The Driver

Sparse Urban Magnificence.

The Driver is written and directed by Walter Hill. It stars Ryan ONeil, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani and Ronee Blakley. Music is by Michael Small and cinematography by Phillip H. Lathrop.

A determined cop pursues an enigmatic getaway driver through the crooked streets of Los Angeles

Its most amusing to now be able to look back at some of the reviews for The Driver back on its initial release. Without wishing to sound like a smarty pants myself of course, but some of them simply didnt get it, they didnt understand that Ryan ONeils character was meant to be one note, unreadable and dissociated from society. There is a reason that the principal characters dont have names, they are simply known as The Drive...

www.noiroftheweek.com

This week we take a look at the intense neo-noir, The Driver. Directed by Walter Hill, this cold neo is a perfect example of how film noir evolved into experimental crime films in the 1970s.

No doubt inspired by Le Samourai which itself was inspired by This Gun For Hire, The Driver is a cold, lean piece of pure cinema. A night time world of criminals and angry cops.

Film noir isn't known for car movies, but there are some great moments of criminals "on the lam" living and dying in cars. Gun Crazy and the recent Criterion release of They Live By Night have some hypnotic crimes taking place with the point of view from inside the car looking out. The point of view draws the viewer into the driver's perspecti...

I love Hill's stuff, I think the car chase sequence is great and how Hill captures a city's landscape is amazing ( 48 hrs (my favorite) and The Warriors has that trademark as well.)

This is probably more famous for having characters without names. Ryan O'Neal being the eponymous character whose getaway antics bring him to the attention of the pretty seedy detective Bruce Dern. What ensues is rather minimalist adventure film - I couldn't quite call it a thriller - depicting people without much of a moral compass living in surroundings that merely appear to legitimise their behaviour; regardless of upon which side of the law they sit. Great car chases, though - the pace certainly doesn't hang about - and both O'Neal and Dern are very much on form with the sheer force of the personality doing much of their acting for them. Isabelle Adjani features a bit too sparingly for me, her character had more to offer I thought, but ...