“Because I’m A Scorpio”: The Main Idea Of the Film Drive (2011). Drive: The Meaning Of The Film, The Explanation Of The Ending, Analysis Of Plot, Similar Films.
Country: USA
Genre: Film Noir, Crime, Thriller
Year of production: 2011
Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks
tagline: “Some heroes are real”
Awards and nominations: Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival
“Drive” (original title Drive) – if not original, but quite a spectacular film about an honest guy who got involved in a bad story for the sake of a girl. The viewer has seen similar stories more than once, but here in the final there is some understatement, which gives the film a zest and leaves a pleasant aftertaste. Let’s try to figure out what the meaning of the film “Drive” is and what the director wanted to say with his work.
What is the movie “Drive” about?
Let’s start our analysis with a description of the movie “Drive”. So, the main character of the film is the Driver. The name of the guy is not called, however, this is not the essence of it. Most importantly, he is a true professional. The driver works in a car service, moonlights as a stuntman, performing complex stunts, and provides carrier services to various dubious personalities. He has his own principles. He doesn’t take a weapon, doesn’t ask for anything, waits no more than 5 minutes, never works with the same people twice.
Ryan Gosling played the title role of The Driver. Frame from the film.
The driver is a loner with no family or friends. The only person with whom the main character communicates is Shannon, in whose auto repair shop the Driver works. Shannon is unhappy with his financial situation, so he is going to put on an incredible racing show. He is confident in his boyfriend and the success of this event.
However, it takes money to grow. So Shannon turns to his friend, crime boss Bernie Rose, and asks him for $430,000 to buy a racing car. Bernie agrees to look at the Driver’s skills, after which he agrees to give Shannon 300,000 at 70% of future profits.
Meanwhile, the Driver has a chance encounter with his neighbor Irene. After that, he meets the girl with her son at the local supermarket. Her car broke down, and our hero drives her home. From this moment friendship begins. Irene wants to have the car repaired at the service where Driver works. The breakdown is serious, so Shannon asks the guy to take the girl home. Along the way, the Driver offers to show something interesting. He takes the girl and her son to a quiet place on the bank of a small river, where they spend the whole day together. After that, just friendship begins to develop into something more. The driver is often at Irene’s house, the girl’s son simply adores him, but one day everything changes.
Irene’s husband, nicknamed Standard, comes out of prison. He decided to give up to live with his wife and raise his son, but he is reminded of a debt on which interest is skyrocketing. In conclusion, the Standard was not touched, and now it’s time to pay the bills. To begin with, they beat him, next time they threaten to deal with his son.
To pay off his bills, Standard needs to rob a pawnshop. Having learned about the situation, the Driver agrees to help. In addition to them, a girl named Blanche is involved in the operation. However, everything does not go according to plan. Blanche brings out the bag containing the million dollars, but Standard is killed.
At a nearby motel, the Driver arranges a debriefing for the girl. However, armed men appear and kill Blanche. The guy cracks down on both and goes to the customer of the robbery – an Albanian mafia named “Cook”. He reports that the robbery was planned by Nino, Bernie Rose’s partner in the criminal business. The driver wants the money back to get out of the game, but he doesn’t realize that Nino has decided to rob some very serious people, and the guy and Shannon are the only ones who know about it.
The role of Irene was played by Carey Mulligan. Frame from the film.
A serious conversation takes place between Bernie and Nino, and the partners decide to clean up all the witnesses. Bernie kills the “Chef”, now Nino must remove the Driver. He sends to the house where Irene and the killer’s boyfriend live, but he does not cope with the work and dies at the hands of the Driver. Meanwhile, Bernie kills Shannon at the auto repair shop.
The guy understands that he will not be left alone, so you need to act. He tracks down Nino, pushes his car off a cliff, and drowns the mafia himself in the river. The driver contacts Bernie. He promises that, having received the money, he will not touch Irene and his son. Upon meeting, Bernie stabs the Driver in the stomach, for which he receives a retaliatory blow to the heart. The guy survives and drives away, leaving a bag of money next to the dead body. On this day, Irene knocks on the Driver’s door, but he is not at home. The next frame shows how the main character is driving along the night highway. Titles, final.
Ending explanation
In general, the meaning of the ending of the film “Drive” is quite transparent, but, moreover, ambiguous. According to the director’s idea, the picture ended with a happy ending, but based on the content, the main characters did not become happy in the direct sense of the word. In fact, each of them remained with his own. Irene will continue to live with her son, but now she has no hope that her husband will return from prison, because Standard was shot during a robbery.
Initially, she blamed the Driver for this, and even slapped him for it. However, at the end of Drive, she knocks on his door hoping to be opened. The driver could really become a great father for the boy, but there is one very serious “but” here.
Kaden Leos as Benicio, Irene’s son. Frame from the film.
Irene knew him as a sensitive and kind person, always ready to help. However, in the elevator, the Driver killed the killer sent by Nino in front of her eyes. At the same time, he not only killed, but literally trampled his face inside the skull. This does not fit at all with the image that the girl is used to seeing. The point is that she would hardly be able to forget this picture, so even having met with the Driver, there will be no happiness in this family.
The explanation of the Driver’s departure from the city at the end of the film also has a certain interpretation. Yes, he loves Irene and her son, while falling in love for the first time in his life. However, our hero retreated from the principles that he established for himself. As a result, he can no longer be the same, although he remained honest. He offered Irene to take the money so that she could leave and start a new life, but she refused. As a result, the Driver left a million next to the dead body. Personally, he does not need money, and he never thought about personal enrichment. This can be seen in the meaning of the film “Drive”.
For example, even at Shannon’s car service, he agreed to work for half the rate. However, living in the city with the girl he loves is beyond the powers of the Driver. Therefore, he chose the only thing he values, this is the road and speed.
Also, as an explanation for the ending of the film “Drive”, it can be assumed that the Driver decided that Irene had betrayed him. Perhaps offended by a slap in the face. In this case, the only satellites for him are also the road, the car and the speed. They have always been with him, and will remain as long as he lives.
The meaning of the movie “Drive”
Unlike the ending, the very essence of the film has a hidden meaning. There is a clear reference to the legend of the frog and the scorpion. The essence of this story is as follows. The scorpion asked the frog to take him across the river. She refused, arguing that the scorpion would sting her. He replied that if he stings, they will drown, but he does not know how to swim, and does not want to die. Thinking, the frog agreed. In the middle of the river, the scorpion still stung the frog. She screamed: “Why did you do this, because we will die?” He replied, “Because I am a scorpion.”
The driver wears a white jacket with a scorpion design. In the film, he does whatever he wants, albeit adhering to certain rules. However, he perfectly understands that Irene can sting at any moment. This is the key to the meaning that the director put into his work.
Frame from the film.
Movies similar to Drive
- Carrier (USA, 2002). Frank Martin hauls all sorts of cargo but never cares about the contents. Once he deviates from this rule, he is drawn into a deadly game.
- The Place Under the Pines (USA, 2012). Luke Glanton is a motorcycle stunt driver who makes a living doing various stunts. One day, he meets his ex-girlfriend and is about to start another life, but soon receives an offer to rob a bank.
- Companion (USA, 2004). One day, a killer gets into the taxi driver’s car, and now they travel together through the night streets, fulfilling orders. Now the taxi driver needs to try to save himself and the last victim.
- Leon (France, 1994). He is an illiterate hitman with his own code of honor. However, his life changes dramatically when a 13-year-old girl appears in it.
- Fast and Furious (USA, 2001). Brian is a police officer who has to infiltrate the Toretto gang, which is engaged in illegal street racing.
