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\nFollowing his projects \u201cValhalla Rising\u201d and \u201cBronson\u201d, Danish film director Nicolas Winding Refn today releases \u201cDrive\u201d in the UK. Winning the Best Director gong at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year (and just missing out on the Palme d\u2019Or prize), Drive \u2013 adapted from James Sallis\u2019s 2005 novel of the same name \u2013 is the story of an un-named driver (Ryan Gosling) \u2013 Hollywood stunt driver by day, criminal get away driver by night \u2013 who embarks on a friendship with girl-next-door, Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son. Set in modern day LA, the film is seeped in 80s nostalgia and plays like an innocent romance story until, roughly half way through, the pace jumps a gear and throttles towards break neck tension and extreme violence when Gosling\u2019s driver finds himself at the centre of a mafia hit job. Catching some time with the film\u2019s director, WONDERLAND quizzes Winding Refn on some of his 80s references and swiftly decide he is a man we would never want to make love to.<\/p>\nWhat is your earliest memory of film.<\/strong>
\nIt is the combination of a Smurfs movie and \u201cFat City\u201d by John Huston. I don\u2019t know about the Smurfs going on to be an influence, but \u201cFat City\u201d has certainly stayed with me ever since. It was the first movie I ever saw in the cinema.<\/p>\nAt what point did you decide to be a director?<\/strong>
\nI never did and I don\u2019t consider myself one. I just consider myself somebody that uses film to express their fetish or indulge their fetish. I just wanted to control the medium, that\u2019s all.<\/p>\nObviously “Drive” is dripping in 80s references \u2013 we wanted to see if we can guess some of the origins. Are the title credits at the beginning of the film a homage to Tom Cruise\u2019s \u201888 outing, \u201cCocktail\u201d?<\/strong>
\nNo. I stole the credits title design from the font of \u201cRisky Business\u201d [\u201983 \u2013 also a Tom Cruise film]. It looked cool and it was feminine which was always important. It\u2019s always important to counter between the very masculine and feminine.<\/p>\nIs the pulsating electro soundtrack in any way associated with 1986\u2019s \u201cTop Gun\u201d?<\/strong>
\nNo. Although probably, if I think about it, it could have Berlin \u201cTake My Breath Away\u201d, but that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\nAnd is the scene where the driver takes Irene for a drive down along the LA river with her son a reference to “Grease 2” (1982)?<\/strong>
\nAh, no. But I know they shot there.<\/p>\nWhat is the whole 80s influence about the movie?<\/strong>
\nIt wasn\u2019t intentional it\u2019s just I realised LA never left the 80s so I was stuck in the 80s. It\u2019s like I went into the Tardis and went back in time.<\/p>\nHow did you cast for the film?<\/strong>
\nI was very fortunate because Ryan had approached me about doing a movie together and that became \u201cDrive\u201d and after that most of the actors got in touch with me essentially offering themselves to be part of the film \u2013 which was terrific. I loved every minute of working with the Ryan and Carey and the cast. There was a lot of laughing. And a lot of crying.<\/p>\nWere some scenes difficult to direct?<\/strong>
\nNo. Very easy.<\/p>\nAnd when it comes to directing violence is that quite easy to direct as well?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s all about sex.<\/p>\nSex?<\/strong>
\nYes.<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s the correlation?<\/strong>
\nViolence has the same build up as sex.<\/p>\nWe try to keep the two separate ourselves… So what are your influences in film making?<\/strong>
\nIn general it depends on what I make. It\u2019s always individual. I start from scratch [with each project]. Ryan and I are doing a movie again at Christmas called \u201cOnly God Forgives\u201d which is an action movie. I don\u2019t know if it will be as violent as Drive as I haven\u2019t made it yet.<\/p>\nWhat is your favourite Mafia Movie?<\/strong>
\n\u201cThe Killing of a Chinese Bookie\u201d [1976, directed by John Cassavetes]. You have to see it to understand it. It\u2019s not particularly violent, but it is brilliant.<\/p>\nWhich 80s film do you wish you had directed?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t look at it like that, but “Sixteen Candles” [John Hughes 1984 romantic comedy] made a huge impression on me. It introduced me to cinema love which is the fake and uncomplicated illusion of love. <\/p>\nDrive is quite an edge of your seat feature \u2013 what do you personally do for an adrenaline kick?<\/strong>
\nI hang out with my family. That\u2019s pretty much a thrill ride! When you have two kids and wife it\u2019s all very hectic but it\u2019s beautiful. It makes everything else secondary and although it can be tiring, it\u2019s worth the agony.<\/p>\n
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