Drive (2011)

Driver: If I drive for you, you get your money. You tell me where we start, where we're going, where we're going afterwards. I give you five minutes when we get there. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything a minute on either side of that and you're on your own. I don't sit in while you're running it down. I don't carry a gun. I drive.
Cook: You look like you're hard to work with.

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Producer: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel
Main Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman
Runtime: 100 minutes

Inspired by such classics as Point Blank (1967), Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), The Driver (1978) and Thief (1981) Nicolas Winding Refn made a film that is tough as nails whilst still having a feel of realism unlike the modern and, in my opinion, overrated Baby Driver (2016) which has its moments but overall runs a little flat.

Just like The Driver (1978) and Baby Driver (2016), the main character, who is simply known as “Driver”, does not talk much but as there is bit of a love story involved he does break open with a few sentences in some scenes but most of the acting is done via the eyes, expressions etc, at least for him.  The other characters talk normally throughout the film.  The cinematography is great with its use of lighting which makes me think that it would look great in black and white for that real contrasty look.

Essentially the story is about a Driver (Ryan Gosling) who is naturally very good at what he does and that is drive.  He hires himself out as a getaway driver for crooks who want the best chance money can buy to escape from the scene of the crime.  Driver helps out and starts falling for Irene (Carey Mulligan) but then finds out that her husband “Standard” (Oscar Isaac) is just about to be released from jail for a heist he pulled that went wrong.  The husband gets forced to pull off another job and the driver agrees to drive for him to ensure a getaway.  What they do not realise is that they have been setup.  It’s a fairly standard storyline but just played out well.

Right at the opening we see that quiet confidence break through as we see a getaway in action at night but don’t expect extreme Hollywood stunt driving here but just good realistic driving that you would expect in real life as he tries to steer away from the police.  This grows in intensity as the movie progresses but from watching the movie you get a feeling that the movie isn’t about getting the best driving stunts, but rather the characters and circumstances.  

Overall it is a really good movie that has some impressive driving and performances.  The story (even though it follows a familiar line) keeps you in, has good moments of suspense and a real neo-noir feel to it.  There are some brutal scenes in the movie and unfortunately a decent dose of swearing but stuff which probably isn’t out of character for the crooks involved.  It’s well worth watching in my opinion especially if you like the heist type of film that involves some great driving moments that feel real as opposed to those that make use of CGI.

The bluray reviewed is the Australian release and can be bought for a reasonable price.  The image is in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and is in pristine condition and the audio is right up there to match it in its 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio flavour which makes the movie shine.  The bluray is a bit slim on extras and contains the following:

• Cast and Crew Interviews
• Behind the scenes of Drive

Overall, this is a great movie that has the driving, acting, story and thrills you would expect to see from a heist/getaway film like this but it does it with a sense of realism that suits the style of film.  Highly Recommended.

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The 39 Steps (1939)

[a flock of sheep block the road as the car screeches to a halt]
Richard Hannay: Hello, what are we stopping for? Oh it's a whole flock of detectives.

Director:  Alfred Hitchcock
Producer:  Michael Balcon, Ivan Montagu
Main Cast:  Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll
Runtime:  86 minutes

Alfred Hitchcock had a few different stages throughout his career being the British silent film era in the 1920’s, British sound years in the 30’s and then the Hollywood years of the 40’s through to the 70’s. Whilst many can say they have seen his latter classics such as Rear Window, North by Northwest and Vertigo, fewer would have delved into his British classics that really formed his career such as the silent film “The Lodger” (1927) or more specifically during the peak of his British years being the 1935 hit called “The 39 Steps” and “The Lady Vanishes” (1939) both of which are top notch films of the era.

One consistent flavour that Hitchcock has across the vast majority of his films is that he puts the ordinary man into extraordinary circumstances and this is no exception here in “The 39 Steps”.  Richard Hannay (Robert Donat) plays an ordinary Joe who goes to the theatre which has a guest called Mr Memory who, as you would guess, has an amazing ability to memorise things. On the way home from the show Richard gets caught up with a Miss Smith (Lucie Mannheim) who encourages Richard to take her home to his place.  He finds out that she is a spy and later that night she ends up dead and the police start the hunt for Richard whom they think murdered Miss Smith.  This begins a double cat and mouse chase with Hannay trying to find the truth of who murdered Miss Smith and the bad guys chasing Hannay.  Along the way Richard gets tied up with Pamela (Madeleine Carroll) an innocent bystander and now the bad guys are after them both and the race begins. What is the 39 Steps and why is it so important?

