In an instant, Nicholas Winding Refn’s new film noir masterpiece " Desperate Driving " has been released for ten years.
Refn is unconventional. He concocted this seemingly familiar story to be both intoxicating and traumatic. It ushered in a major breakthrough in Hollywood. The film not only achieved great success in critics and business, but also made It has established a solid cooperative relationship with Ryan Gosling.
Although "Desperate Driving" is not well received in the general audience-CinemaScore score C-, but today, it is still regarded as a highly regarded classic, and has spawned many in the past 10 years Imitators, but few can really compare with them.
On the 10th anniversary of the release of Desperate Driving, it is a good time to savour the interesting behind-the-scenes highlights in this movie that you must have missed.
Although the production cost of "Death Driving" is very low and the budget is only 15 million US dollars, Refn and the production team have many interesting stories to tell during the birth of this film.
Here are 10 things you probably don’t know about "Death Driving"...
10. This movie was originally starring Hugh Jackman
2008, When this film based on James Salis’ 2005 novel "Desperate Driving" was first announced, it was not intended for Ryan Gosling or other actors of his type to star.
Believe it or not, Hugh Jackman will play the silent, unnamed driver at the time, with the goal of course to create a compelling commercial movie with his star appeal, not a niche movie.
Needless to say, if Jackman’s version continues to advance, the protagonist is likely to be significantly different from the driver Gosling eventually played.
No doubt,Jackman is a great actor, but it is clear that Gosling is more suitable for this condensed story.
9. Ryan Gosling only said 116 lines in the whole movie
The unknown driver played by Gosling seldom speaks in the whole movie, and many people may be like the protagonist. Taciturn and uncomfortable.
The driver spoke more through meaningful eyes rather than lengthy monologues. In the end, Gosling only said 116 lines in the 100-minute movie—almost one line per minute.
Even better is that Gosling only spoke a total of 891 words, with an average of only 7.68 words per sentence, again confirming how concise and concise his role is.
Gosling, as one of the hottest rising stars in the industry at the time, kept him silent for most of the movie. Director Nicholas Winding Refn is undoubtedly very bold, although not everyone can accept it. But this decision is indeed very effective.
8. Neither Nicholas Winding Refn nor the screenwriter Hossing Amini can’t drive
Although most of the plot of this movie is about cars, no matter the director Nicholas Winding Refn and screenwriter Horsin Amini do not drive in real life.
Refn said that after eight failed exams, he has not yet obtained a driver's license, and he has not much interest in cars, so there is no traditional car chase in this movie.
Producer Mark Pratt called this "a huge irony". The two most important creators of the film have never driven a car, but you will never know this from the film.
7. Irene was originally a Hispanic character
Except for Kerry Mulligan , it’s hard to imagine anyone who can play the driver’s lover Irene Gabriel,This role was originally designed for actresses of a completely different type.
According to Mulligan himself, the original script positioned Irene as a slightly older Hispanic woman named Irina, but after Mulligan completed the audition and surprised Refn, he reconsidered This role.
Mulligan had just won an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for his performance in " Growth Education". This may have helped Mulligan’s audition, and Refn’s wife also liked the movie. Suggest to let her play this role.
6. Ryan Gosling was allowed to choose the director (Refern almost messed up)
When Ryan Gosling signed to play the leading role, he also got the enviable power, he can do it himself Choose a director.
This is the first time in his career that he has received such a clause. In retrospect, he said that there was "no other choice" besides Refern.
However, when Refn went to see Gosling for the first time, he almost missed this opportunity.
When they met, Refn felt uncomfortable. Gosling felt that he was listless and uninterested, but when they took the car home, Refn began to sing with the fast carriage band on the radio, and then explained to Gosling The role of music in the movie.
Refn added that if the song is not shown on the radio at the right time, he may not be able to convince Gosling to let him direct the film.
5. The opening subtitles are inspired by "The Good Boy Is Crazy"
The shiny opening is one of the most visually unique places in the whole movie, which emerges from the gorgeous lens of the Los Angeles skyline Bright pink font.
Refn is a loyal fan of 80s movies. It is reported that this movie imitates the opening of the 1983 comedy classic "The Good Boy Is Crazy" starring Tom Cruise .
Similarly,The film begins with pink-purple text in the shots of the city landscape-but "Desperate Driving" is in Chicago, not Los Angeles.
These two movies even use similar music genres-"Death Driving" opens with Kevinsky's synth wave hit "Nightcall", and "The Good Boys Are Crazy" uses the legendary electronic band Orange Dream Original music.
4. The budget was cut from 60 million US dollars to only 15 million US dollars
The original "Desperate Drive" was originally conceived as a more commercialized, more commercial starring Hugh Jackman produced by Universal Pictures. For large-scale movies, the budget at the time was also much higher.
The initial budget of "Death Driving" was $60 million-as a reference, the cost of the first "Deadpool" was slightly lower than this price.
But after the film plan that Hugh Jackman starred in fell through, the more unique version of Revenn was taken over by FilmDistrict production company, and they only gave him a budget of $15 million-only 25% of the first version.
Therefore, the screenwriter Amini, who has been involved in the project, had to do a lot of rewriting to make the film fit the reduced budget.
3. Albert Brooks shaved his eyebrows to play Bernie Rose
Albert Brooks played the cold Jewish gangster Bernie Rose in the film, presenting him so far The most acclaimed performance, this role is very different from Brooks's typical comedy style, so it won a lot of awards (unfortunately, he was not nominated for an Oscar).
In order to appear colder, Brooks made a very simple gesture and subtly changed his appearance-he shaved off his eyebrows.
However, you may easily overlook this when watching a movie. After all, Brooks himself and his tone of voice are already very noticeable, but shaving the eyebrows is indeed a smart trick, which inexplicably makes Bernie feel difficult to approach.
2. The opening song "Nightcall" is recommended by the editor Matthew Newman
As mentioned earlier, the opening of "Death Driving" adopts Kevinsky’s classic song "Nightcall",This song perfectly set the tone for the whole movie.
Although Refn has proven his impeccable appreciation of film soundtracks during his career as a director, it was not his own idea to use "Nightcall" in the opening.
This song is actually suggested by film editor Matthew Newman. According to Refin, Newman is an expert in electronic music and will select music for him for his reference.
Refern went on to say that Newman was a "very good, close partner", and given that one of the most memorable episodes in the film is to be attributed to him, it is clear that Refern was really right. Newman is still Refn's trusted editor.
1. Originally planned to be directed by Neil Marshall
When the production of "Desperate Drive" in 2008 was first produced, Hugh Jackman was still the starring role, Universal Pictures found a completely different Genre directed by Neil Marshall.
Although Neil Marshall later directed the two most acclaimed episodes of "Game of Thrones" ("Blackwater" and "The Great Wall Watch"), he only made three low-cost genre movies at the time-"" The Shining Warrior, " Dark Assault" and "Doomsday Assault".
Although Marshall has achieved certain success with these films, it is difficult to imagine what qualities Universal Pictures chose him to direct "Desperate Driving". In addition to the difference in cast and budget, Marshall's film tone is obviously completely different from Refn's.
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