Drive My Car
Release date: 2021-08-18
Votes: 1417
Genres: Drama
Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater 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.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
"Kafuku" (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is an accomplished stage actor who is directing a performance of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya" with a group of young actors. He arrives at the venue in his red Saab motor car, determined that only he will drive himself. That's not the policy of the theatre, though, and soon he is placed in the capable hands of the somewhat laconic "Misaki" (Tôko Miura) and as the two start to get used to one and other, and he starts to get to know his new cast, the story unfolds revealing his past - his marriage to a famous playwright that ended in tragedy, and of his driver's own demons as the pair - entirely platonically - begin to fill the gaps left in each other's lives by times gone by. I did quite enjoy this, there are quite a few quirks to the story, not least from the handsome and curiously enigmatic 'Kôji" (Masaki Okada) whose storyline intertwines intriguingly with that of his mentor, and the film adopts a pace of it's own which you will appreciate right from the start (or not!). The dialogue is sparse though, perhaps a little too much so at times, and at almost three hours long it can feel like a bit of a slog at times. Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi has possibly over indulged himself a little with the style of the film, it dawdles, cinematographically speaking, and I suppose at the title suggests, there are quite a few scenes suggesting that more of a road trip movie might be in order. It is still a very easy film to watch, it requires concentration and somehow the fact that it's that Chekhov play seems apposite, too. I would see it on a big screen if you can - I suspect on television even the most focussed of us might find our attention wandering after a while.
badelf
I find this film to be a near perfect drama. I understand that most Americans and perhaps younger viewers everywhere will not appreciate the pacing of the movie. There are two things about this movie that make it an actor's movie. First is the play within the play: the play within is Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, and, like most Russian classics, it's about the human condition and the response to suffering. It's the play within the play because the film slowly reveals a mirror of Chekhov's play itself. Second, some playwrights have the gift of writing dialog that leaves the real storytelling to the unspoken dialogue - Shakespeare, Pinter, Stoppard - they all had this gift, and I nominate Hamaguchi to this list. It is amazing to watch this kind of production because it only survives with the richness and depth of the acting. It is the sole reason that theater companies can do these kind of plays and each version is completely unique. Even if you are not aware of this aspect of a play, Lee Yoo-na (Park Yu-rim) pointed out that her silence allowed her to see the deeper dialogue more clearly. As to the pacing? It's a brilliant reflection of the way Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) was directing Uncle Vanya.
Movie Recommendation
Belfast2021-11-12Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a momentous choice: hope the conflict will pass or leave everything they know behind for a new life.More...
Licorice Pizza2021-11-26The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.More...
Asako I & II2018-09-01Asako lives in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku, a free-spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and meets Ryohei. He looks just like Baku, but has a completely different personality.More...
CODA2021-08-13As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents.More...
Parallel Mothers2021-10-08Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, in her late-thirties, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened.More...
The Worst Person in the World2021-10-13The chronicles of four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.More...
Boiling Point2021-07-05A head chef balances multiple personal and professional crises at a popular restaurant in London.More...
After Yang2022-03-04When his young daughter's beloved companion — an android named Yang — malfunctions, Jake searches for a way to repair him. In the process, Jake discovers the life that has been passing in front of him, reconnecting with his wife and daughter across a distance he didn't know was there.More...
Decalogue II1989-05-16Dorota Geller, a married woman, faces a dilemma involving her sick husband's prognosis. Her husband's doctor, who believes in God, sweared about it in vain.More...
Smoke Signals2024-05-012012, John Dalli, the European Commissioner for Health, is accused of corruption and influence peddling related to the tobacco industry. French Member of the European Parliament José Bové, maverick politician and prominent figure of the environmental party, suspects a setup by the tobacco manufacturer Swedish Match, potentially involving the President of the European Commission, José Barroso. Standing alone against all odds, he decides to investigate and unravel this story, which shook the foundations of the entire European institutions.More...
Petrov's Flu2021-09-09A day in the life of a comic book artist and his family in Russia. While suffering from the flu, Petrov is carried by his friend Igor on a long walk, drifting in and out of fantasy and reality.More...
Monica and Friends: Lessons2021-12-30In the sequel to Turma da Mônica: Laços, we follow Mônica, Jimmy Five, Maggy and Smudge dealing with the consequences of a mistake made at school. At the same time, they face transformations from childhood to adolescence and are about to discover the value of friendship.More...
Fedora1978-06-29An ambitious Hollywood hustler becomes involved with a reclusive female star, whom he tries to lure out of retirement.More...
Bloody Oranges2021-11-17Simultaneously, a retired couple overwhelmed by debt tries to win a dance contest, as the minister of economy is suspected of tax evasion, and a teenage girl encounters a sexual maniac, while a young lawyer attempts to climb the social ladder. When the shoe drops, the winner won’t necessarily be the one we expected.More...
John and the Hole2021-08-06While exploring the neighboring woods, 13-year-old John discovers an unfinished bunker — a deep hole in the ground. Seemingly without provocation, he drugs his affluent parents and older sister and drags their unconscious bodies into the bunker, where he holds them captive. As they anxiously wait for John to free them from the hole, the boy returns home, where he can finally do what he wants.More...
