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Saturday, April 27, 2024
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HOLLYWOOD DRIVE
EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: ***1/2
After the dialogue heavy films of the 1940s and 1950s, the New Hollywood of the
late 1960s and 1970s became just the opposite. Films then were perhaps truest to
the idea of `visual` cinema with not one extra word, not a single needless
expression appearing on screen.
Ironically, it was not the art-house cinema that achieved this miracle but
commercial movies, and leading the pack were action films. A case can be made of
"Bullitt" - an `action` film where the protagonist barely spoke a few
lines.
If you look inside the bonnet of "Drive", you will find the engine
that drove "Bullitt" running this film.
A driver (Ryan Gosling), who`s a stunt double in films but moonlights as a
driver for criminals, falls in love with his neighbour - whose husband is in
prison.
After the husband returns and is forced to pay back protection money or his wife
and son would be harmed, the driver gets involved only to find himself a hunted
man.
The simple fact that this film relies on visuals rather than words can be found
in one tiny detail - the `driver` is never given a name.
Nor is he really given a back story. It`s like he is someone who has appeared
from nowhere - a quiet, reticent man who merely observes the violent world
around him.
We know him through his actions that evolve with time. He is surrounded by
violence and violent men. Even his other profession - that of a stunt double -
is violent. Yet, like a lotus he remains calm amid the muck, a smirk permanently
fixated behind the toothpick on his lips.
"Drive" is thus seemingly unique and refreshing. But its uniqueness
lies in the present context. In the land of a blind Hollywood, the one-eyed is
king.
In reality the elements that make "Drive" so endearing have actually
been done to death in many spectacular films of the 1970s. Indeed, the character
of Ryan Gosling, of a strong, reticent, honourable man is modelled on Steve
McQueen`s cop character in "Bullitt".
Thus what comes out as a refreshing, art-house take on action, is nothing but an
old, 1970s-commercial take on action cinema where a car-chase was not about
speed, but about the temperament and poise of the man behind the wheels.
For proof, also watch "Two-Lane Blacktop" and "Vanishing
Point". The only difference in the film is a lovely background score that
punctuates the silence of the film, and some impressionist slow-motion scenes.
"Drive" is thus a memory refresher of a fascinating time for cinema,
where the past of the character was less important than his present, where
unrequited love did not fail to inspire men and where the desire of the director
was to tell the story as best as possible without worrying whether it`s original
or cliched.
Today, some might find the above elements disconcerting. Yet "Drive",
based on a book by James Sallis, is not a film you`ll forget in a hurry. Like
good cars, it`s meant to last. Just like Hollywood action films of the 1970s.
Director Edgar Wright says he has been approached to write a sequel to his film "Baby Driver".Read More
