From Silence to Violence

Rating: 8/10 (19 October 2011)

Drive opens with two burglars committing a stealthy robbery and subsequently, a slick escape from the authorities with the aid of a hired wheelman.
Ryan Gosling plays the silent, serious and stoic Driver for the thieves; a man occupied as a stunt-performer by day and moonlighting as a get- away driver by night.
The introduction can simply be described as silent. There is melodic, melancholic and a methodical tone to the music accompanying the quiet scenes and brief sections of dialogue; nonetheless, it is eerily tranquil.
Almost fifteen minutes pass before our main protagonist speaks and to contribute to the building mystery, we are not provided with a name for our lead.
Ideas about Ryan's character begin to bleed out from the silence of the filmic script; he is patient, quiet, controlled, strong-willed and streetwise; however, he appears to be suppressing an extreme emotion or perception.
Audiences will recognise that there is depth to his personality. It emerges from his eyes, body language, lack of expression and the deafening serenity of the movie.
The silent moments in this film seem to express more than the scenes of dialogue. Ryan's character is a man who appears to harbour a dark side; a man that stares into the abyss and does not blink; categorically, a lead character that viewers will have great difficulty disliking.
The beginning also reveals his attraction to his neighbour and her child. He stares at them as if they are his release from his self- imposed solitude. He forms a relationship with them and learns that the child's father is in prison.
In my experience, introductions that translate as predominantly calm mean an aggressive situation is lurking in the shadows. When Standard (Oscar Isaac) emerges on the screen as the father who has been released from jail, I immediately wondered if this would be the start of the violence; this particular actor has played some dubious characters in the past, namely his recent performance as Blue Jones in Sucker Punch, the sinister pimp.
After a few scenes with Standard, I was right to wonder...
Drive is a true character driven plot. The Driver remains nameless for the entirety of the script, adding allure to the story. He has conflicting behavioural traits; the plot unveils his deep sense of morality in his protection of Standard's family from a relentless mob, yet he murders anyone who targets them with robotic simplicity.
He unveils his knowledge of criminal psychology when he stares at the crooks he is dealing with, clearly able to analyse them, which makes viewers wonder: where has he been? What has he done? Fundamentally, who is this man?
Using this enigmatic, fearless and very capable central protagonist, the creators keep the audience in constant suspense. The transition from a humble film to one of raw aggression is amplified by brutal sound effects for the vicious fight scenes.
There are many characters that have been created in the past, similar to the Driver. They are universally fascinating. To name a few examples: Jack Reacher from Lee Child's Reacher series of books, Jubei Kibagaymi from Ninja Scroll 1993, Bone from Blood and Bone 2009, and Ryu in the video game and anime series of Street Fighter.
They are loners, drifters with mysterious pasts, amazingly strong combat skills and mental acuteness surpassing average intelligence. These characters tend to be scarred by some tragedy in their past and it has imparted humility.
This film was fantastic and very profound, because of this character choice. The 'Outro' soundtrack used in the final scene of the film, completed the story.