Several Oscar contenders are now streaming on HBO Max, like "Nightmare Alley" and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye."
But the best of the bunch is undoubtedly “Drive My Car,” which cruised to the stage Wednesday with stellar reviews (98% positive on Rotten Tomatoes) and four Oscar nominations in its tank, including Best Picture, Best Director (Ryusuke, Hamaguchi). Best Adapted Screenplay and Best International Feature Film.
The mesmerizing Japanese drama, which is also in theaters across the country, is quite different from the types of films the Academy usually goes for: it's a three-hour foreign language film that values silence and a Tight-knit examines human connection through group. People rehearsing for Anton Chekhov's 1898 play "Uncle Vanya".
"To be honest, I didn't expect it at all," Hamaguchi says of the nomination. "There were some film critics in Japan who were (predicting), 'You might be nominated for best film (at an Oscar)' and I was saying, 'There's no way that would happen!' But now that it's done, it really makes me feel like I'm living in a time where big changes are taking place in the world today and I'm very happy to be a part of 10 films in the Best (Picture) category, because It means people are completely reacting to the film."
Several Oscar contenders are now streaming on HBO Max, like "Nightmare Alley" and "The Eyes of Tammy Faye."
But the best of the bunch is undoubtedly “Drive My Car,” which cruised to the stage Wednesday with stellar reviews (98% positive on Rotten Tomatoes) and four Oscar nominations in its tank, including Best Picture, Best Director (Ryusuke, Hamaguchi). Best Adapted Screenplay and Best International Feature Film.
The mesmerizing Japanese drama, which is also in theaters across the country, is quite different from the types of films the Academy usually goes for: it's a three-hour foreign language film that values silence and a Tight-knit examines human connection through group. People rehearsing for Anton Chekhov's 1898 play "Uncle Vanya".
"To be honest, I didn't expect it at all," Hamaguchi says of the nomination. "There were some film critics in Japan who were (predicting), 'You might be nominated for best film (at an Oscar)' and I was saying, 'There's no way that would happen!' But now that it's done, it really makes me feel like I'm living in a time where big changes are taking place in the world today and I'm very happy to be a part of 10 films in the Best (Picture) category, because It means people are completely reacting to the film."
"Drive My Car" is based on the 2014 short story by Haruki Murakami. Reading this for the first time, Hamaguchi was intrigued by the idea that how long a car ride—in this case, in a sleek red Saab 900—could bring forth candid conversations in people, whether they were friends, strangers, or companions.
"When we're sitting in cars, we're physically very close to each other and there can really be a certain discomfort when there's no conversation," Hamaguchi says.
In general, "when people are talking they are looking across the landscape - they are not looking at each other. This allows the conversation to reflect internally to the people speaking." When one person reveals something very true about himself, which causes the other person to answer honestly."
In adapting Murakami's story, Hamaguchi is surprised to learn that the famously bitter, lovable characters of Kafuku and Chekhov's Vanya "are actually mirrors for each other," he says. Several scenes and monologues from the play are featured in the film: "I thought 'Drive My Car' and 'Uncle Vanya' running parallel to each other would give the audience a better understanding of the film."
With its dramatic subtext, the film explores the complex nature of memory and mourning. Through a heart-to-heart with his driver, Watari, and eventually his lead actor, Takatsuki, Kafuku, is forced to see his late wife as a complex person who truly loved her, but not her. There were other needs and wants as well.
Hamaguchi says, "Often we are left behind by things we couldn't communicate with (the loved one) when we lived, and that creates an element of tragedy."
The film's ability to gently communicate such profound, heart-wrenching thoughts is part of why it resonates so strongly with members of the increasingly international academy.
"'Drive My Car' has a factor that other films in the Oscar race don't have," says Ryan McQuade, executive editor of prediction site Awardswatch. "I know that most people who have seen the film cannot get it out of their heads for days. ... It is clear that once members of the Academy have seen it, they are under its systematic, dynamic magic. fell."
One of only a dozen foreign-language films to jump into the "drive my car" categories and be nominated for best picture, the last being Bong Joon-ho's South Korean thriller "Parasite," which won the Oscars top prize in 2020 Was. Hamaguchi's post-film win is unlikely to repeat, although experts at awards site Goldderby almost unanimously predict that "Drive My Car" will take home best international feature.
Meanwhile, Hamaguchi says he is "at a loss" when asked about the film's overwhelming appeal. But if he had to guess, it would have been deeply human themes of loss and revitalization of the story.
"When we love someone, it means that there is a moment where we must separate from them," Hamaguchi says. "The things that make us the happiest can also make us the saddest. It's a universal truth that I took a long time to paint carefully and probably accounted for some of its success."