I have to admit, that while I had heard so many good things about this, I was a bit hesitant going to the cinema to watch it. It was the running time that was the thing that really was an issue. Also when it was playing to opposed to when I was able to go watch it. It finally happened the other day so here we go.

I would have watched this regardless but I reckon a lot of interest has been sparked - first the nominations (yes this was also nominated for Best Picture along best foreign picture, exactly like Parasite) and then the win. "Only" in one category but still well deserved. I was a bit surprised to see this be so sexual at the beginning, but it makes sense for the story overall, so if you don't mind there to be really short sexual scenes, you should not be bothered by them and enjoy the (tragic) story that unfolds afterwards.

Really well told, even if it takes its time and with a few twists and turns that you may not expect. But there is a lot of talking, especially while driving a car. Something that some people have made fun of I think, but that gives quite a bit of gravitas to the movie. And the story within a story also works and is almost seemless integrated within the other story.

It may still be a bit too long, but the story and the characters really make up for it.

'Drive my Car' by Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi is a complex and elegiac film about love and mourning, about art as a means of relieving personal trauma, about responsibility and about the persistence of pain. Well-written and fine acted, it has won several respectable awards at major international film festivals, and has been nominated for four Academy Awards. Paradoxically, however, Hamaguchi seems to have contracted a disease that is widespread among filmmakers in major American studios - the length of the film is almost three hours. In addition, to understand the psychology and behavior of the characters, it is good to have read Chekhov. The story of the film revolves around two performances with 'Uncle Vania', and without knowing the psychology of the characters in the play, viewers risk omitting facets of the film's heroes. It is a technique often used by Haruki Murakami (whose short story inspired the film) for whom quoting works of art is a way to build a suitable setting for the characters and to amplify their feelings. Viewers should therefore be advised: 'Drive My Car' is a film that offers a lot but requires active intellectual participation.

The long prologue introduces us to three of the four heroes of the film. Yusuke and Oto Kafuku are a couple of theater artists. He is an actor and stage director, she was once an actress but the tragedy of losing a little girl many years ago determined her to leave the stage and the screen. Becoming a screenwriter, she finds inspiration during the couple's sex parties, when, as if in a trance, she invents strange and romantic stories, which she reconstitutes with her husband the next day. Maybe to break the routine, maybe to complete her inspiration, Oto cheats on Yusuke with the young actor Koji Taaktsuki. A possible explanation between the two is prevented by the sudden death of the woman. Two years later (and after the late film's opening credits),Yusuke and Koji meet in Hiroshima, where the director puts on stage 'Uncle Vania' in a bold style with an international cast, and chooses his former rival for the lead role. It's a counter-casting, but not the only one. The two share the longing for the woman they loved, each holds a part of her in his memory and tries to overcome the pain and loss by understanding what is missing. A fourth character, Misaki Watari, appears, a young woman the age that Yusuke and Oto's daughter would have had if she had lived. Misaki will drive Yusuke's exotic red Saab car, as festival rules prohibit the director from driving it during his contract. There is a long process of mutual acquaintance between the mature man and the young woman. It is not just a coincidence that they could be father and daughter, and perhaps both are unconsciously looking surrogates. In each of their biographies there is a death for which they feel they have a share of responsibility, and only by helping each other will they be able to overcome.

The association with Chekhov is not accidental. Murakami is a complex writer, the characters he builds live dramas from which the writer, the reader and the viewer can extract thoughts about the meaning of life. The biographies intersect and influence each other, but in the end only the strongest characters manage to break through. The lead hero chooses to stage 'Uncle Vania' because the play requires actors to get involved and brings to the surface through the characters their inner feelings. The entire section of the movie dedicated to the selection of actors, rehearsals and the three shows (one with 'Waiting for Godot' and two with 'Uncle Vania') demonstrate deep understanding and passion for theater and an organic integration in the main story, in the good tradition of the films of Ingmar Bergman or Istvan Szabo. The team of actors who play many roles of actors is perfectly chosen and directed.

