Drive My Car (film)

Drive My Car
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanaドライブ・マイ・カー
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnDoraibu Mai Kā
Directed byRyusuke Hamaguchi
Screenplay by
Based on"Drive My Car"
by Haruki Murakami
Produced byTeruhisa Yamamoto
Starring
CinematographyHidetoshi Shinomiya
Edited byAzusa Yamazaki
Music byEiko Ishibashi
Production
companies
Distributed byBitters End
Release dates
  • 11 July 2021 (2021-07-11) (Cannes)
  • 20 August 2021 (2021-08-20) (Japan)
Running time
179 minutes
CountryJapan
Languages
  • Japanese
  • English
  • Korean
  • Mandarin
  • German
  • Korean Sign Language
Budget$1.3 million[1]
Box office$15.4 million[2][3]

Drive My Car (Japanese: ドライブ・マイ・カー, Hepburn: Doraibu Mai Kā) is a 2021 Japanese drama film[4] directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and written by Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe. It follows a theatre director (played by Hidetoshi Nishijima), who directs a multilingual production of Uncle Vanya while dealing with the death of his wife (Reika Kirishima).[5] It is based on Haruki Murakami's short story of the same name and other stories from his 2014 collection Men Without Women.[6] Tōko Miura, Park Yu-rim, Jin Dae-yeon, Sonia Yuan, Ahn Hwitae, Perry Dizon, Satoko Abe, and Masaki Okada also star.

Drive My Car had its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and won three awards, including Best Screenplay. The film received widespread critical acclaim with praise towards Hamaguchi's direction and screenplay; many declared it the best film of 2021.[7][8][9] It was nominated for four awards at the 94th Academy Awards, winning Best International Feature Film, and received numerous other accolades. Drive My Car was the first Japanese film to receive a Best Picture nomination. It has since been called one of the best films of the 2020s and of the 21st century.[10]

  1. ^ Making of ‘Drive My Car’: How Ryusuke Hamaguchi Turned a Haruki Murakami Short Story Into a Three-Hour Drama About Making Art Amid Grief The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  2. ^ "Drive My Car (2021)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Drive My Car (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Drive My Car director Hamaguchi: Oscar buzz is beyond imagination". BBC News. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  6. ^ Brzeski, Patrick (9 July 2021). "Japan's Ryusuke Hamaguchi on Adapting Murakami for 'Drive My Car' and Vehicles as Confession Booths". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  7. ^ "LA film critics pick 'Drive My Car' as year's best". The Seattle Times. 19 December 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  8. ^ "New York film critics name 'Drive My Car' best film of 2021". The Seattle Times. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  9. ^ "'Drive My Car' Is Named Best Film of 2021 by the National Society of Film Critics". Collider. 9 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Hollywood Reporter Critics Pick the 50 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far)". The Hollywood Reporter. 6 April 2023.