Drive My Car

Eigentlich dachte man, dass der existenzialistischen Traurigkeit von männlichen Künstlerfiguren nichts mehr abzugewinnen sei. Hamaguchi Ryūsuke aber findet in der Murakami-Haruki-Vorlage, die er hier adaptiert, tatsächlich neue und bewegende Nuancen des altbekannten Typus: Theatermacher Yusuke verliert seine Frau inmitten einer Beziehungskrise und bricht mitsamt seines roten Saab 900 zu einem Gastspiel nach Hiroshima auf. Dort inszeniert er ein Stück und wird von der schweigsamen Chauffeurin Misaki in seinem Auto herumgefahren. Sanft entsprießen der Verlassenheit der Figuren menschliche Nähe und wertvolle Gedanken über den Sinn der Kunst. (Patrick Holzapfel)

2021 has been an annus mirabilis for Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who has premiered two feature films, both very different, both equally masterly. After the thematically connected triptych of WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY, Hamaguchi delves into more expansively novelistic territory, although the source is a short story by Haruki Murakami.
An extended preface introduces us to a Tokyo couple, actor and director Yusuke and screenwriter Oto, whose penchant for erotic storytelling hints at possibilities that will continue to trouble Yusuke. Two years later, he arrives in Hiroshima to direct Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at a theatre festival and is assigned a young woman named Misaki as his driver. After a troubled rehearsal process and Yusuke’s problems with a troublesome young actor, Yusuke and the initially reserved Misaki begin to communicate.
A three-hour running time allows Hamaguchi to unspool a subtly, densely patterned narrative to maximum effect, with Chekhov’s drama subliminally resonating as a background subtext. Quietly moving, intellectually involving, DRIVE MY CAR is arguably the most mature and most elegant drama of 2021. (Jonathan Romney)

Ryūsuke Hamaguchi: SOLARIS (2007), PASSION (2008), THE DEPTHS (2010), SHINMITSUSA (2012), TOUCHING THE SKIN OF EERINESS (2013), HAPPY HOUR (2015), ASAKO I & II (2018), WIFE OF A SPY (2020), WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY (2021)