Drive (2011) Notes

Character
- We know very little about ' the kid', we don't know what his motivation is
- Sparseness of dialogue is a feature
- 'Gangster' type characters ( Bernie, Neno etc) appear 'business like' in presentation, however classic 'gangster' elements still exist such as the location of the pizzarea
- Female character (Christina Hendricks) - wonder how she ended up in that situation - enigma, provokes lots of unanswered questions which is a theme throughout
- characters seem to be all surface and no depth - links to Bauldrillard
- Utopian aspect - link this to 'the kid' fitting in with the family
- 'The Kid' responsible for the deaths of Standard and Shannon - postmodern hero? he saves Irene and Bernicio. Is he heroic?
- 'The Kid' isn't a flawless hollywood conventional hero - he is a criminal. He is a getaway driver for bad people.
- 'The Kid ' shows very angry, psychopathic traits - hero?
- We don't learn much about him, he is quiet. Maybe because he is so insular, dark, violent and psychopathic? However these could be seen as masculine traits
- Is he real?
- Issues of maculinity

• power
• lack of dialogue (lack of masculinity)
• Nino (seems irrelivent) 
• traditional roles to provide, protect, to be a comfort are shown from ' The Kid ' towards Irene and Bernicio

Location
- L.A
- title font used - pink, 80's style - incurs thoughts of Miami/Vegas
- GTA Vice City
- Seemingly set in modern day
- birds eye view shots of the city
- see night shots
- urban sprawl
- reminicent of blade runner (1982) - Ridley Scott
- City being used as
1) as a playground (GTA)
2) bit like another character in the film (shallow and opressive) offers little comfort and no escape.
- L.A River, contrast, drainage. heart of the city - Idylic. Used in many other films - iconic filming location. 

- The film has an utopian/idyllic heart, however the city and most of the characters are more dystopian
- City seems deserted

Music
- Very 1980's style/synthesiser
- Chromatics
- Kavinsky ft. Love Foxxx
- Desire
- Cliff Martinez (score)

- link to baseball game
- His jacket is retro which matches with the music throughout the film

The soundtrack to Drive includes an original score by Cliff Martinez that was inspired by ’80s-style, synth-pop. In addition to crafting his own compositions, Martinez built the film’s sonic landscape from ideas pioneered by European electronic bands, such as Kraftwerk. Other songs in the set — which were recorded and arranged with a similar retro edge –  include “Nightcall” by Kavinsky and Lovefoxxx of Brazilian dance-rock outfit CSS, a tune by the Chromatics, and others.

01 Nightcall – Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx
02 Under Your Spell – Desire
03 A Real Hero – College feat. Electric Youth
04 Oh My Love – Riz Ortolani feat. Katyna Ranieri
05 Tick of the Clock – The Chromatics
06 Rubber Head
07 I Drive
08 He Had a Good Time
09 They Broke His Pelvis
10 Kick Your Teeth
11 Where’s The Deluxe Version?
12 See You in Four
13 After The Chase
14 Hammer
15 Wrong Floor
16 Skull Crushing
17 My Name on a Car
18 On The Beach
19 Bride of Deluxe

Tracks 6-19 by Cliff Martinez

Other Notes
- fairytale aspects such as the lighting/hue put over the scene in the L.A River - seems disjointed from the rest of the narrative.
- Counter intuitive casting
Ryan Gosling
Carey Mulligan
Albert Brooks
- Not particularly a sexy film considering the actors
- Human life is seemingly worthless
- Is the Kid real? Is the film real? 
- Is the film an extended metaphor for 21st century existence (within that consider issues of masculinity and urban living)
- People are killed, no-one seems to care. Police seem irrelivant
- Way light changes in lift, slow-mo, contrapunctual music, self reflexive.
- First bit of emotion put into the film