DRIVE MY CAR

JAPAN 2021, 179 min Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

Freely adapted from Haruki Murakami’s story of the same name, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s (Happy Hour, Asako I & II) latest film weaves an enchanting narrative around the complexities of human relationships. Yûsuke, a well-known actor and theater director reeling from a series of familial tragedies, is invited to Hiroshima to direct an international production of Uncle Vanya. Against his wishes, he’s assigned a driver, Misaki, a taciturn young woman, who comes from an abusive background. Through their time together in Yûsuke’s red Saab, the two slowly unburden themselves of their personal traumas. Complicating matters further, a brash young actor connected to Yûsuke’s past comes to audition for the play. Winner of the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes, Drive My Car is an exquisitely crafted mosaic, where Chekhov’s timeless play refracts the main characters’ attempts at connection amid their respective emotional circumstances and their aspirations to move beyond them. –Rod Armstrong

In Japanese with English subtitles

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