Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Drive My Car

Drive My Car

Only Ryusuke Hamaguchi, with his extraordinary sensitivity to the mysterious resonances of human interactions, could sweep up international awards (including the Oscar for Best International Feature) and galvanize audiences everywhere with a pensive three-hour movie—presented in nine languages and adapted from Haruki Murakami stories—about an experimental staging of an Anton Chekhov play. With Drive My Car, the Japanese director has confirmed his place among contemporary cinema’s most vital voices. Two years after his wife’s unexpected death, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) arrives in Hiroshima to direct a production of Uncle Vanya for a theater festival and, through relationships with an actor (Masaki Okada) with whom he shares a tangled history and a chauffeur (Toko Miura) with whom he develops a surprising rapport, finds himself facing up to his emotional scars. This quietly mesmerizing tale of love, art, grief, and healing is ultimately a cathartic exploration of what it means to go on living when there seems to be no road ahead.

Film Info

  • Japan
  • 2021
  • 179 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • Japanese, English, Korean, Korean Sign Language, German, Mandarin, Tagalog, Indonesian, Malay
  • Spine #1136

Director-Approved Blu-Ray Special Edition Features

  • New 2K digital master, approved by director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • New interview with Hamaguchi
  • Program about the making of the film, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with actors Reika Kirishima, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masaki Okada, Park Yu-rim, Jin Dae-yeon, and others
  • Press conference footage from the film’s premiere at the 2021 Cannes International Film Festival
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by author Bryan Washington

New cover by Jason Hardy

Purchase Options

Director-Approved Blu-Ray Special Edition Features

  • New 2K digital master, approved by director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
  • New interview with Hamaguchi
  • Program about the making of the film, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with actors Reika Kirishima, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masaki Okada, Park Yu-rim, Jin Dae-yeon, and others
  • Press conference footage from the film’s premiere at the 2021 Cannes International Film Festival
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by author Bryan Washington

New cover by Jason Hardy

Drive My Car
Cast
Hidetoshi Nishijima
Yusuke Kafuku
Toko Miura
Misaki Watari
Reika Kirishima
Oto Kafuku
Masaki Okada
Koshi Takatsuki
Park Yu-rim
Lee Yoon-a
Kon Yoon-su
Jin Dae-yeon
Sonia Yuan
Janice Chang
An Fite
Ryu Jeong-eui
Perry Dizon
Roy Lucelo
Satoko Abe
Yuhara
Hiroko Matsuda
Yumi Eto
Toshiaki Inomata
Takashi Kimura
Takako Yamamura
Kaoru Komagata
Credits
Director
Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Cowritten by
Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Takamasa Oe
Based on the short stories “Drive My Car,” “Scheherazade,” and “Kino” by
Haruki Murakami
Assistant-directed by
Naoki Watanabe
Takamasa Oe
Edited by
Azusa Yamazaki
Music by
Eiko Ishibashi
Produced by
Teruhisa Yamamoto
Associate-produced by
Tamon Kondo
Lee Eun-kyoung
Executive-produced by
Kazuo Nakanishi
Yuji Sadai
Cinematography by
Hidetoshi Shinomiya
Lighting director
Taiki Takai
Sound operator
Kadoaki Izuta
Production designer
Seo Hyeon-sun
Set decorator
Mami Kagamoto
Costume designer
Haruki Koketsu
Hair and makeup by
Haruko Ichikawa

Current

Drive My Car: Grace Notes
Drive My Car: Grace Notes

Centered on a grieving theater director and his driver, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar-winning drama is a quiet meditation on the mysteries of communication, the flexibility of truth, and the search for honesty.

By Bryan Washington

Ryusuke Hamaguchi on the Importance of Watching and Listening
Ryusuke Hamaguchi on the Importance of Watching and Listening

In his speech at this year’s New York Film Critics Circle Awards ceremony, where Drive My Car received Best Film, the Oscar-winning director talks about cinema’s power to influence real life.