His background is murky, but we do know that he drives a getaway car for not so good people doing not so good things. When confronted, he is shockingly violent, attacking Blanche and murdering the people that were following him. He literally stomps the face of Nino’s guy until there’s nothing left. Later, coldly and calculating, he takes a hammer to Cook’s hand and makes him swallow the bullet he gave to Benicio. All that he does is for the good of Irene, her family, and Shannon so it is difficult to see the driver as an evil character, but he does do some terrible things.
ReplyDeleteThe film is interested in telling the story of a hero as we are reminded several times by the use of the song that played when he took Irene and Benicio driving, and then again at the end. It is up to the individual to decide if he really is a hero. In my opinion, he is, in a very tragic sense. Comparing this film to Hunger and Festen really isn’t fair. Hunger tells a true story of human suffering for a cause. It is not as if the driver doesn’t suffer, because he does eventually lose everything, but he does not die. Festen gives us an insight into a family that has suffered under an abusive father. Many people can relate to troubles in family life. Far fewer can claim that a man wearing a silk jacket with a scorpion on it killed multiple men to save one girl and her son.
Most humans have a moral compass that tells them when something is either good or evil. One of the unique things about The Driver is that we really do not know anything about him until the later scenes of the film. The easiest way to put it is that he is an anomaly. We know that robbery isn’t correct but his speech tells us that he’s just a driver. He doesn’t kill anyone as a matter of fact he doesn’t even carry a gun. Then there’s his relationship with Benicio and his mother. He’s their guardian angel during a difficult time. The real turning point of all of this is the motel scene. Once everyone has died and he peaks out of the bathroom with a blood stained face we get to see him for who he truly is. Its like his mask has been removed. Eventually every single character in the movie learns of what he’s capable of. But the way he takes out all of his actions in a calm confident manner is almost scary. As if he were so accustomed to this that he’s able to carry out these lethal acts without batting an eye. I don’t see The Driver as evil or good. I see him as a character that wants to be good but gets stuck up trying to solve his friends problems and the only solution is for him to revert to his old ways.
ReplyDeleteI watched this movie in theaters the week it came out after only watching one trailer and not reading any reviews. I was captivated from the beginning of the film to the moment the credits rolled. The dialogue wasn’t excessive and felt organic (How a conversation would go between two people that have just met.) the directing was suited well for the film as well. From the moment that “Nightcall” played over the opening credits with a backdrop of LA I was in love. There just hadn’t been a movie like this with a true “silent” protagonist in so long. It was so refreshing. I know saying that the movie was realistic is a huge stretch. But there wasn’t anything too fantastical that you could pinpoint and call complete bullcrap on for me. It is very grounded in its fantasy world. Where as Hunger and Festen are quite literally things that happen in real life. Drive is a story that in no way could ever happen in real life. But… it could happen. And it definitely would happen in its fantasyland. I know I’m not making much sense and this must have sounded much better in my head but every time I watch this movie I can’t help but want to get behind a wheel and drive myself.
The chorus to a reoccurring song in the film says “a real human being and a real hero.” This song is only played while the driver is on screen, leading us to believe that the driver is the hero, but what does driver do that makes him a hero? Driver helps criminals escape from robberies, kills multiple men, and even attempts to pull off a heist. These events would make a villain, but contrasting scenarios of driver taking care of Benicio and trying to free Standard of debt would make him a hero. The driver is ultimately a villain, but among fellow villains he is portrayed as a hero in this story. This film erases the line that divides heroes and villains and replaces it with a Venn diagram in which the driver is placed in the space created where the two circles converge. Much like all of us, the driver holds qualities of a hero and a villain. No one is completely a hero or a villain and isn’t that what makes us real human beings?
ReplyDeleteThis film might grab the attention of your average movie goer simply because of the action and the fact that Ryan Gosling has a pretty face, but once the average viewer watches this film they might find deeper meaning to the actual story…or they might just be disappointed because the film didn’t make sense to them. I believe this film tries to convey struggles with internal conflicts such as right and wrong, specifically with lust, but it does it by telling an unrealistic story? But is the fact that the story is so farfetched so wrong? I think the film tries presenting us with real life struggles which help us relate to the characters while still trying to be entertaining. These things are what make Drive so different than Hunger or Festen which try to show real life struggles through real life situations.
Drive makes the viewer question the black and white lines of most fairytales portrayal of good and evil. We see Gosling’s character as the hero and we feel for agonize with him over his fate. As a female viewer I fell for Gosling’s character in the first part of the film and was shocked by the violence he was capable of towards the second half of the film. It’s hard as the viewer to fully consider Gosling’s character a hero or a villain. Yes he crosses the line and obviously has a violent past. His brutality throughout the second half of the film exhibited his villainous qualities. In the end, however Gosling’s character did everything he did in the name of love. He is a flawed hero willing to cross the line into villainy to protect the ones he loves and there is a little bit of that in all of us.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the violence, the stunts, and the car chases throughout the film are completely unrealistic the film possesses qualities that make it as real to me as Festen and Hunger. From each character throughout Drive we see real human emotions of love, fear, anger, and desperation. Gosling’s character is willing to go to the end’s of the earth to protect the ones he loves. He is willing to abandon in a way his own humanity and crosses into a dark place of violence and brutality all for a love. The message and themes of film are more realistic to me in a way than Festen or Hunger because we are all willing to cross the line for the people we love. This is something that takes place in everyday life even though it is rarely to this extreme. Every single day people fight for the ones they love. Gosling’s steadfast determination to protect the ones he loves makes Drive a relatable film.
Because of the Driver’s actions, it is difficult to assign him villain or hero status. In my mind, I believe him to be much more heroic than villainous, even though his violence seemed severe. It is also hard to determine if the driver is more good than evil because of his past. I believe this to be a redemption story. Whatever he did in the film, it was clear that he had a violent past and he is well accustomed to intense fighting. Although he reveals his aggressive nature during the film, I think that it is justified because he is doing it all to protect Irene and her son. He so strongly believes in protecting them, he is willing to sacrifice his new, safe life to give them a new life. So, although his actions blur the line between good and evil, I believe he is still redeemed.
ReplyDeleteI believe many aspects of the film seem more real than Hunger or Festen. The feelings are less identifiable than the other movies, however, because there is little dialogue that expresses emotion or thoughts. Drive is able to get many of these feelings across through facial expressions, which I think are more real than in Hunger and Festen. However, the situation and violence seem exaggerated and it’s harder to identify with than the characters from Hunger or Festen. I believe the draw of Drive is the emotions that can be seen with such little dialogue. Because of the characters’ feelings and emotions, the audience can more identify with the ideals rather than the actions.
i love how the driver blurs the line between hero and villain. through the movie's entirety we see him flip back and forth betwixt the two and it makes you wonder if he is singularly either or a hybrid mash up of the two. we know nothing of his past so we cannot assume he is good with violence because he's bad or that he's gentle with irene and benicio because he's a hero. my personal opinion is probably the same as any other that swoons over the driver and i want to believe that he is all good and only does evil things because it's the only option left, but i am not naive enough to believe that's the only option in this case.
ReplyDeletereal? yes this movie is real. it's just real on the other side of the spectrum. there really are evil people in the world that take advantage of people and try to hurt their families. i wouldn't say that it is MORE real than either festen or hunger, but i imagine the other two (in their appropriate time frames)happen at a higher frequency than this. i would categorise this movie as gang violence and that is something that is real and really happens. maybe not to stunt drivers with overwhelming composure with guns and death, but you know. it does exist.
The driver does complicate our understandings of good and evil because he plays both the villain and the hero. Driver wants nothing more than Irene and Benicio, thus being said he would do anything for them. He would go so far as to help Irene’s husband rob a pawn shop, even though it meant risking his own life. It also meant risking the chance that Irene and Benicio could never forgive him if something were to go wrong, which is exactly what happened. In this way, it makes him the hero and he is good. On the other hand, doing something so illegal and wrong, like robbing a pawn shop, makes him evil and seen as the villain. He continues to fight for Irene and her family the whole movie. He displays ultimate heroism at the end of the movie, when he kills Bernie and leaves the money. If he truly were a villain, he would not have left the money. In this case though, both the villain and the hero go hand in hand.
ReplyDeleteI believe the film seems interested in something real because it is something that a lot of people can relate to, unlike the plots in Hunger and Festen. If we’re lucky, we get to experience the feelings of love and emotion for that one person. A lot of people can relate to the feeling of being willing to do anything and give up everything for that one person, even if it means putting their own life at risk. Being able to relate and understand is what makes the film feel more real and genuine. This is what the whole movie Drive is about. It is about the drivers love for Irene, and even if it means putting himself in danger, he will do whatever it takes to protect her and her family.
The movie Drive complicates our understanding of good and evil, as well as heroism and villainy by playing with elements of fairy-tale style film. The driver holds within him what we would consider heroism as well as villainy which is unusual because as a viewer I’m accustom to seeing one of each in such a film but now here I almost had to step back and rethink the two roles. It’s as if the driver has a split personality. For example, he shows the heroism role by protecting Irene and Benecio even if doing so cost him his life. In the elevator scene for example really complicates the role of good and evil with the “kiss that didn’t happen.” In the elevator when he realized that the man standing beside him was a bad guy the fairy-tail heroism to me was when the lights dimmed and a slow motion long kiss took place right beside the man who was there to kill him. The fairy-tail villainy evil part was when he turned and just demolished this man and put his foot through his head. Even if the kiss didn’t happen or did happen that was the part of the fairy-tail that showed heroism, villainy, good, and evil.
ReplyDeleteI think this film is interested reality by showing the gang involvement with Standard and the gang violence as well as the power of love. The gang violence that is shown in this film with Standard getting his warning in the parking deck and the threats to his family is very real. There are documentaries that explore the realms of gang violence and that is a very common act that occurs. The driver showing his love and commitment to Irene and Benecio and how he would give his own life for them is very real. I know that I would do whatever it takes to protect to fiancé, even my dog no matter the consequences. To me family always comes first and I fell that as if I am programmed to not even bat an eye when facing a life or death situation for my loved ones. These explore the realms of reality because situations like this happen every day in the world today.
