I’ve really been getting into the retrowave style over the last year or so, but one place I wasn’t expecting to find it was in the 2011 film Drive, starring Ryan Gosling as a movie stuntman turned getaway driver who gets into trouble with some local gangsters.
The intro scene was a particular highlight. Gosling visits Bryan Cranston, who gives him the keys to a 2006 Chevrolet Impala – “the most popular car in the state of California”. What follows is a clever and tense car chase scene, set at night and illuminated only by headlights and the neon colours of the dashboard. The whole thing is almost silent, with only engine noises and synthwave music providing the soundtrack.
As the film goes the storyline turns to some typical gang stuff, which is less engaging, but the mood is sustained throughout. An interesting detail is that Gosling’s lead character is never named – referred to only as “driver” in the credits – and he has very little dialogue over the course of the movie, with other characters often making assumptions about his reactions and breaking the silence to keep conversations going.
Drive’s plot is by no means perfect, and if this was another film done differently then it would have lost my interest somewhere in the middle. But for anyone else into synthwave or retrowave, or who just likes movies with unique styles, I’d recommend jumping into the waiting open door and letting Ryan Gosling take you for a ride.
Stack Stubs 