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5 December 2021: Drive my Car

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Drive my Car
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, 2021, 179 min
Japanese with English subtitles

“Inspired by a Haruki Murakami short story, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi spins an engrossing, rapturous epic about love and betrayal, grief and acceptance. With his characteristic emotional transparency, Hamaguchi charts the unexpected, complex relationships that theater actor-director Yûsuke Kafuku forges with a trio of people out of professional, physical, or psychological necessity: his wife, Oto, with whom he shares an erotic bond forged in fantasy and storytelling; the mysterious actor Takatsuki, whom he’s drawn to by a sense of revenge as much as fascination; and, perhaps most mysteriously, Misaki, a plaintive young woman hired by a theater company, against his wishes, to be his chauffeur while he stages Uncle Vanya. Hamaguchi specializes in revelations of the heart and Drive my Cara beautiful melding of two distinct authorial sensibilities – consistently steers clear of the familiar in its characters’ journeys towards self-examination.” – Film at Lincoln Center


Screening as part of our Ryûsuke Hamaguchi retrospective and as part of Japan 2021: Over 100 years of Japanese Cinema, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network. bfijapan.co.uk