The film has a fifth hero, and this is a collector's car, a red Saab. It is a precious object, obsolete but loved by the married couple of theater people, kept with care and nostalgia by the widowed man. It is also a car a bit unadapted to local conditions, with the steering wheel on the left side in a country where you drive on the left side of the road. But aren't the characters similarly misfit to the environment, with their fascination with European culture, and isn't that true even for Haruki Murakami, perhaps the most European of the great writers of Japan today? Film lovers can't help but notice that 'Drive My Car' becomes by the end a road movie and that the film is part of a series of recent productions in which cars play a significant role, including the French film 'Titane', another of the outstanding productions of 2021.

'Drive My Car' is a complex and interesting film, but it is not easy to watch. The three hours (without a minute) of projection are difficult to justify and do not pass easily. Maybe this is intentional and the director Ryusuke Hamaguchi wanted the audience to share the feeling of the difficult passage of time that the heroes live. And yet, many of the scenes give the feeling of repetition or unjustified lengthening of the frames, in almost each of them I had the feeling that one third could have been cut and the film would have been more focused and its essence easier to assimilate. With two quality films that have captured the screens of the most important international film festivals of 2021, Hamaguchi becomes one of the Japanese directors whose films I will watch with great interest in the coming years.

"Doraibu mai kâ" or "Drive My Car" is a Japanese film from 2021 and the big favorite to take home the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Feature this year or whatever the category is named right now. The director is Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, a pretty experienced filmmaker, but also for not super long in the industry yet. This is certainly now already his most known work and I wonder if maybe after this film he will also make films in Hollywood. Asian films have done great with the Oscars in recent years, most of all Parasite of course, but now it seems to be Japan's turn again and not Korea's. The fact that this film got nominated for writing and especially directing shows us how much the Academy loved the outcome. It sure is a really long movie, almost reaches the three-hour mark and if you look at all the accolades it received, this is certainly one of the big players this awards season. I must say I am a bit surprised that the film received so much love. Not from the critics, there I am not surprised, but also the general public and awards bodies everywhere couldn't get enough of it basically. On the one hand because I thought it was "only" a good film, but not really a great one, but on the other hand because I thought that the film was truly slow and maybe difficult to appreciate for many. Apparently I was wrong. Forgive me for not being able to really elaborate on the cast here because I am not a big expert when it comes to Japanese actors and films, even if I have seen some here and there. The most known ones lately like Shoplifters. The lead actor is Hidetoshi Nishijima and he pretty much is the movie. You see him on so many occasions in here, basically at the center of it all from beginning to end and I told you how long the film is. He also received lots of praise and awards recognition, maybe a bit too much as well. I see he is a truly experienced actor, so Asian film buffs will probably not be too surprised, also with the love he got in America for his portrayal here.

The women in this film also did a fine job and most were extraordinarily beautiful in their own ways. At the beginning, this almost felt like an erotic drama as there was a lot of passion and also sex depicted on the screen. But things, i.e. The plot, took a completely different direction soon enough when one character dies and this is a crucial twist of course, but almost felt a bit irrelevant and how they brought us back to it towards the end with the talk about guilt and showing up later or earlier did feel a bit forced. How much you like the idea of coming up with creative stories during sex when having an orgasm is up to you to decide of course. I did like the idea that one character knew more about these stories than another. It added some nice spice to their rivalry, even if this was not as much the case as you could think it would be when a widower casts his deceased partner's lover for his stage play. Karma strikes then soon enough and the young man is arrested for a really serious offense. This offense took place really quickly I'd say. We see him follow a photographer, but he returns really fast. Too fast? Anyway, I already mentioned the women, but I want to focus here as well on the driver. Initially, she felt like a bit of a nothing character to be honest, but as the film goes on, the bond between her and the main character gets stronger and the two really even confess secrets to each other. Not a romantic inclusion as far as we know / are told, but they still have a special connection although he is approximately twice her age. Maybe the sweetest moment for me was when he compliments her on her driving and later on we find out it meant a lot to her because of her past and her connection with her mother who taught her how to drive basically. But I mean the scene when she is so humbled that she sits down with the dog of the people where they are eating and cuddles it a bit. That was sweet. Not just the dog, but how she could not deal with this compliment, was a bit of a tough girl the ways she dresses, smokes etc. That scene inside the car when they smoke together and lift up the cigarettes was also a memorable moment as a reference back to what they were saying about the girl staying inside the car when it's cold and how she respects his love for his car.

