Drive: The Suspense is Killing Me

Having won the prize for best director and been nominated for the Palme d’Or (or top prize) at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, the movie Drive is a modern classic. The mood is tense as this movie steadily builds to a grisly head. Once the blood starts flowing, there’s no turning back as director Nicolas Winding Refn expertly builds suspense around his protagonist, simply named Driver (a contained performance by Ryan Gosling), who is a Hollywood stunt driver by day, get-away driver by night. Things are going well for Driver until he meets a woman (Carey Mulligan) and her child, developing a bond with the two. Without spoiling too much more, this bond leads to a botched pawnshop robbery with things only spiral out of control from there. What makes this movie great though?

            The film is not a “car-film” like the “Fast and the Furious” series, but rather is more akin to a suspense-thriller.  In class, we discussed how Noel Carroll lays out the formula for creating suspense in a scene. He is a cognativist, believing that proper emotions have an evaluative component. As such, Carroll believes films often pre-digest emotions for us, providing the viewer with all the proper tools to feel a certain way and directing us to a forgone conclusion. In suspense films, the viewer is led to believe that probable outcome is the evil one, while the improbable one is the good one. This creates questions such as “will the hero be able to save the damsel in distress who is tied to the tracks of an oncoming train?” which will glue the viewer to the edge of their seat and force them to become emotionally invested. How well does Refn craft suspense in the movie Drive compared to Carroll’s definition?

            The scene that came to mind when I initially approached this question was the infamous segment in the elevator. Driver has followed the woman to her apartment’s elevator where they proceed to enter after having a rather tense conversation. Upon entering another passenger on the elevator is noted to have a gun. Time slows down as Driver turns to kiss the woman in one last moment of tranquility before all hell breaks lose. You are waiting for the man to pull his gun on the two and for the movie to come to an abrupt end when Driver does something completely unexpected; he attacks the armed man (rather grisly I might add) killing him as the elevator reaches its destination. The woman exits in horror as the elevator doors slowly close, obstructing our view of her shock and ending the 

scene.

"The Calm Before the Storm"

Like Carroll’s definition states, we fully expect the evil force to triumph in the elevator. The woman and Driver have finally been able to release their suppressed feelings towards one another, and appear content. You’re waiting for the man to pull his gun and cause conflict, possibly even killing the two characters in the process. The viewer worries about the characters as the director had intended. Driver shocks us, however, when he attacks the armed man first in the most brutal of fashions. Good triumphs in the end as the woman and Driver are safe, but he has shown her the beast that sleeps inside him. The added gore only adds to the final effect.

Here is the clip in its entirety 

(WARNING: Do not view if you are squeamish):