‘The Driver’ or — The Most Beautiful Night Time Movie Ever Made?
I distinctly remember watching Walter Hill’s ‘The Driver’ (1978) with my dad back in my early teens so knew it was a minimalistic, stripped down, neo noir thriller bookended by two excellent car chases. Ryan O’Neal was The Driver and Bruce Dern was The Detective chasing him. The only thing I couldn’t remember was if it was any good or not as my emotional memories of it seemed to be a mingling of both boredom and fascination at observing these icy cool characters move through nocturnal cityscapes. Curious, I thought I’d revisit it last night and find out.
The good news is that not only is ‘The Driver’ great, it’s absolutely outstanding!
Sure, the film deliberately withholds the action after its opening chase sequence but Hill’s script ensures that everything that follows is strictly in service of building the tension back up again so when it does explode at the end it’s a dizzying sensation of cathartic release. The entire film is a fantastic example of sustained tone, mood and atmosphere and the game of cat and mouse between the Driver and Detective is compelling and leads to a clear and definite ending, albeit with some suitable twists and turns along the way.
In this way ‘The Driver’ has a lot in common with the work of Jean-Pierre Melville, specifically his masterpiece ‘Le Samouraï’ (1967) where the emphasis is on cool men looking and remaining cool under any and all circumstances. With that in mind there’s also a heavy dose of Leone and Peckinpah here with Dern and O’Neal playing at cowboys and living by an outdated code. Although is this a one-sided game? The Driver knows his part but also knows playing games is dangerous. The Detective needs the game, is addicted and needs to keep the play-acting going which could be why he’s, ultimately, the one left holding the bag.
The action itself is as perfectly handled as the tension with the climactic car chase being one of the greatest put to film. But it’s not just the speed, the careening precision or the adrenaline rush of danger that makes the hairs stand on end but the mind-blowing visual beauty of it all because dear mother of god, ‘The Driver’s final car chase isn’t just incredibly thrilling but also indescribably aesthetically intoxicating.
It’s a dazzling kaleidoscope of gleaming headlights, towering skyscrapers of pixelated light soaring into inky black skies, flashing reds and blues and all seen by a camera blasting along the road just inches above the surface for the sensation of maximum speed. It’s easily one of the most visually arresting, exhilarating and simply down-right astonishing looking sequences I’ve ever witnessed.
‘The Driver’ fully deserves its cult reputation. It’s got a story that’s tight as a clenched fist on a steering wheel, a bucket-load of style and cool and with two of the finest car chases you could wish for. But it’s the beauty of it all, that stunning nocturnal cinematography that blows you through the wall as forcefully as any high-speed impact that floored me.
‘The Driver’ is ninety minutes of speed, tension and sparkling light. It’s like being shot through the head with a diamond bullet.
