Arty, influenced and genre-defying

Rating: 8/10 (5 July 2015)

It would be easily to label Drive's limited script and space-laden scenes as boring, but reducing the often unrealistic chatter allows the audience to focus on the visible chemistry and longing between Irene (Carey Mulligan) and the Driver. It also serves to add to the air of mystery surrounding the nameless Driver. In terms of plot, the film has much in common with other escalating "vengeance" thrillers. There is - despite the title and subject matter - very little in terms of car chases, which may surprise viewers simply searching for an action blockbuster. The gratuitous graphic-novel style violence is often sudden and shocking, in contrast to the leisurely pace of the film and beautiful day-and-night vistas of Los Angeles. The use of space is one of the elements that marks the film out as more than a slick action flick, along with its highly-stylised text and colour palette. A trademark of cinematography is noticeable: the characters are rarely portrayed directly in the centre of the camera. This deliberate attention to detail elevates Drive into the realm of arty action films. The use of music is admirable - an 80s-inspired soundtrack is used sparsely to emphasise certain (often tense) moments, also allowing the film to float anachronistically in an unspecified time period (the makes of car and lack of visible technology leave the setting of the film as vague and mysterious as the main character). Music often flows between diegetic and non-diegetic, weaving between what the Driver can hear and what the audience is caused to feel, enabling the audience to identify more with the silent character's mood and emotions. The diminishing mood is expressed through ever-darkening lighting and subtle mise-en-scene portraying the Driver's descent into a bleak, harsh criminal world. The film's successfully minimalist soundtrack and arty cinematography, along with its use of space, make it stand out as a uniquely cult genre-defying film, reveling in influences from neo- noir to grindhouse to fairy tales.