Underplayed Gems

Drive My Car (2021)

Drive My Car poster
Original title
ドライブ・マイ・カー
Directed by
Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Genre
drama film
Country
Japan
Runtime
2h 59m
Rated
NR
Rating
7.4 of 10 from 1,511 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A theater director grieves the loss of his wife while working on a multilingual production of Uncle Vanya. He hires a young driver and they develop an unlikely bond during their drives.

introspectivemeditativemelancholicsubduedslow-pacedemotionally layeredquietly profoundhumanistic

What happens

Drive My Car (Japanese: ドライブ・マイ・カー, Hepburn: Doraibu Mai Kā) is a 2021 Japanese drama film directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Takamasa Oe. Based on Haruki Murakami's 2014 short story of the same name, it stars Hidetoshi Nishijima as a theatre director who directs a multilingual production of Uncle Vanya while dealing with the death of his wife. Reika Kirishima, Tōko Miura, Park Yu-rim, Jin Dae-yeon, Sonia Yuan, Ahn Hwitae, Perry Dizon, Satoko Abe, and Masaki Okada also star. Drive My Car had its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and won three awards, including Best Screenplay. The film received widespread critical acclaim with praise towards Hamaguchi's direction and screenplay; many declared it the best film of 2021. It was nominated for four awards at the 94th Academy Awards, winning Best International Feature Film, and received numerous other accolades. Drive My Car was the first Japanese film to receive a Best Picture nomination. It has since been called one of the best films of the 2020s and of the 21st century. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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