So yeah, a great deal of car action we have in here. How the main character initially did not accept that somebody else would drive his car was one of not too many slightly funny moments this entire conversation. It was with a man who turned out to be the husband of a mute cast member. A little surprise there too. But he was really likable. As for the deceased wife, I must say that I still wonder if her name Oto with its proximity to Auto was a coincidence. Or if the protagonist's name sounding a bit like Kafka was a coincidence. The one thing I am sure about is that you will really not often find a fiilm that has the opening credits included when we are already so deep into the movie. Oto had died already at that point. Surely a surprise, but maybe all that came before you got to read these letters on your screen was just an overlong prologue or something like that. A lot of it worked well, other parts not so much. I personally think I preferred the film early on compared to the later stages, even if it made the film better that we found out a lot about the female driver. The lead actor sadly did not really totally win me over at any point. No offense to him. Enough people like him anyway. Still it is surely a good film and it was pretty impressive that it kinda flew by. It did not feel like three hours. And it flew by although it was a really slow movie in terms of the plot, which is even more impressive. Another (unfortunately key aspect) I did not like too much was the plot inclusion that focused on the main character potentially playing the lead in his stage play himself. That was seen as a huge challenge for him, but to me I was never sucked into really by this part of the script and it was meant as some kind of highlight eventually even, so a bit of a disappointment. This is definitely made up for by several other inclusions I'd say. I think really pretty much every single character here was written in a way where they felt somewhat fascinating to me. Very nice. Helped the film a lot.

The dialogues did not always impress me, but I was curious nonetheless what is going to happen next to these people. The characters all have their flaws, but those flaws felt authentic and so the film as a whole felt pretty authentic as well. Acting was good too. I still think that maybe the film could have been kept at 150 minutes or even less if they had decided to omit the right (i.e. Wrong in the sense of weaker and more forgettable) parts. The snow landscapes towards the end were also really beautiful and a welcome inclusion and fit the film nicely in terms of atmosphere. I would have been totally fine with this movie also scoring an Oscar nomination for its cinematography. Oh yes, I mentioned it already, but there is one female character in here who is a mute woman. So it is in terms of that not all about CODA this year, even if her disability is not a key factor in this film or anything. On the contrary, it is all about equality and she tells the director that she does not want to be treated in any way differently or with more patience than anybody else because the main character here can be pretty harsh and rough if he wants to. And he seems to want to a lot in fact. He does carry some aggression inside, which is mostly hidden because of his professionalism. It is also what his wife's death turned him into. Interestingly enough, the result of his conversation with the driver was not that they told each other they are innocent, but that they know they are both guilty because they know how they feel and that the other person would not feel better if they told each other they were innocent. Here and there, surely some quite competent dialogue writing.

I think this is a film that can be watched at the big screen inside a movie theater, but it is also a very valid choice for a watch at home I'd say. It is beautiful to watch at times yes, but not constantly and in a way where I would say the visual aspects are on a truly high level and make it very clear that you should not miss out on this film as long as it's in theaters. It won't be for long anyway. I think here it was the last showing today (or tomorrow) in these movie theaters I usually visit. Been out for quite some time. Alright, this is it then. Overall, a well-rounded effort, but the real greatness many witnessed and talked about when it comes to "Drive My Car" I did not really see. Maybe just me. Still, never really a moment where I doubted the film and that I would give it a thumbs-up and positive recommendation. If you like Asian films, you should certainly go watch. One of the finest movies Asia has to offer this year and a key reason is already what I said earlier that it really felt much shorter than it actually was. Give this film a chance. I don't know if you will be hyped after the watch, but you surely will not be disappointed. I am curious how the filmmaker and cast here will do in the coming years, maybe if they can have international breakthroughs even. The awards success for Asian films recently extended to television series too that everybody was talking about, but the movies are at least on the same level of success still. This one here is good evidence for that. (tt14039582)