topmo3 wrote:depressing might be the wrong word but i was a bit put off by all the very graphic violence. dun kno it just felt so unnecessarry. at the start of the film i had big expectations because the opening sequence where the main guy works as a getaway driver was very intensive and well directed.. i've only seen it once but i think the rest of the movie was ok as well up until the scene at the hotel with all the gore.
the rest of the movie kinda went over my head and i just felt that the violence was even a bit forced and that the filmmakers just wanted to show off with it entirely forgetting about the movie plot. yeah i like some very violent movies, eastern promises for example but this particular film i didn't get anything out of
The violence in drive was done incredibly well. It was really well thought out and used for a clear purpose within the telling of the story. Not to mention it was also a big part in the portrayal of the long running tradition of the righteous and loved but ultimately extremely violent with a questionable past ideal of the American hero/anti hero which is something the film is clearly trying to portray. There's even an element of the overly extreme portrayals of romance, good/evil and justice of old fairytales displayed within normal modern life too.
Plus the violence itself is handled in a way to make it effective in its execution with regards to the directors intentions. It's not there to purely shock in the way that a poorly written horror makes use of violence where it's essentially a gag real of nasty scenes for no reason. I mean violence in a film is largely about the tone and the run up to the act. Same as sex within film. The actual climatic result is just splooge or someone dying or whatever. It's how it's used that makes it's impact. The lift scene is a great example. The slow kiss with the beautiful lighting of the scene suddenly hurtling into the pure and graphic bluntly realistic kill is hugely effective in delivering information and emotional impact to the audience in regards to Gosling's character and the ideas of the film over all.
Strip club scene as well goes straight in for the no bullshit angle. It's like a Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name type thing which again throws up ideas about what people associate with the ideal of an American hero. Plus it's a throwback to the gritty grindhouse style vigilante movie style violence (like James Glickenhaus' The Exterminator for example) which fits with the tone and the way a lot of the non-love scene parts within the movie were shot and again is an excellent style of movie to reference when building a character like Gosling's in this film. The film has a strong connection to the type of places and people that would appear in these sorts of films too which fits with a lot of the 1980s stylistic traits peppered throughout the film also. It wouldn't make sense without these violent scenes to otherwise mirror in certain ways movies that came before it. Every scene has it's purpose with regards to how the violence is portrayed. It's not just one dimensional. It varies from shock tactics, to pure passionate violence to even non caring psychopathic and almost fetish like use of knives displayed in the last scene with Bryan Cranston in.
I mean the film overall has a huge pool of film styles that it references for effect. There's even horror style imagery towards the end when he's in the mask going after Perlman's character.
I think overall it's just you beig overly sensitive to the violence rather than it being unnecessary.
