What delights and repels "Drive my car" - a deliberately slow Japanese drama

On March 31, a new film by Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi is released in Russian cinemas. His film "Asako 1 and 2" in 2018 thundered at the Cannes Film Festival. Now the director is back with an adaptation of a short story by Haruki Murakami.

Hamaguchi's work has already received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay, and will now compete for the main Oscar.

It is curious that almost at the same time with this film, another film of the director, "Accident and Guess", was released. This happened because of the pandemic: work on the tape was postponed for a long time, and filming had to be moved from Korea to Japan.

Deliberately slow pace

Theater director Yusuke finds his beloved wife in bed with a young lover. The husband silently leaves, without betraying himself, and returning home, finds his wife dead.

A couple of years later, he was invited to stage a play based on Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya. Yusuke agrees, but there is one caveat: he is forbidden to drive, because due to

glaucoma he may lose his sight. So the hero gets a personal driver - a girl named Misaki. They gradually grow closer, and Misaki helps him come to terms with the loss of his wife and find inner harmony.

"Get behind the wheel of my car" is a typical slowburner. This is often called a slow, "smoldering" movie, which is focused on the smooth immersion of the viewer into the atmosphere. It's easy enough to say that the title credits start at 40 minutes. Well, the plot of the plot takes place about an hour after the start of the film.

Despite the truly epic running time of the tape - as much as three hours, in it, as they say, "nothing happens." The characters just talk in cars, in bars, while reading a play, and even sex. On the other hand, such a meditative approach allows you to immerse the viewer in the monotonous life of Yusuke and makes it possible to become close to the hero.

In fact, this principle is very organically correlated with the Japanese approach to life and creativity. Here I immediately want to recall the masterpiece “Tokyo Tale” (1953) by Yasujiro Ozu, which runs for two and a half hours.

And “Sit behind the wheel of my car” came out just as orientally thoughtful and unhurried. The film retained all the features inherent in the national cinema: measured narrative, simple dialogues and static, perfectly adjusted shots.

Exquisite eroticism and love for Russian classics

Ryusuke Hamaguchi managed to pass on the screen intimacy bed scenes, almost without showing nudity. With all the external chastity, these moments look amazingly, burningly frank.

Looking at how the heroine comes up with scenarios right during sex with her husband, it's easy to feel like a voyeur. It's like you're looking at something you're not supposed to see, and you feel embarrassed about it. But because of the beauty of the actors, it is simply impossible not to admire the shots.

The rehearsal scenes of "Uncle Vanya" with Japanese actors may at first be perceived with irony. But at some point, Chekhov's lines, reproduced in Japanese, Cantonese, Korean, and even sign language, acquire a universal sound. Moreover, the replicas of the heroes of the play, sounding during car trips, are incredibly in tune with Yusuke's internal state.

Unnecessarily extended timing

The action of the second and third acts of the film symbolically takes place in Hiroshima. When mentioning this city, it is impossible not to think about the tragic consequences of the Second World War. Where, if not in such a place, to enter into a dialogue with your past?

And in the end, it is a similar past that helps the characters get closer. Yusuke buried his wife and daughter, and Misaki buried his parents. And although the characters themselves are very different, one thing is clear: human pain is universal, and losing loved ones is equally difficult for everyone.

There is only one big drawback in all this. Despite the beauty of Hamaguchi's leisurely reflection, one cannot let go of the thought that the film would only get better if it were an hour shorter.

The desire of the director to convey on the screen the ordinary course of life is absolutely understandable. But this is not an answer to the question of why it was necessary to make a short story Murakami such an extended movie.

Obviously, not everyone can withstand this heavy work. If you absolutely can't stand long films, "Drive My Car" will bore you in the first half hour. But if you are in the mood for thoughtful viewing or just like calm, contemplative films, the novelty will steal your heart from the first frames.

Linda Zhuravleva