The first scene of Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011), has the audience following the main character on a fast paced, high suspense getaway scene. This first scene introduces the main character and his job as a getaway driver and creates a suspenseful hook to bring the audience into the film’s world. The scene starts out with a black screen. A man’s voice is heard in the background. The shot fades in to a map of downtown Los Angeles with words and annotations scrawled all over the page. The audience’s view is directed showing an over the shoulder shot of the main character.
The viewer is given no personal details about him, not even a name. We simply know him as the Driver. His blurred reflection can be seen in the window creating an air of mystery around him and further alludes to his anonymity. We hear him say over the phone, “you give me a time and a place, I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I’m yours. No matter what. Anything happens a minute either side of that and you’re on your own”. The camera pans left across the room showing a low lit, low rent apartment which alludes to the mystery of the scene.
The audience hears the Driver still talking on the phone offscreen. He walks back into the shot saying, “good. And you won’t be able to reach me on this phone again”. He punctuates his sentence by closing the phone and tossing it on the bed. He throws the duffle bag over his shoulder and walks out of the shot. We’re then introduced to Shannon. The shot then cuts to a medium shot of him smoking in a car garage. The Driver enters the scene and the two of them make small talk as they approach a car in the garage.
Shannon tosses him a key to a Chevy Impala and the Driver gets in the car. The audience is put back in the Driver’s point-of-view as the scene cuts to him driving in the city. Throughout this scene the audience rarely sees a direct clear shot of the driver. Often in this scene he is shown reflected in a mirror or a window. This creates the effect of mystery surrounding the Driver. He parks the car on the side of the road next to a building and an eye-line match from the drivers point-of-view follows two men wearing ski masks as they break into the building.
The Driver tunes in to the police radio signal while simultaneously turning up the radio volume to listen to a sports game. A police officer is heard reporting shots fired at the location over the radio. The first robber makes it out and jumps into the backseat of the car. Panic and suspense ensue as they wait for the second robber to make it back. A police officer reports that he is 2 minutes away from the location. The camera zooms in on the Driver’s face, he appears passive and unfazed.
Throughout the film the Driver has an air of passiveness and almost melancholy. This is illustrated especially in this scene as the Driver doesn’t panic even in a high stress situation. An eye-line match shot shows the Driver looking at the door for the second robber. He still isn’t there causing the suspense to climb for viewers. The second robber is seen fleeing the scene and makes it to the car on time as he closes the door and the Driver advances. The police officer is heard identifying the silver Impala as a suspect over the radio.
The Driver sees a police car up ahead and the viewer is put in his shoes through a point-of-view shot showing him swerving the car into a parking spot and switching off the car lights. The car sits there as the police car creeps ahead slowly and finally passes. The driver continues but as he makes it to the highway a helicopter appears above, it’s light shining around the area causing viewer suspense to increase. The helicopter locates the Impala and the Driver speeds up as the camera zooms in on the road. The camera’s increased focus on the road signifies the Driver’s increased focus and tension.
The Driver manages to escape the helicopters sight and the police avert their attention to a nearby gang shooting. The driver then pulls up to an intersection as a blurry car appears ahead. The camera focuses and it becomes clear to the viewer that the car ahead is a police vehicle. The police radio announces a possible sighting and suspense rises. The sports announcer’s voice becomes clearer seemingly announcing the Driver’s escape. The Driver loses the police car and pulls into a parking lot, exiting the car and throwing on a baseball cap.
His disguise allows him to disappear in a crowd of sports fans. He walks past a group of police officers pulling up to the parking lot and the screen fades to black. This particular scene serves as a very action orientated scene. It’s used to create suspense for the viewer and keep their interest. It also introduces the Driver as a mysterious main character who we almost see through the eyes of someone who employed him. He doesn’t involve himself in the robbery nor does he involve himself in any real sort of personal life. He’s shown as a passive main character. He just drives.