Drive

La troisième fois que je l'ai vu au cinéma m'a définitivement confirmé que décider entre quatre ou cinq étoiles est absurde ici. "Drive" est un défi pour l'amateur de cinéma. C'est un débat, une exploration plan par plan, phrase par phrase. On ne peut pas le classer dans une catégorie qualitative, on ne peut pas ne pas l'admirer. C'est un opus hypnotiquement calme et lent, tout en étant bouillonnant d'émotions et de tension. Il utilise plusieurs genres, mais ne peut pas être catégorisé clairement dans aucun d'entre eux. Il garde la plus grande distance par rapport au personnage principal, ne nous permettant pas de la comprendre et de ressentir sa relation avec la fille pour laquelle il se tourne vers une violence extrême et graphique pour la protéger. Cette violence devient ainsi choquante par elle-même, mais contraste de manière irrésistiblement cathartique avec la poétique romantique environnante. À travers une caméra et une musique extravagantes, le film cache l'importance des dialogues, qui sont le pilier de l'histoire. Il les sert modestement, presque fragmentairement, mais les personnages sont parfaitement définis dès leur première ou deuxième réplique. Les acteurs sont choisis de façon originale et inattendue, et le réalisateur transforme leur statut de stars déchues ou d'éternels seconds rôles en incarnations de personnages avec son propre génie à la manière de Tarantino, qui resteront à jamais gravés dans votre mémoire. Refn a le potentiel pour être le nouveau Tarantino. Mais "Drive" n'est pas encore son "Pulp Fiction". Il aura besoin de plus de figurines sur l'échiquier et d'une intrigue plus complexe pour y arriver. (23/11/2011)

I haven’t seen a better film in the cinema this year. A dreamy, sad artsy gangster flick with an extremely charismatic protagonist and a perfect soundtrack. It gave me goosebumps, and more than once. Drive is basically a compilation of Refn’s previous films (I’d dutifully watched them all before). It’s like Pusher shot with the same slick cinematography of Valhalla Rising, spiced up with a blend of the music and the images of Bronson, and mixed with the ambiguous atmosphere of Fear X. A film that can be easily described as “beautiful”, even if fingers are smashed with a hammer, heads are shot and throats are cut. For me, a masterpiece without any flaws, but, as it’s been said, it’s certainly not for everyone. I’ve been playing “A Real Hero” on repeat for an hour. (16/09/2011)

For me, a completely bombastic demonstration of what a director with a vision can do from forgettable genre spectacles. Refn projected his fascination with inaccessible heroes, which is prolonged by passion and also by the fascination with stories in which the hero selflessly sacrifices himself. His pagan relishing of vibrations long after the main action of the shot is once again pure happiness, not to mention the beautifully shot car chases and captivating atmosphere of a Los Angeles night. Again, it should be underlined that for Refn, there is no main logic and story - these are just secondary links to the extremely strong scenes elaborated down-to-the-last detail. I look forward to the listing of all the nonsense that analyst viewers can bear, thinking that there is some consistency and story refinement in Drive. What fascinates me to the core: although this time the characters really talk a lot (they are Americans after all), the essentials about their motifs are expressed by Refn with a hint, gesture, facial expression. He simply remained Nordic, even in a field that is supremely "Hollywood". While it's a film with a completely accessible story, Refn made it into an uncontracted author's manifesto and a festival of subversive image-sound connectivity. I just love that Danish boy! Maybe he should make a Bond film. (07/09/2011)

A ride that slams you hard into your seat and doesn't want to let go for a long time. Suspenseful to the bursting point, more action-packed than Michael Mann and ideas packed into the last second. We have seen plenty of gangsters and silent heroes on the screen for quite some time. But to simply have to run back to the cinema the next day to watch a movie again, that has never happened to me before. Even if I had to just observe the continuity of slow scenes or savor every tone of the soundtrack. (17/09/2011)

It’s hypnotic (almost everyone talked about the soundtrack after leaving the movie theater), clings to details (cinematography, sound), and constantly goes against established audience expectations. When I got up from my seat, sweat was pouring off me and it wasn't just the heat in the movie theater. (14/09/2011)