Many reviews are all about the pre-release buzz, they must function as either an advertisement or a warning and so they have to trade in the vague. You have likely read many pre-release reviews for Drive but this comes post-release and will tie in closely to the Drive-In feature that has ran on the site over the preceding three weeks. There will be some small spoilers, but nothing explicit for those who still need convincing - this review is more focused on analysing the film in depth and hopefully opening up discussion about what it achieves and where it stands in its genre.
This Friday saw the release of the critically acclaimed crime thriller Drive, over the last three weeks we have looked at the films that inspired Nicolas Winding Refn. Now we look at the filmography of the man himself, leading up to a review of the film that started it all.
Today sees the release of Drive and to celebrate, Lost In The Multiplex is looking at a series of films that are connected or a direct influence to Nicolas Winding Refn's highly anticipated thriller.
Mainstream cinema clings to this idea that we must not only follow our protagonists, we must understand them, we need to see the shading that makes up a person's life; family, friends, big emotional beats that drive them to do what they do.
This Friday, Drive will be pulling into cinemas around the UK. To celebrate, Lost In The Multiplex is looking at a series of films that are connected or a direct influence to Nicolas Winding Refn's highly anticipated thriller.
Vanishing Point is a change of pace from the last three tense action heavy thrillers. Vanishing Point is actually an action heavy, philosophical road movie.
The film begins in an unassuming fashion; a quiet town, a stillness in the air, the sound of lone police sirens and the rumble of heavy machinery breaks through. Two large bulldozers roll into position, forming a police barricade. The broad immovable blades of these machines are more than a simple blockade, they are inevitability given a tangible form.
It is impossible to discuss Vanishing Point without spoiling the ending, yet the word "spoil" seems a strong term as the end of Vanishing Point is clear from the beginning. This movie can only end one way; in death.
This Friday, Drive will be pulling into cinemas around the UK. To celebrate, Lost In The Multiplex is looking at a series of films that are connected or a direct influence to Nicolas Winding Refn's highly anticipated thriller.
Kenneth Anger is a director working within the underground circuit, he specialised in short film and was one of the first openly gay filmmakers in America.
Daring and almost revolutionary for the time, a lot of Anger's films are structured more like extended music videos and Scorpio Rising is a strong example of this. Anger's film mixes moody lighting, some brilliantly composed shots (particularly of Scorpio's posturing and strutting through scenes) and stock footage; his chief weapon with Scorpio Rising is the montage. He uses 1950s love songs over lovingly photographed scenes of men constructing, cleaning and polishing motorcycle parts. Mixed with the extensive use of homoerotic biker iconography (a lot of leather, studs, chains and pursed lips) and more explicit sexual imagery, it really plays into the idea of fetishizing motorcycles.
William Friedkin is a name any self-respecting film fan should know - he is most commonly known as the director of The Exorcist. This is understandable, when you make the most infamous horror movie of all time, you will get a reputation. Before then Friedkin made a name for himself with the Oscar-winning crime masterpiece The French Connection. To this day the exploits of Det. 'Popeye' Doyle hold up as one of the finest thrillers of all time, with the car chase being a masterclass in construction.
On September 23, Drive will be pulling into cinemas around the UK. To celebrate, Lost In The Multiplex is looking at a series of films that are connected or a direct influence to Nicolas Winding Refn's highly anticipated thriller.
Michael Mann is a name that carries connotations of style. Manhunter, Miami Vice, Hea - they stand out in memory as distinct works. Watching Thief, you would be forgiven for believing this was the work of an artist already in full swing. This was actually his first feature film. As assured and complete a creative voice as you are likely to see in a debut, Thief is a movie that basks in a foggy neon tinged atmosphere. The world feels fully developed within minutes of opening.
On September 23, Drive will be pulling into cinemas around the UK. To celebrate, Lost In The Multiplex will be looking at a series of films that are connected or a direct influence to Nicolas Winding Refn's highly anticipated thriller.
