Film: “Drive My Car”

by August Cosentino

Many years ago, as some of you out there may know, I carpooled to a job in New Jersey with a couple of fellow Manhattanites. We grumbled about the commute, complained about our jobs, but we always observed one key rule: what was said inside the car, remained inside the car.

I never got around to writing a film about using a car as refuge, but fortunately Ryusuke Hamaguchi did: “Drive My Car,” which received a Best Picture nomination. Deservedly so.

In modern-day Japan, Yusuke, a prominent actor-director (Hidetoshi Nijishima) and his screenwriter wife Oto (Reiki Kirishima) seem to have the ideal arts-y marriage. In their drives together, they discuss ideas for films and he rehearses lines by listening to a audio cassette, mostly of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya.”

One day, he comes home from the airport as his flight has been canceled and discovers a secret about his wife that changes their lives forever.

Fast forward a couple of years, and Yusuke has accepted a proposal to direct a production of “Uncle Vanya” in Hiroshima. As part of the deal, he’s given a driver (Misaki played by Toko Miura), which initially upsets him because he uses the drive as “think time.”

The next part of the film will delight those interested in acting and theatre, as it follows Yusuke as he rehearses “Uncle Vanya” with a cast that includes an English-speaking Taiwanese actress (Janice Chan); a Brando-esque young ladies man (Masaki Okada); and a multilingual Korean assistant director and his deaf wife, among others. Yusuke agonizes over all their complicated personal interactions and secrets from inside the car, with the silent driver to serve as his only confidante.

There are so many great moments in this film, I’d need another post to capture them all properly, but certain ones are standouts. The scenes where the Korean deaf actress is communicating with her fellow cast members in KSL are extraordinary. As is the road footage of the gorgeous Japanese countryside (in Hiroshima of all places as well as Hokkaido) that we see from inside the car.

“Drive My Car” is long (nearly three hours). But as drivers know, long car rides often give you plenty of time to contemplate life and work through matters. So make your way over to your local indie theater (the film hasn’t begun streaming yet). And once you arrive, enjoy the ride.