There is a good reason why this movie is listed in the book “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die”.  It is vastly different from typical Hollywood ventures and has a real British feel to it with a mix of suspense and comedy that is pulled of surprisingly well even if parts feel a little farfetched (the chance of someone getting caught up in such a circumstance).  Seeking for realism, there is a sequence where the two main characters are handcuffed to one another so to get the two actors accustomed to it Hitchcock apparently cuffed them together and after a while claimed that he lost the key and as a result the actress ended up getting blisters on her wrists!  Something you would certainly not hear of today (not saying I condone it!).  It’s a movie that gets you in fast and due to its fast pace it holds your interest though in some ways it feels a tad rushed but that adds to the urgency of the characters need to find the truth about these 39 Steps.

Acting is performed well and is well scripted in order to keep you in.  Overall I would rate it as being the best of Hitchcock’s British period followed by The Lady Vanishes (1939) and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and well worth seeing.  I have yet to see the 1959 remake but I have seen the more recent BBC remake and whilst that its good it didn’t have the same impact on me compared to the original Hitch version.

The Bluray reviewed is the UK version which will work in Australian players.  There is a more expensive USA Criterion edition however that will not work in Australian players (unless you have a region free bluray player) and it contains more extras however you are paying a lot more for what is essentially the same image quality.

The UK bluray has good image quality, though it needs to be understood that this is a 1939 film and it can therefore only be as good as the original print, so don’t expect very sharp images.  Its in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio and looks good though I am sure it would look better if a full restoration had been done, but nevertheless it is good as long as your not expecting pristine quality. The audio is only in 192 kbps mono so no different to what a DVD would spit out (unlike the Criterion which has uncompressed mono in something like 1152 kbps) and can sound a bit inconsistent but I have certainly heard worse and to be honest unless a full restoration was performed it probably wouldn’t make a huge difference in uncompressed audio, though having it would be ideal seeing this is a bluray.

The disc also comes with the following extras:

• Feature length audio commentary
• Art of Film video feature ‘Hitchcock: The Early Years’
• Lux Radio Show Audio Feature (audio only)
• Stills Gallery
• Posters and Publicity material

Overall this is a great movie that just shows Hitchcock’s skill at movie making in 1935 knowing that even to this day other remakes pale in comparison.  If you are keen to experience an early pre-Hollywood Hitch film, this is the first place to go, in my opinion.  It has that British Hitch touch of humour mixed with suspense and is well worth the ride!  Highly Recommended.

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50 Years of Hitchcock

Many have heard of the name Alfred Hitchcock and if asked his 1960 film Psycho would likely come to mind. However, did you know that his first movie called “The Pleasure Garden” was released in 1925 during the silent era?  His first big hit was “The Lodger” from 1927 (still in the silent era) and his final film called "Family Plot" was released in 1976.  During those 50 years a total of 53 movies where made by him which is something very few others, if any, have achieved.

Unlike many, Hitchcock successfully migrated from the silent era to sound films however he did that whilst still being a silent filmmaker at heart which is why many of his films could communicate suspense and feel without relying upon the need for sound or talking.  In other words the addition of sound was used to enhance the film not the focus of it.  For example, his first sound film “Blackmail” from 1929 (made in both silent and sound versions as not all cinemas had made the conversion) has some great uses of sound that is used to give greater insight into what is going through the mind of one of the main characters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvlyQaJbJgs.  Remember this was the very beginning of the sound era in filmmaking.

The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes, Rebecca, Notorious, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, The Birds, The Man Who Knew Too Much and North by Northwest are just a few of his films that have received quite a lot of attention since being made more readily available through DVD/Bluray etc.  In fact, in 2012 his 1958 film “Vertigo” (a flop at the time it was released) was, in Sight & Sound’s 10 yearly critics vote, voted the best film ever made but even if many wouldn’t agree the fact that it is up there is certainly noteworthy.

If you haven’t seen many or any of his films, I can only recommend that you give them a shot as he was really quite skilful at making a good movie.  My personal top 10 Hitch films would be:

