Drive My Car (2021)
(Doraibu mai kâ, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Japan 2021, 179 min., DCP, Japanese w/subtitles)
Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s latest film is expanded from a short story by Haruki Murakami. Stage actor Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is married to television writer Oto (Reika Kirishima) in a somewhat dispassionate marriage. The only outlet seems to be their lovemaking, when Oto tends to write her best scripts. When tragedy strikes, Kafuku is left with lingering questions and unresolved conflict. Later, when he is invited to direct Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima, Kafuku is confronted by his past in the form of Koji (Masaki Okada), a disgraced young actor. Forced to take on a chauffeur due to a previous accident, Kafuku spends the hourlong drive listening to the recording of the play his wife made for him before her death—never able to escape the past while trying to move forward in his life. Winner of the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival, this film is Japan’s official entry into the Best International Film Oscar category.