DRIVE (2011) Research

DRIVE TRAILER

BASIC INFO
Released: 2011
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling ('The Kid'), Carey Mulligan (Irene), Bryan Cranston (Shannon), Ron Perlman (Nino), Albert Brooks (Bernie Rose), Oscar Isaac (Standard) and Christina Hendricks (Blanche)
Written by: James Sallis
Music by: Cliff Martinez

DRIVE SOUNDTRACK

The soundtrack to Drive includes an original score by Cliff Martinez that was inspired by ’80s-style, synth-pop. In addition to crafting his own compositions, Martinez built the film’s sonic landscape from ideas pioneered by European electronic bands, such as Kraftwerk. Other songs in the set — which were recorded and arranged with a similar retro edge –  include “Nightcall” by Kavinsky and Lovefoxxx of Brazilian dance-rock outfit CSS, a tune by the Chromatics, and others. 

01 Nightcall – Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx
02 Under Your Spell – Desire
03 A Real Hero – College feat. Electric Youth
04 Oh My Love – Riz Ortolani feat. Katyna Ranieri
05 Tick of the Clock – The Chromatics
06 Rubber Head
07 I Drive
08 He Had a Good Time
09 They Broke His Pelvis
10 Kick Your Teeth
11 Where’s The Deluxe Version?
12 See You in Four
13 After The Chase
14 Hammer
15 Wrong Floor
16 Skull Crushing
17 My Name on a Car
18 On The Beach
19 Bride of Deluxe

Tracks 6-19 by Cliff Martinez

Track 7 (I Drive):

Little White Lies 37 - The Drive Issue 

Intertextual Reference: THE DRIVER (1978) [Dir. Walter Hill]
Opening Title Sequence:

'The Getaway' Scene:

Intertextual Reference: TAXI DRIVER (1976) [Dir. Martin Scorsese]
Ending Scene:

 Drive - Ending Explained

If you’re reading this, then you’ve already had the chance to watch Nicolas Winding Refn’s pulpy crime-drama Drive, and hopefully enjoyed it as much as we did (be sure to read our Drive review).

Though Drive seems like a standard action/thriller (albeit with some art house style and flare), a lot of movie goers have walked away with questions about the movie’s final moments, which leave a fair amount of ambiguity hanging over the fate of “Driver,” the character played by Ryan Gosling.

In the past with our Shutter Island and Inception Ending Explanations, we here at Screen Rant have had to rely on our prowess as movie aficionados in order to form some logical deductions about what transpired in some of our favorite mind-bending movies, and what filmmakers intended with their ambiguous endings. In the case of Drive, however, we were fortunate enough to snag an explanation right from the primary source: director Nicolas Winding Refn.

When we last see Driver – bleeding out while behind the wheel of his car, before pulling himself together and speeding off into the night – there is a certain amount of lingering doubt about the literalness vs. figurativeness of what we are seeing. When I asked Refn first-hand what the ending of Drive was all about, I expected the typically coy filmmaker to hand me an equally coy answer. However, he was surprisingly straight forward in his response:

“Well all my films always have open endings. All of them. Because I believe art is always best when…you talk about it and think about it, so forth. Maybe once in awhile I’ve gone too far, but I always believe in finding the right balance. And in ‘Drive’ he lives on for more and new adventures.”

So there you have it – if you were wondering whether or not the ending of the film was to be taken literally, or was some metaphoric death scene, you at least now know how the director sees it.

Refn has continuously referred to the film as a modern Grimm fairytale (unlikely hero rises to battle evil king, saves princess) and I for one always saw the ending as the herosaving the girl, while also being denied the “happily ever after” cliche he may want. Indeed, the implications of the film are such that Driver will likely speed off into new adventures, as Refn claims, albeit still stuck in the lonely and isolated existence in which we found him. The only difference is: he now knows what kind of hero he can be.

Written by Kofi Outlaw