1. North by Northwest (1959) – starring Cary Grant, Grace Kelly and James Mason.  
   This is a classic wrong man spy adventure film that easily sits in my top 10 movies of all time. With the combination of mystery, suspense and comedy it is quite similar in a way to his 1939 hit “The 39 Steps”.
2. Rear Window (1954) – starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly.
   We have a man in plaster (due to a broken leg) bound to his flat which backs onto a courtyard surrounded by other flats. Naturally when you look out your window you look into the lives of other people, places that are not yours. What if you thought you saw something terrible happening in one of your neighbour’s flats?  Would you investigate?
3. Vertigo (1958) – starring James Stewart, Kim Novak and Barbara Bel Geddes.
   This is a film that is easily a masterpiece and wouldn’t be too hard to slip into the number 2 position.  Former police officer (Scottie) is asked by a friend to follow his wife (Madeleine) as she has been acting quite strangely and not remembering where she has been going during parts of the day.  Why does she look at the grave of someone who lived and died many years ago and why does she sit and stare at one particular portrait in the art gallery?  So much mystery!
   I did review this movie a while back here http://filmferret.blogspot.com.au/2016/07/vertigo-1958.html
4. Notorious (1946) – starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains.
   This film will get you in with its spy intrigue from the start.  It is very Noir like in the way it feels and looks yet the classic Hitchcock touch doesn’t get sacrificed as a result.  It is a very well-made film and it’s not surprising that this often gets brought up in the list of spy thrillers.
5. The 39 Steps (1935) – starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll.
   This is one of his early films that was one of six suspense/thrillers in the latter years of his time in England.  An ordinary man caught up in a spy intrigue that leads him to various places in England and Scotland trying to find the meaning of “the 39 steps”. It also has some great comedy play between the two leads that adds to the fun of this great classic.
6. Psycho (1960) – starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh.
   I don’t think there would be too many who would not know of or at least heard of Psycho. Made on a very small budget and shot (unusually) in beautiful black and white that suits the film to a “T”, this film also made a heap at the box office.  Strict rules were also enforced by Hitchcock on cinemas not to let people in after the movie had started and it paid off big time.  The result was a movie that spawned three sequels, a shot by shot remake in 1998, that start of a TV series (which failed) in 1987 and now a new 5 season series (modernised) that leads up to the 1960 film.  
7. The Man Who knew too much (1956) starring James Stewart and Doris Day.
   This is actually a remake of the Hitchcock’s own 1934 classic that he made whilst in England.  The scene in Royal Albert Hall is retained (though I think much better in the 1956 than the original) as is the general plot but it is also 45 minutes longer which allows some greater depth (the original is fast paced and stars Peter Lorre and some class that as the better version) in the story.  Some great acting and suspense makes this easily hit the top 10 for me.  You also get to hear Doris Day sing!
8. The Birds (1963) starring Rod Taylor and Tippi Hedren.
   Another classic that still stands well today. This is not so much a thriller as it is a horror, almost apocalyptic in some ways.  For no real reason birds start an attack on people that causes all sorts of mayhem for a coastal town in California. Unusually, not just are we given no reason for it but the ending will not provide comfort either.  It was Hitchcock’s most daring film in that he wasn’t just dealing with actors but birds as well, and it contains some great effects that for 1963 are still really convincing for today.  A must see!
9. The Lady Vanishes (1938) starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave.
   With the majority of the film taking place on a train this would have been a task and a half to film.  Iris gets on a train and sits across from Miss Froy.  When Iris awakes Miss Froy is missing however no one else claims to have seen this Miss Froy and claims that Iris is going a little mad and the nasty knock on the head she got prior to getting on the train is causing her to have illusions.  Is Iris really imagining this?  Did she really see Miss Froy get on the train at all?  
10. Strangers on a Train (1951) starring Farley Granger and Robert Walker.
    Criss Cross.  From the opening of the movie you get this reoccurring idea of Criss Cross.  Two strangers, Bruno and Guy, meet on a train one day and each of them has someone in their lives that is causing a lot of grief.  Bruno (played by Robert Walker) makes the suggestion that they could swap murders which would therefore allow each of them to have alibis.  Guy dismisses the idea as a joke but Bruno follows through with the idea and then naturally wants Guy to follow through on his side of the deal.  

This is a hard list as the vast majority of his films are well made and really worth watching.  One film that just missed out on the top 10 was his first sound movie from 1929 called “Blackmail” (both a silent and sound version of the film was made as cinemas were still in the process of converting to sound, but I am referring to the sound version) which considering when it was made is actually a really well made and well thought out movie.  There are also plenty of others missing out such as Marnie (1964), I Confess (1953), To Catch A Thief (1955), Rope (1948), Shadow of a Doubt (1942), Rebecca (1940), Foreign Correspondent (1940), Dial M for Murder (1954), Suspicion (1941) and Torn Curtain (1966) that are highly regarded and well worth seeing.

Overall, this makes Alfred Hitchcock one of the most successful Directors we have ever seen and likely ever will see as his creative touch was something that has lasted the test of time and has influenced many other filmmakers in how they are shot but sadly few stand up to the original.  Do yourselves a favour and check out some of his great films.