The driver complicates our understanding of good and evil—“bad guys” versus “good guys”—because he has qualities of both good and evil, yet we are compelled to call him a hero. Generally speaking, in mythology and religion, the hero and the villain are clear cut ideals, and contain only the virtues embodied within those ideals. What “Drive” presents to us is more of a “real” mythology, a mythology with characters and elements we might see in everyday life, rather than an ideal to live up to. It begs us to question how we define hero and villain, sinner and saint; it asks us to confront our judgments about people and the world, to blur the lines of right and wrong that once may have been very rigid. What we have in the driver is a man, who once closed off from real human interaction and connection, finds his heart touched by a beautiful woman and her adorable son. The mother and son lack a hero, the driver lacks a damsel in distress. When they all find each other, they find the missing piece of their own journeys. That lays the groundwork for the myth. However, the lines in this fairy tale are blurred—we see the driver commit serious acts of violence to protect the people he loves, something we don’t necessarily see in the archetype ‘hero’, but we also see him willing to sacrifice his own life to protect the people he loves—something we do associate with a typical ‘hero’. We see him do evil acts in the name of good. That’s why it’s confusing. We don’t necessarily agree with his methods, but we stand behind his intentions.
ReplyDeleteI think the film is interested in something real all along, not just finally. I think the ‘real’ intention behind the film is not specifically in the circumstances or characters being presented as ‘real’—although they could be—but in the intention of the film to confront how we view ourselves and the world. It shows us a whole array of human characteristics, polar opposite behaviors in a single person. We see bad guys who say kind things when they kill, and good guys who kill in the name of love. We are faced with the reality that every hero has a dark side, and every villain isn’t pure evil. I believe that in society today we are so concerned with labeling people as one thing or another, and then judging them wholly on that label, that we forget that everybody in this world is just doing the best they know how to do, even if that best is manipulation or murder. I don’t believe that anyone is born evil, or good, but rather we learn how to cope with life through the tools our families and circumstances give us. And sometimes those tools are simply objects we’re taught to hurt other people with. That’s also the draw of this movie, even if it isn’t as realistic as Hunger or Festen. We are drawn to the story and the characters because they represent us. Humans. Real people—imperfect, passionate and hopeful even in the direst of situations. We are drawn to redemption, to love, to fighting for what you believe in, to good intentions meaning something, even if they’re shown in backwards ways. We cheer for the driver because if there is hope for him to be redeemed and broken open by love, even with his obvious character flaws, then there is hope for all of us.
This film plays with the fairy-tale elements by Driver being a hero in protecting Irene, Standard, and Benecio. Mr. Rose and his gang play the villainy characters. In the begging of the film we know nothing about Driver only that he is a stunt car driver and he only helps people get away in robbery's and stuff. Audience see later in the film that we may know who he actually be. Driver complicates our understanding of good and evil by the killing of Mr. Rose's gang and Mr. Rose himself, but we realize the only way he is doing this is to protect Irene and Benecio. Driver is a good character, but just does bad things to protect Irene and Benecio. Another example of Driver being good is that he did not take any of the stolen pawn shop money when he killed Mr. Rose and him leaving behind Irene and Benecio at the end so no one won’t hurt them if Driver stays in LA.
ReplyDeleteI believe the draw of the film is the love that Driver has for Irene. In the begging on the film he is just friends with Irene because she is still married although Standard is in prison. He is just a friends and helps watch over Benecio when Irene is gone. Later in the film we see that he is protecting Irene from Mr. Rose and his gang because he loves her and Benecio. He does protect her, but ends up leaving her to protect her even more. This film does seem interested in something real, the love that Driver has for Irene is real. The violence from the gang is also something real. Although we do not see gang violence personally, but we have seen it on the news. The emotion that each character is real just like the emotion we see in Hunger my Bobby Sands and in Festen by Christian. And in Driver's situation things like this can actually happen especially in the city which can make it even more real.
This movie is very obvious with the hero, the villain, the heroin and the situation that need to be solve as well as the challenges that the hero faces. Driver is the hero in this story because he faces the problem of defeating the villains who are Bernie and Nino. Driver is faced the issue of the stolen money that Standard stole from the pawn shop. Driver now has to make sure that Irene and Bencio, Standard’s wife and son, won’t get hurt by the villains. Driver has this hero mentality because he cares for Irene and doesn’t want to see her get hurt and he is also put into this situation when he didn’t agree to be in at all. Driver complicates the word of ‘hero’ because he kills the people that are trying harm him in a violent manner, but then again he is doing that to protect Irene and Benico, so that makes him a hero by protecting him. What the viewer doesn’t know is Drivers past and how has the ability to kill.
ReplyDeleteThis movie is definitely real because thing such as emotions, sound, gang violence, make the movie real. The emotions that the characters have during the movie are real emotions that would accrue in reality. The sound of the engine going and the tires moving along the pavement. The violence is real because violence happens all the time in the real world. They are some scenes in the film are questionable of rather or not that it is reality or imaginary. The kissing scene in the elevator is questionable because its all shot in slow motion and it honestly is long kiss, but when it refocuses it is as if the kiss never happened