Noir Genre Conventions in 'Drive'

Drive conforms to typical conventions of the Film Noir Genre.

Technical Codes
- The use of low key lighting casts a shadow on the protagonist's (Gosling) face when he is around the table with the woman, man and little boy. This showed the dual side of his character as the dialogue portrayed that he was helping to protect the family and he feels humbled by the relationship that the man has with his son, however, the high contrast caused by low key lighting implies that he will have to do bad things to achieve what he wants. This is later proved.

- There is a high angle shot from Gosling's view point whilst looking over the red-headed woman on the bed. This angle showed the authority and power hat Gosling had over the woman which also related to the Film Noir Narrative theme of 1950s gender politics as the man is showing dominance and control over the female.

- The director uses a shot of Gosling stepping back from high key lighting into total darkness of low key lighting . This is when he is in the bathroom after having killed the intruders, by stepping back into the low key lighting this suggests that he has done something bad and shows the flaws in his character. This contrasts from the former shadowed lighting to show how his character has developed in his flaws.


Characters
- The cynical protagonist in the text is Ryan Gosling (Driver). He is shown with a selfless personality as he risks his own safety in order to protect Irene (post-modern femme fatale).