At one point in Drive
a character makes a snide comment about the movies he used to produce being
“European,” as if that’s automatically understood to mean pseudo-intellectual
garbage. It’s an ironic comment and one of the myriad ways director Nicolas
Winding Refn thumbs his nose at Hollywood. Drive
may flaunt its gorgeous matinee idol of a lead (Ryan Gosling), its car chases
and violent action (all hallmarks of popular American cinema) but everything
else about it screams European, from its 80s retro tone and soundtrack to the
abundance of slow-motion and dearth of talk.
