Two years after his wife's unexpected death, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi
Nishijima), a renowned stage actor and director, receives an offer to
direct a production of Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima.
There, he meets Misaki Watari (Toko Miura), a taciturn young woman
assigned by the festival to chauffeur him in his beloved red Saab 900.
As the production's premiere approaches, tensions mount amongst the cast
and crew, not least between Yusuke and Koji Takatsuki, a handsome TV
star who shares an unwelcome connection to Yusuke's late wife. Forced to
confront painful truths raised from his past, Yusuke begins -- with the
help of his driver -- to face the haunting mysteries his wife left
behind. Adapted from Haruki Murakami's short story, Ryusuke Hamaguchi's
Drive My Car is a haunting road movie traveling a path of love, loss,
acceptance, and peace. Winner of three prizes at the 2021 Cannes Film
Festival, including Best Screenplay.
What the critics are saying:
LOS ANGELES TIMES, Justin Chang
“There’s more going on in any five minutes of “Drive My Car” than in some movies in their
entirety”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, Joe Morgenstern “A masterpiece, a mysteriously enthralling creation that keeps you guessing about where it’s
going, then reveals its essence with astonishing clarity.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES, MANOHLA DARGIS "A story about grief, love
and work as well as the soul-sustaining, life-shaping power of art…Many movies offer pat life
lessons; this one speaks about what it means to go on living.”