For the past twenty years, Edgar Wright's films have come as more than a welcome refreshment in the sea of
a commercial films of Hollywood production that, without any effort, reproduces one and the same pattern of films whose conventional determinants are so fixed that there are no significant differences between them. When it comes to the plot, the type of characters and their motivation, every comedy, action movie or a horror is similar to other within the genre: flat, simplified and predictable. We have already embarked on these escapist-style films based on one-dimensional cartoon characters, their dialogues and troubles in which they fall in order to smile, scare or fascinate us.
But not only the content of a commercial film is problematic but also the way it is displayed. The entire spectrum of film assets, both visual and sound, is reduced to several basic solutions, the purpose of which is not enriching and developing the language of the film and its message, but to fill empty space of the presentation of the already flat scenarios. This absence of camera, montage, music and, ultimately, a director's signature in the sea of
equal films, often banishes the entertainment industry into fascinatingly obscene dimensions. However, there are filmmakers who defend the face of this industry and among them is surely the English director Edgar Wright who created some of the most entertaining films (the cult Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy) in recent years combining the conventional elements of the industry with a personal, now very recognizable style.
What distinguishes the signature of Edgar Wright is the attention he focuses on the visual and auditory aspect of the film. Camera, music, editing (remember only the quick short cuts in Hot Fuzz) engage in creating a story and achieving the desired atmosphere. Simply put, Wright uses various possibilities of film language, and that's exactly within the genres that have long ago written off those options. This year, he made a similar step forward with his new, action movie - Baby Driver
Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a young getaway driver, or a driver whose task is to take the robber from the crime scene to a safe zone. Although he is the best in this business, he does not enjoy it because serious criminals who are concerned about his safety are not his type. However, Baby has no choice because, for several years, he stole the cars in the desire to have only a good drive, but did not know that the car owner, Doc (Kevin Spacey), was a big head in the world of crime. Doc forces a talented driver to take part in his robbery campaigns until he pays for the stolen car. Baby executes his tasks impeccably because with a real musical rhythm he can perform whatever it takes to get away from the forces of order.
In a car accident in which he lost his parents, Baby's hearing was partially damaged, causing him unpleasant noise. Therefore, through his life, he is guided by the music he constantly hears: it diminishes his trauma, occupies his thoughts and alleviates loneliness. But just when things need to go better, because the debt repayment is nearing an end and he is getting to know a girl named Deborah who likes him (Lilly James), Doc does not intend to drop him so easily.
As we already mentioned in the introduction, Wright chooses a commercial genre (with all the features it possesses), and then adds some new elements to it and his own ideas that make the convention fresh and entertaining. In this case, the action movie adds music, not only as a fun and cool leitmotif for watching, but a trigger and a constituent element of the film's action. The carefully selected songs do not only trigger the traumatized Baby, but the film as a whole, so that the fantastic rhythm of music, as Damien Chazelle would not be ashamed of, looks at the rhythm of the steps and the dialogue of characters to the fascinatingly synchronized shooting scenes.
And while music literally gives the rhythm of the film, Bill Pope's camera follows this tempo. Bearing in mind that, according to Edgar Wright's previous practice, he has almost never used digital recording technology,and driving scenes are more than convincing and fascinating, and I am really interested in how they managed to do it. Rare are so persistent directors (and they rarely can afford it) in classical film technology in recent years, especially when action films are in question. The nature of the incredible road swing that has been accomplished is for every compliment. But with a reduced dose of adrenaline, the camera, especially during the movement of characters, moves with them lively and agile, engaging the audience's attention in the rhythm of the background music.
Note: this was my tranaslation from croatian to english from Ziher hr 'Manjkavosti preko kojih se ne može preći', M.Ban.