The Ornithologist2016-09-16Stranded along a sublime river fjord in northern Portugal, an ornithologist is subjected to a series of brutal and erotic Stations-of-the-Cross-style tests.More...
Tel Aviv on Fire2018-08-23Salam, an inexperienced young Palestinian man, becomes a writer on a popular soap opera after a chance meeting with an Israeli soldier. His creative career is on the rise - until the soldier and the show's financial backers disagree about how the show should end, and Salam is caught in the middle.More...
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell2023-08-11After a Vietnamese woman dies in a car crash in Saigon, her brother-in-law and her young son transport her body back to the former’s hometown in rural Vietnam, where they plan to give her a funeral.More...
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte1964-12-15An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after the arrival of a lost relative.More...
The Hidden Blade2004-10-30Set in 19th Century Japan a young samurai who finds himself in love with a farm girl leaves his home to begin a new life. He has to take stock of his new life when he is put to the test and ordered to kill a traitor who just happens to be his dearest friend.More...
Similar Movies
A Man Escaped
1956-11-11A captured French Resistance fighter during World War II engineers a daunting escape from prison.Black School Rules
2019-11-01Sōra is a high school student who is basically invisible at school. He is friends with Chūya, who is an unpredictable character that often surprises those around him. Sōra and Chūya both have feelings for the same classmate, Kio Machida. The Machida girl refuses to come to class, because she doesn't want to dye her naturally brown hair black. Their school has unreasonable school rules, especially about uniforms, which include requiring all students to have black hair. Sōra and Chūya decide to stand up to change their school's black school rules so that Machida won’t have to repeat a year of school from missing too many classes.The Trouble with Jess...
2024-04-05Sarah and Tom are in terrible financial trouble. On the brink of losing everything, they’ve managed to find a buyer for their stylish London home. When their best friends Richard and Beth come round for a final dinner, an uninvited old friend, Jessica, tags along.Beaches
1988-12-21A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years.Hinokio: Inter Galact...
2005-07-09Satoru, a wheelchair-bound elementary student, locks himself away from the outside world after his mother dies. His father designs a remote-controlled robot to go to school for him, allowing him to interact with people and do normal things.Only Yesterday
1991-07-20In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.Ugetsu
1953-03-26In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.Afro Samurai: Resurre...
2009-10-16Afro Samurai avenged his father and found a life of peace. But the legendary master is forced back into the game by a beautiful and deadly woman from his past. The sparks of violence dropped along Afro’s bloody path now burn out of control – and nowhere are the flames of hatred more intense than in the eyes of Sio.The Goodbye Girl
1977-11-27After being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, an unemployed dancer and her 10-year-old daughter are reluctantly forced to live with a struggling off-Broadway actor.Silk
2007-09-14French silkworm trader Hervé is married to the beautiful Hélène. When an outbreak of disease ravages European silkworms, Hervé must travel to Japan to retrieve healthy eggs. After a long journey, Hervé finally arrives at a village where he can buy them. He becomes infatuated with a young concubine and goes to great lengths to see her again. But, when war breaks out in Japan, the concubine flees, forcing Hervé to return home to his wife.Last Orders
2001-09-10Jack Dodd was a London butcher who enjoyed a pint with his mates for over 50 years. When he died, he died as he lived, with a smile on his face watching a horse race on which he had bet, with borrowed money. But before he died he had a final request, 'Last Orders', that his ashes be scattered in the sea at Margate. The movie follows his mates, Ray, Lenny and Vic and his foster son Vince as they journey to the sea with the ashes. Along the way, the threads of their lives, their loves and their disappointments are woven together in their memories of Jack and his wife AmyHer Boy
1930-09-19Directed by Friedrich Feher.Luna
2014-09-26Renowned artist and filmmaker Dave McKean (MirrorMask) brings his distinctive blend of live action and gorgeously wrought animation to this dreamlike reverie about four people whose weekend idyll in an isolated English seaside home becomes an opportunity for spiritual healing.The Taste of Tea
2004-07-17A spell of time in the life of a family in rural Tochigi prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.Army of Shadows
1969-09-10Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.Inside
2006-03-26Alex has a disturbing hobby of following strangers...until one night he gets caught. Instead of calling the police, the couple--fascinated by Alex's resemblance to their dead son--asks him to stay, and Alex finds himself trapped in a horrifying existence of desperation, despair, and insanity.When the Last Sword I...
2003-01-18Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them.Harakiri
1962-09-15Down-on-his-luck veteran Tsugumo Hanshirō enters the courtyard of the prosperous House of Iyi. Unemployed, and with no family, he hopes to find a place to commit seppuku—and a worthy second to deliver the coup de grâce in his suicide ritual. The senior counselor for the Iyi clan questions the ronin’s resolve and integrity, suspecting Hanshirō of seeking charity rather than an honorable end. What follows is a pair of interlocking stories which lay bare the difference between honor and respect, and promises to examine the legendary foundations of the Samurai code.Milo Is Lonely
2024-05-10A teenage girl has lost her mother and has distances herself from everyone due to the grief she is feeling, till one day an old primary school friend of hers walks back into her life...Far from Men
2015-01-14A French teacher in a small Algerian village during the Algerian War forms an unexpected bond with a dissident who is ordered to be turned in to the authorities.