Drive My Car

Drive My Car

Japan | 2021 | 179 min. | Ryusuke Hamaguchi

April 1 - 10, 2022

Adapted from Haruki Murakami’s short story, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s film follows two lonely people who find the courage to face the past. Oscar Winner: Best International Feature.

Successful stage actor and director Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is happily married to beautiful screenwriter Oto (Reika Kirishima). Or so he thinks. When Oto unexpectedly dies, she leaves him with an unresolved wound. Two years later, Kafuku, still reeling from the loss, takes a job directing a multilingual version of Chekov’s Uncle Vanya at a theater festival. He drives to Hiroshima in his car, which he reluctantly surrenders to chauffeur Misaki, another lonely soul haunted by a dark past. Days of tense rehearsals are moderated by long drives in the car with Misaki. Sprawling yet intimate, playful and elegant, Drive My Car is a moving meditation on the beauty of human connection and the transformative power of the journey.

  • Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
  • Principal Cast: Hidetoshi Nishijima, Toko Miura, Masaki Okada, Reika Kirishima, Park Yurim, Jin Daeyeon
  • Country: Japan
  • Year: 2021
  • Running Time: 179 min.
  • Producer: Teruhisa Yamamoto
  • Screenplay: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
  • Cinematographers: Hidetoshi Shinomiya
  • Editors: Azusa Yamazaki
  • Music: Eiko Ishibash
  • Website: Official Film Website
  • Awards: Cannes Film Festival 2021 (Best Screenplay), Official Oscar Submission 2022 (Best International Feature), Golden Globe Awards 2022 (Best Picture - Non-English Language)
  • Language: Japanese, Korean, English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Indonesian, German and Malaysian
  • Has Subtitles: Yes