Drive, He Said: Refn talks Drive for RUSSH Magazine

Last week I interviewed one of my favorite working Directors for RUSSH Magazine: Nicolas Winding Refn.  Calling from Bangkok where he's shooting his latest (what he describes as a "pure" action film), Refn gave me his take on the beautifully retro Drive (now in theatres).  In a few weeks I'll post the interview's audio, but in the meantime here's the written word:

Nicolas Winding Refn is a child of the 80s. His latest film is as much a loving homage to his childhood as it is to the city he believes never left the 80s in its rear-view mirror: L.A. DRIVE is a derivative genre film defined by Hollywood mythology, one whose clichés Refn believes predate cinema, primarily (he points out): Grimm's Fairy Tales. With an entrancing neo-noir atmosphere saturated in neon and fueled by the throbbing synth rhythms of its retro soundtrack, DRIVE’s influences are worn proudly on its sleeve. In spite of its obvious visual nods to the silver screen, Refn – a self professed movie geek – insists DRIVE's cues to Lynch, Leone, Mann, Melville and Mizoguchi were not intentional, but had seeped onto the frame through an unconscious mind fattened by a lifelong diet of celluloid. Who am I to argue?

The parallels to Grimm’s Fairy Tales are apt. Like Refn’s DRIVE, Grimm’s Fairy tales were compiled from myriad sources; archivists more than artists, the brothers Grimm tracked down, documented and edited folklore from hundreds (if not thousands) of oral and written traditions. Many of these tales were dark, violent and – some would argue – racist (more specifically, anti-Semitic). In DRIVE, sporadic outbursts of brutal, graphic violence are initiated or provoked by its two villains – both Jewish gangsters. A morality tale – with a fair-haired hero in shining (satin) armor – DRIVE may be a knight’s tale of chivalry and heroic sacrifice, but don’t be fooled. Strong and silent like its enigmatic hero, DRIVE is deceptively simple and short on words with much of its meaning written into the action, obscured by visual metaphor and deciphered only when one opts to read between the lines.

The best way to pick apart a film like DRIVE is to keep watching it … over and over again. It’s a seductive, layered film, expertly directed by a director with a very distinctive voice … a voice I’m still trying to figure out. Is Refn an American filmmaker with a European aesthetic or a European filmmaker with an American aesthetic? Perhaps his success stems from the possibility he’s a bit of both and if – as Refn told me – it’s all a mystery, then that’s precisely what makes it worth watching.