If there’s one way to describe director Nicolas Winding Refn (Pusher, Valhalla Rising, Bronson), it’s violent. Maybe not the director himself, but his filmography? Definitely. But what’s impressive about Refn, is his uncanny ability to find art in the violence, and create a string of films which mean so much more (if you can make it past the skull-crushing and gut-tearing).

Refn was recently awarded the Best Director prize at Cannes for his latest film, Drive, starring Ryan Gosling, whom Refn described as the man of the year, someone with “…the range. The quality, in terms of his acting abilities, of how he goes from one extreme to the other extreme; I certainly don’t know of anyone who’s done that ever.” The pair are already working on another two films together, Only God Forgives and Logan’s Run. So this year, with Gosling, comes a great director, so we may just be looking at man of the year times two.

The Underground: What was it like working with Ryan?
Nicolas Winding Refn:We had, as we say in the movies, ‘the beginning of a beautiful friendship’. And now we’re working on two more movies. I can’t describe it, we just clicked.

TU: How long did that take?
NWR: Four and a half hours [laughs]. We had dinner in L.A., and then he drove me home.

TU: Was he a good driver?
NWR: He was a very good driver. A very safe driver.

TU: In Drive, was it intentional for you for Driver to be so silent? What were your instructions to Ryan?
NWR: Keep all your emotions inside, because the driver only talks when he has something to say. But he says it with his eyes. When you don’t talk, you become more dangerous, mysterious, romantic and beautiful in a way. It’s all about the aura. Keep all the energy inside and make it come through your eyes. He’s such a smart actor, and automatically gets it and saw how he could create a character out of it.

TU: Your movies often have a lot of violent imagery, how do you keep from crossing the line and not becoming too gratuitous?
NWR: Because violence is like sex. You can’t get enough and as long as the buildup is right, it will always pay off.

TU: The music complements the film perfectly, and music and driving often go hand in hand. How important was it for you to get that right? How involved were you with music selection?
NWR: A hundred per cent. Because I wanted an electronic score, but I wanted a European score… early 80’s, Eurovision, [when] pop was at its peak. So I thought it was interesting taking that sound that was very feminine and to combine that with masculinity and an American mythological masculine hero. So you had feminism and masculinity within the same image.

TU: You just recently won the Best Director prize at Cannes. And now there’s a lot of Oscar buzz.
NWR: Awards are great; it’s always nice to [receive] something that’s a contribution to what you do. You shouldn’t make movies because of it, because then you’ll be very disappointed. But it’s always nice when people like what you create.

TU: Drive doing well in Cannes is impressive, because American films don’t often succeed there.
NWR: When they chose Drive for competition, it was pretty wild, like, ‘Wow, ok, cool!’ How much can you ask for? But then when I won the award for best director, which was the award to win, and everybody told me so afterwards, you’re more like, ‘WOW…Fuck.’

Coming into Hollywood, I knew all the horror stories. And I never had ambitions to go into Hollywood; it’s not something I wanted. But the situation and meeting with Ryan led to some kind of belief that it was going to be ok. Now I am not the best filmmaker in the world despite what Cannes says…but the kind of films I make, I am the best filmmaker, so I can only make that kind of a movie. And I was in a situation where I had the protection of the star. Ryan Gosling was the star; he had the power to choose who had to direct this film and who had script approval and he protected me so I could make the film I wanted to make. Because that’s what he wanted and vice versa. So I was very comfortable. If I didn’t have that shield around me, my driver gear around me, I don’t think I would’ve been the right choice… so it was circumstantial.

TU: The movie was a very 80s, B-movie style film, and Ryan mentioned it was very John Hughes inspired. How conscious of that were you?
NWR: Well it was, because I grew up with John Hughes. I was young in the 80s when he was huge and making his films. Films like Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink were very much part of my upbringing. I had talked with Ryan a lot about [that] and how they were part of my understanding of being a teenager, falling in love and love at first sight, all those things, which is what the whole love story was about.

Be sure to check out Drive, in theatres now.