1. A Fistful of Dollars (1965) to Drive (2011)
A Fistful of Dollars marked the first of the Three Dollars Trilogy by spaghetti western legend Sergio Leone. The film is responsible for lifting the now legendary Clint Eastwood to international prominence. The story is based on Akira Kurosawas Yojimbo, and practically everything in the narrative is borrowed from the Japanese film. The samurai attire and swords are swapped for revolvers, horses, and cowboy hats, which resulted in a stunning achievement that may even surpass the original. The films premise follows one of the most common spaghetti western tropes. It is about an unnamed nomad who enters a troubled town by the Mexican border. Two families practically own the town, and a fierce mafia-like rivalry between both wrecks havoc constantly. The nomad, nowadays referred to as The Man with No Name, originally found the possibility of earning some money through an elaborate con by joining both sides and manipulating each family into fighting each other. However, the nomad develops an attachment towards the townspeople and decides to end their misery. As he says himself to one of them: I knew someone like you once. There was no one there to help. My fascination towards Leones film is how the nomad is an enigma. He has no background. He speaks few words and expresses himself solely through chopped up, monotone dialogue. He represents mostly a folkloric hero, a symbol with a poncho, and one silent yet intense. His presence alone is enough to convince anybody that he is more of an emotionally reserved individual rather than a soulless entity, and his actions reaffirm this. He is practically a superhero. The formula in creating such a character is to display what distress he may have endured through his reactions to the present. No flashbacks. No character development. Pure reckoning in the present based on what may have countered in the past. Ryan Goslings character in Nicolas Winding Refns Drive follows the same formula. He is a stunt driver and part-time mechanic. At night, however, he works as a driver for criminals participating in heists and robberies. He establishes clearly that all he does is drive nothing more. Additionally, he rarely utters a sound, and his past is unknown. When he becomes emotionally attached to his troubled neighbor, however, he strikes in an extreme rampage against the mob, which has haunted her with lots of suffering. A noticeable feature of his is how he wears a jacket with a scorpion on its back. Refn has explained that it follows the tale of the scorpion and the frog. The scorpion asks the frog if he can help him cross a river on his back. The frog replies: okay, but promise that you wont sting me, to which the scorpion complies. However, on their way across, the scorpion stings him anyway and claims that he could not help himself; it is part of his nature. Perhaps the driver has gone through similar turmoil. Perhaps his life as a mechanic, stunt-driver, and criminal transportation are methods of him escaping his nature. How can somebody have such skills with weapons, driving, hand-to-hand combat, and most importantly killing without remorse? The driver must have done some horrid things in his past, but witnessing a new light has prompted him to run away from it very much like the scorpion tried when he was on top of the frog. At the end of the day, though, his past haunts him. It only took so much rattling before it erupted once more. Both characters are mysterious, yet the audience sympathizes with them. But why, really? They are killers, criminals, and uncharismatic. Why would anybody really want to be on their side? Because, at heart, both are good but with misguided intentions and methods. They are anti-heroes to the core, but unlike for example Bruce Wayne, these two are ones that the audience knows practically nothing about. They are superheroes without a dramatic need. All we can do is presume why it is that they find the need to help others. They are tragic heroes with the intention of finding an inner balance by improving their ways. Both characters are seen leaving the films setting before the credits start rolling. Perhaps their nomadic ways require them to move on from place to place in order to start anew, but their old habits die hard.
Which is better? Both films, in addition, have magnificent soundtracks. Ennio Morricones score is iconic, and Refns track selection is flawless. This decision is tough because I hold the directors, actors, and characters to a very high regard. But I must go with Drive the director is like the Ernest Hemingway of cinema. It is what he refuses to show that leaves a powerful mark. Leone had two more movies to show more of Clint Eastwoods The Man with No Name. Ryan Goslings character is a folkloric legend of his own right, and hopefully this is the last we see of him. A sequel to Drive, though, would be too tempting to ignore. What do you guys think? Is there anybody you guys would like to add? Please let us know in the comments!