Drive My Car | Awards
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi | 2021 | Japan | (MA15+) AUS | (M) NZ
Based on a story by Haruki MURAKAMI.
WINNER of Best International Film: OSCARS | ACADEMY AWARDS 2022
WINNER of 9 Japanese Academy Awards incl; Best Picture & Best Director
WINNER of Best Picture Non-English Language: Golden Globes 2022
WINNER of Best Foreign Language Film: Critics’ Choice 2022
WINNER of Best Picture Non-English Language: BAFTAS 2022
WINNER of Best Asian Film: AACTA: Australian Academy of Cinema & TV Arts Awards 2022
WINNER of Best Screenplay: Cannes Film Festival 2021.
WINNER of the Fipresci Prize: Cannes Film Festival 2021.
WINNER of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: Cannes Film Festival 2021.
WINNER of Best Film: APSA 2021.
WINNER of Best Screenplay: APSA 2021.
WINNER of Best Director: National Society of Film Critics 2022.
WINNER of Best Screenplay: National Society of Film Critics 2022.
WINNER of Best Actor: National Society of Film Critics 2022.
WINNER of Best Film: National Society of Film Critics 2022.
WINNER of Best Film: New York Film Critics Circle 2021.
WINNER of Best Foreign Feature: New York Film Critics Online.
WINNER of Best Film: LA Film Critics Circle 2021.
WINNER of Best Screenplay: LA Film Critics Circle 2021.
WINNER of Best Film: Toronto Film Critics Association 2022.
WINNER of Best Screenplay: Toronto Film Critics Association 2022.
WINNER of Best Foreign Film: Toronto Film Critics Association 2022.
WINNER of Best International Film: Austin Film Critics Awards 2022.
WINNER of Best Screenplay: Austin Film Critics Awards 2022.
WINNER of Best Foreign Film: Washington D.C Film Critics Assoc. 2021
WINNER of Best International Film: Georgia Film Critics Awards 2022.
WINNER of Best Picture: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2021.
WINNER of Best Director: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2021.
WINNER of Best Screenplay: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2021.
WINNER of Best Actor: Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2021.
WINNER of Best Foreign Film: Chicago Film Critics Association 2021.
WINNER of Best Foreign Film: St.Louis Gateway Film Critics Association.
WINNER of Best International Film: Gotham Independent Film Awards.
WINNER of Best Foreign Film: Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics.
WINNER of Best Foreign Film: Alliance of Women Film Journalists.
WINNER of Best Picture: Seattle Film Critics Society 2022.
WINNER of Best Director: Seattle Film Critics Society 2022.
WINNER of Best Screenplay: Seattle Film Critics Society 2022.
WINNER of Best Picture Non-English Language: Seattle Film Critics 2022.
WINNER of Best Picture Non-English Language: Online Film Critics Society 2022.
WINNER of Foreign Language Film of the Year: London Critics Circle Film Awards 2022.
WINNER of Screenwriter of the Year: London Critics Circle Film Awards 2022.
Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theatre festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to drive his car. In between rides, secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions will be unveiled.
SYNOPSIS
Based on the Haruki Murakami story.
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s DRIVE MY CAR charts a winding road trip through love, loss, truth and peace.
Two years after his wife’s unexpected death, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a renowned stage actor and director, receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya at a theatre festival in Hiroshima. There, he meets Misaki Watari (Toko Miura), a taciturn young woman assigned by the festival to chauffeur him in his beloved red Saab 900.
GALLERY
QUOTES
★★★★★ a profoundly beautiful film.
-Daily Telegraph-
★★★★★ It is an engrossing and exalting experience.
-The Guardian-
★★★★★ It feels as expansive as the whole world.
-Washington Post-
★★★★★ It’s beautiful in every conceivable way.
-San Jose Mercury News-
★★★★★ Drive My Car is one of 2021’s best films
-MovieFreak.com-
★★★★★ …vehicular poetry of the sorrow from which we run, the collisions that awaken us, and the healing gained from every bump in the road.
-Rogerebert.com-
★★★★★ One of the year’s finest films, set at ‘Uncle Vanya’ rehearsals and behind the wheel of a Saab.
-Chicago Tribune-
★★★★★ Head-spinning in its psychological scope and dramatic sweep.
-Little White Lies-
★★★★☆ so precise and delicate, you won’t notice the gear-changes.
-Empire Magazine-
★★★★☆ This is a supremely confident piece of film-making.
-The Observer- (UK)
★★★★☆ Few recent films have demanded to be seen in a cinema as much as this Japanese heartbreaker.
-The Times- (UK)
In this quiet masterpiece, Hamaguchi considers grief, love, work and the soul-sustaining, life-shaping power of art.
-The New York Times-
…a masterpiece – haunting and true, melancholy and wise.
-LA Times-
Adapted from a story.. by Haruki Murakami, this highbrow road movie is an absorbing, technically assured piece of work with poetic depths and novelistic ambitions.
-Hollywood Reporter
…a masterpiece, a mysteriously enthralling creation that keeps you guessing about where it’s going, then reveals its essence with astonishing clarity.
-Wall Street Journal
The movie is tender like a rainstorm.
-Time Magazine
From such a minor premise does a mighty film grow, one so absorbing and enigmatic..
-Toronto Star
The one film that demands to be seen on a big screen this year.
-Globe and Mail
The film’s essence is the continuity of art and life, and the playwright’s reflections merge with the characters’ confessional monologues to fill cityscapes and rural vistas with their grand passion.
-The New Yorker-
Hidetoshi Shinomiya’s cinematography makes a trip to the dump look poetic. The entire ensemble is remarkable.
-Irish Times-
..a rich, skilfully layered masterwork with flawless performances and a script that is a screenwriter’s holy grail.
-The Playlist-
.. a hell of a ride, the red Saab riding through the landscape like a beating heart, taking viewers along a journey that they won’t soon forget.
-Slash Film-
I can’t think of any contemporary directors who have this much care and patience in creating illuminating characters like Hamaguchi.
-Screen Anarchy-
A perfect amalgamation of mood and meditation.
-The Indian Express-