Someone’s Favourite Film: Drive
Film buffs come in many shapes and sizes, but what can their favourite films tell us about them? Why do moody stoners like Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’? Do you have to be a nihilist to enjoy Harmony Korine’s films? What does it say about a person if they enjoy the films of Zack Snyder? Someone’s Favourite Film is a column that tries to tackle these questions and more.
‘Drive’ is a 2011 dramatic crime thriller starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Refn won the Best Director award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for his work on ‘Drive’. But you already knew that, didn’t you? You already know what ‘Drive’ is. You’re probably also aware of the legacy it holds. But what do you know about the person who loves this film?
It’s a man, obviously. No question about that. This man is clearly young. A 90s baby at the latest, as his favourite film is halfway between a teen drama and a superhero flick. The start of the film thrusts us into a superhero opening. We’re used to our caped crusaders saving a cat stuck at the top of a tree right at the beginning of a movie. This sets our expectations for the main character and perfectly illustrates to us what they are capable of. In ‘Drive’, though, instead of a cat stuck in a tree, we have two thieves who need to get away. Although you won’t find a cape, you’ll find a jacket. The Driver stands by windows and atop buildings overlooking the city like a vigilante waiting for an opportunity to pounce. Fast forward to the end of the film and the Driver stands atop a cliff, adorned in a mask as he watches one of the film’s villains cower in defeat.
He, that is the ‘he’ who relates to such a character, does so through a semi-eclectic soundtrack and a smattering of stoicism. Kavinsky and The Chromatics on repeat and a playlist filled to the brim with semi-moody indie tracks; this is a teen movie after all. All the iconography is there; a cast full of gorgeous individuals with perfectly styled hair, a fresh jukebox soundtrack, party scenes where it looks like no-one is having fun. You’ll see the jock in a high school movie taking his sweetheart under the bleachers to tenderly kiss her. In this case, though, the jock is a Driver and the Driver tenderly kisses his sweetheart in a lift just before beating the ever-loving shit out of one of the villain’s henchmen.
It takes an unromantic man to relate to the unromantic lead character, a man who either hides his emotions behind a stoic mask or (and this is the most likely option) can’t even express them properly. The postmodern practice of taking a typecast actor and flipping the typecast on its head is also in full effect here; ‘Drive’ does not feature Hollywood heartthrob Ryan Gosling, rather a confused, almost childlike volcano of rage bubbling under a parted hair exterior that just-so-happens to look like Hollywood heartthrob Ryan Gosling.
The man who loves ‘Drive’ loves it so much, that at one point it completely defined his life. He downloaded Kavinsky onto his MP3 player in a less-than-legal way. Somewhere in his closet, he has the Driver’s signature yellow scorpion jacket and he wears it sometimes. It has become a costume to him and he needs to keep a costume close so that he has something to hide behind. ‘Drive’ is his ‘She’s All That’. It is his ‘Spider-Man 2’. It is the film he needs to feel something.
Drive on, man. Drive on. – Kayven Kaplan