Drive My Car, dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Japan 2021, 179 min., Japanese with English subtitles, 15
Haruki Murakami’s piercing short story about the mysteries of love and grief arrives in cinemas courtesy of director Ryusuke Hamaguchi – a potent adaptation that won three awards at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Yūsuke, a theatre director, and Oto, a screenwriter, enjoy a marriage that’s both happy and fragile, haunted by the earlier death of their young daughter. When Oto dies suddenly, Yūsuke retreats into himself and the pleasures of his treasured red Saab. But when he’s invited to direct Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima, far from his Tokyo home, he’s forced to face up to the secrets of his past – alongside Misaki, a taciturn young woman assigned to be his chauffeur.
no. 236848.