As I was walking out of the theater after watching Nicolas Winding Refn's "Drive," I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. While there were many good scenes, such as the getaway scene at the beginning, the film as a whole felt very thin, as if I missed something. However, as I was driving on Brea Blvd. later that night, a U2 song called "Sometimes you can't make it on your own" came on the radio, which included a chorus with Bono and the Edge singing in falsetto. At that moment, heading south on Brea Blvd., listening to this dopey song, it felt like a scene from "Drive." I was instantly reminded of the numerous shots of the film's star, Ryan Gosling, driving along the streets of Los Angeles at night, the way the street lamps were lit and how the dashboard lights reflected off Gosling, all while cheesy synthpop played on the film's soundtrack.
Now I understood what the movie was trying to do. The director had created an atmosphere, a sense of locale that gives the audience a more sensory enjoyment of the film, such as when in a similar location, you are reminded of that specific film. Consider the opening scene of Woody Allen's "Manhattan," with the borough's skyline filmed in black and white with Gershwin on the soundtrack. There are probably many people who have Gershwin playing in their heads while crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan.
Another way to describe this sensation is how one can reminisce about a song. There are some songs I associate with a specific time and place, such as sitting in my apartment listening to Tom Waits' "Cold, Cold Ground" while attending Humboldt State University, looking out my window on a rainy night, surrounded by redwoods. Whenever I here that song, I think of that place, the smell of the damp, cold air, and whenever I find myself in similar surroundings, Waits' song will be playing in my head. That's the kind of impact "Drive" had on me as I drove away from the theater. I had such an assured sense of the environment created by the film, I could go beyond the specific location and music, free to add my own associations. Will this same feeling happen every time I drive around at night? Probably not. Did I wish I had that U2 song on my ipod so I could put in on repeat and continue driving that night down Harbor to the 91 west, on my way to the 110 north toward downtown LA? Yes. So whenever I here "Sometimes you can't make it on your own," I will think of "Drive" and going down Brea Blvd. (and Ryan Gosling's jeans).