Film story: Drive

Drive

(USA, 2011, Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn)

Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

In one word: Memorable

Ramble: I spend a lot of my time watching movies these days - ushering sessions for work and getting through all the stuff my brother and I rent/download/borrow/ buy and watch in cinemas and on TV. A lot of the films I see, no matter how enjoyable they are, remain with me, at best, for a few hours before I move onto some new thing. Some would say I've become numb to the thrill of film-watching. But I just think I haven't seen anything worth obsessing over lately. But all this changed a few days ago when I went to see Drive with my brother. I can't stop thinking about how awesome this film is...

Unlike most girls (and my brother), I've never liked The Notebook (shock horror). So no, I wasn't originally a Ryan Gosling fan and I didn't choose the film to appease any sort of fangirl need... I really wanted to see Drive because I remember reading about its awesome plot on the MIFF guide earlier in the year, but missing out because I was too poor to buy tickets to go see it (It was the closing night film and tickets were like $120+). So what made this movie so awesome?

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For starters, the story was the best action-drama-romance combination that's been on the market for awhile. The plot revolves around an unnamed character, The "driver" (Ryan Gosling), who works as a mechanic and stunt driver by day and a getaway driver by night. He is employed by a man named Shannon, who takes loans and makes transactions with local gangsters, Bernie and Nino. Shannon, impressed with the driver's talent, promotes him to these gangsters as part of a deal he makes. The driver does as he's told without taking much interest in anything except Irene (Carey Mulligan), the young woman next door who is raising a child by herself while her husband is in jail. Although the pair have a strong mutual attraction for each other, things get complicated when the husband returns and requires the help of the driver...I love everything about this movie. The plot is wonderful - simple but sophisticated, the acting is awesome, the editing and flow of events is fantastic - Warning: Minor Spoilers - As my friend pointed out, one moment you see Irene's car breaking down, then you see a scene of The Driver looking at her and then it cuts to him carrying her bags into her house. The story is told through actions and events, rather than dialogue. It was beautiful story-telling - every gesture had meaning and portrayed more than what was said on screen. - End Spoilers - All in all, the film is done exceptionally well, setting it apart from other films that fall under the 'bad-ass-fast-car-grand-theft-auto' umbrella. It is effectively suspenseful and tender in all the right moments, and excels in all the genres it sets out to cover.

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Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan are amazing in Drive, both as individuals and as a pair. Like I mentioned before, I've never been much of a Ryan Gosling fan in the past, but this has undone all the damage The Notebook did to him for me. In some ways, the Driver was nothing he couldn't pull off - you've all seen him in that brooding, man-of-few-words protagonist role before. But I liked his portrayal of The Driver more than of all his previous, similar roles. The Driver was a character with very, very, very few words and (at the start) very few grand, passionate actions. So the character didn't develop through dialogue, but rather through the lack of it. He had to come out through subtle things like tone of voice, gaze, gestures, smiles etc...And in my opinion, Ryan Gosling did a good job. His two word responses were always packed with overwhelming emotion when it was said in conversation to Irene or to her son, and his glances and smirks towards Bernie and Nino always gave off that feeling of rage hidden under the external guise of indifference. As for Carey Mulligan, I have always been a fan since I saw Pride and Prejudice and Never let me go, so I may be biased, but she was the best choice for this role. Again, I don't think this role is anything outside her comfort zone as she is 'the girl next door' (pardon the pun :D). But Carey Mulligan played a convincing single mother, and while she smiled brightly and shined with liveliness and cheek in her eyes, she also added this lovely hidden sadness to her character, Irene. Together, Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan had such intense on-screen chemistry that you'd have to be blind to have missed all those sparks. Watching them smiling shyly at each other for a few long, silent minutes made the film as enjoyable as watching all the (very) bloody fight scenes (And I do love myself a good bloody fight scene when its seen through my fingers :D).

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But more than just the acting, I think I also like the characters themselves. The Driver was more than just a moody kid with a dual 

identity - on the outside, he was mysterious, he was very indifferent, he was cold, he had no past and he cared little about the conventions of morality. But he was also carried his own beliefs and silent struggles. And his loyalty to the people he loved made him a fantastic character, both simple and complicated, much like a dark, vigilante comic book character.

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Actually most of the film had the comic book element to it: a fantastic 80's synth influenced soundtrack that is cool and detached, yet buzzing with underlying emotion, costumes including a shiny scorpion jacket and leather driving gloves, hot pink credit fonts, gory bloodbath violence, gangsters, a few strippers...That whole vice city feel to it. But yes, I really enjoyed the whole film. It has surprisingly wedged its way into my favourite's list and I'd recommend this movie to anyone who likes action, a good love story, a great comic book/vigilante hero and vice-city landscape to go watch this! 

 

Should I go? Yes: I love every element of it - characters, acting, landscape, plot, directing. And it did win the director a 'Best Director' award at the Cannes film festival, so I can't be the only one who's in love with this film.

No: It's a fantastic movie, but if you're expecting a fast and the furious type movie, this won't be your thing, I think.

You'll like this if you liked: The Departed, Man from Nowhere, Sin city

And to finish off, the intro with Nightcall by Kavinsky ft. Lovefoxxx...

Film story: Le Havre

Le Havre
(France, 2011, Directed by Aki Kaurismaki)

(I have to apologise for the the trailer inserted above. Funnily enough, I couldn't find a French trailer or an English trailer or one with English subtitles, so I ended up settling for German trailer.)

Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

In one word: Heart-warming


Ramble: This was one of the best film of the several that I was lucky enough to see at this year's Melbourne International film festival (MIFF). From viewing the trailer that was put on the official MIFF website (Not the one above this review. I picked a better trailer than the MIFF people :D), I would have thought this was a comedy. While there were many genuinely humourous scenes, Le Havre proved to be much more than just a bunch of laughs. The plot was interesting and the characters were unique and quirky. All in all, it was a very charming French film.

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The story begins with a French man named Marcel Marx, a struggling author who has recently relocated with his wife, Arletty, to the port town of Le Havre. He lives a very simple life, working as a shoe-shiner, spending time with his wife and going out to the local pub for a drink with the townsfolk. 


His daily routine is interrupted, however, when his wife falls ill and needs to stay in hospital for a prolonged period of time. While eating lunch by himself at the port one day, Marcel meets Idrissa, an African refugee who is hiding from French authorities and seeking a route to England to reunite with his mother. Feeling sympathetic for the child, Marcel sets out to help Idrissa get to England. But can he do it with Monet, the private inspector hot on his trail?

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I was moved by the story and impressed with the use of comedy, and with the performances of all the participating actors, in particular Andre Wilms who played the main role. Wilms' was able to portray a warm and thoughtful character, who delivered comedic lines with the right amount of 'innocence' and seriousness that you couldn't help but laugh until you were sore. Monet (Jean-Pierre Dorroussin) and Chang (Quoc Dung Nguyen) also provided quite a few memorable laughs.


In terms of the story, I felt that the script was well-written, with each scene contributing to character or plot development. I did find the glimpses into Marcel and Arletty's loving-but-awkward-and-routine relationship confusing at the beginning and in some ways, I wonder if it could have been explained more explicitly. However, I suspect that this sets the base for Marcel's relationship with Idrissa (My personal analysis: Marcel was the child in the relationship with his wife, and his regret for not taking as much care of her as he should have, made him want to take on the role as a father figure to Idrissa.)

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The interaction between the timid Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) and Marcel are the real heartwarming and sentimental parts of this story. It is a pleasure to see Marcel and his quirky neighbours band together to help a child that is essentially a stranger to them. The lengths they go to in order to ensure that he achieves his goal leave you feeling warm and fuzzy about society. Seriously.


As a film about the the importance of relationships and friendships, this is definitely a feel-good film to be enjoyed with loved ones :)

Film story: Jess+Moss

Life, to me, is one big story with little stories in it. In this blog, I'm going to look at all the little stories that add colour to my life. I'll divide my reviews and comments into little story sections to help classify my entries. I hope you'll forgive my bad writing too as it's been aaaaaages since I wrote anything worth reading :s


Anyway, as I work in an interesting cinema space and enjoy watching movies, I'll be reviewing quite a few films on this blog. I thought I'd start with Jess+Moss, which is a great little indie film doing the rounds at all the major film festivals at the moment. It was played just today at ACMI as part of the Melbourne International Film Festivals.

Jess + Moss
(USA, 2011, Directed by Clay Jeter)

Stars: ★ ★ ★ 


In one word: Experimental


Ramble: I first came across Jess+Moss when I was looking at the film guide for the Melbourne International Film festival (MIFF). I was trying to decide which film I should use my free pass on and this one made it through the first cut, but not to the last - I ended up using the pass to see Submarine (another fantastic film that I shall write about in the near future.) But lucky for me, this was one of the films I got to usher at work today for MIFF, so I ended up watching it!

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The first thing I thought as the credits rolled, was that this film was simply beautiful. A sequence of soft, pastel vignettes, this film lingers on the innocent, idle and dream-like state of adolescence, as well as its darker moments of confusion, lonliness and despair. It explores the idea of memory, with scenes set in a predominantly non-linear sequence and dialogues frequently repeated to establish that the film we view is a glimpse into Jess and Moss' memories of a lonely Summer together, where they grow in the strange absence of relatives and close friends.


Shot on 30 varieties of 16mm film stock, the cinematography for this film is fantastic. It is one of the most aesthetically pleasing films I've seen this year. What you see on screen leaves you feeling nostalgic for the wonders of youth and sad about the possible alternatives that both characters could have had. I'd like to add that the soundtrack does a good job of bringing out these feelings with its soft and echo-y choice of sound and music.

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In terms of narrative, the film is very slow to come to any solid conclusion about either character. Jess is painted as the darker, more complex character of the two. Her actions made me feel rather uncomfortable at times and I wasn't the only one - a number of people walked out of the cinema after watching some of her more controversial scenes and did not come back. Moss, on the other hand, was a very pleasant character to watch with his innocent, gentle ideas about life.


Rather than a story, this film operates as a mood piece, taking us back to a time of confusion and blurred lines. This subtle story is visually stunning, with wonderful cinematography and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys mood pieces.

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Should I go? Yes: Well worth the watch, for its beautiful nostalgic feel and its exploration of lonliness, alienation and the stretches of memory that haunt our lives.


No: This might not be your thing if you're impatient and don't like mood pieces, slow, subtle narratives, open endings and themes that may be suggestive. There were a lot of hipsters in the cinema too...


You'll like this if you liked: The Virgin Suicides, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind