Drive My Car Saved The Oscars

Recently I've been drawn to a ponderous film. Drive My Car. It's funny that I say 'ponderous' because the film requires more 'feeling' than 'thinking'. But when watching the film I can't help but think about the state of the characters. The completeness of how Ryuichi Hamaguchi tells the story in quite literally its entirety and then some is perhaps the most underrated directorial achievement in 2021.

The film is an almost three-hour watch and yet it feels like there still could be a more extended cut of the film out there. The reason being is that the film if you have the patience, is a three-hour watch that feels abundantly shorter than expected. This is because of his pure mastery of the craft of directing by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. Spielberg has his long takes, Nolan has time, Hitchock, suspense. Hamaguchi on the other hand has pacing. The skill that is required to master the art of pacing is criminally underrated.

Hidetoshi Nishijima and Tôko Miura in Drive My Car (2021).

To pace three hours of a film effectively is a monumental task. Most directors, even with the average 2 hours 30-minute runtime often make one or two mistakes in pacing their films. But the way Drive My Car ebbs and flows like running water almost, is one of the reasons that I love this film so much. It is a slow film with very controlled acting performances much like how Bresson or Kiarostami have in their films. Hamaguchi himself has been compared to them by many people after seeing this film and many others made by Hamaguchi.

Hidetoshi Nishijima (right) and Masaki Okada (left) in Drive My Car (2021).

This makes it all the more surprising that the Oscars, a film festival that traditionally ostracizes films that are too slow or "do too little" on screen, have included Drive My Car in and among its nominees and by the time you're reading this, it's winners.

Drive My Car would, of course, be a critical darling amongst the Europeans because of their love of slow cinema and this film being an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's who historically has been one of the hardest writers to adapt, would further push its arthouse status.

After the debacle that was the 2020's Oscars and the disappointment of the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony still not being able to lift a tired ceremony that needed new life, the 94th Academy Awards in an attempt not to be outdone by its predecessors marred the ceremony by introducing the most famous slap in the history of the world.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi with his Oscar in the 94th Academy Awards.

Drive My Car would receive nominations in the Best Screenplay and Best Director categories but would predictably lose out. However, the fact that it was even nominated and in close contention with its American counterparts remains a glimmer of hope for what the Oscars should be. A platform for showcasing cinema in all forms. A sweet consolation was the Best International Feature win for Drive My Car, not to undermine the award itself, but the film in my opinion deserved much more than what it got.

Hidetoshi Nishijima and Tôko Miura in Drive My Car (2021).

Is it not the duty of a competition that has the platform such as the Oscars to bring forward films like Drive My Car and make them as available to mainstream audiences as possible? Parasite (2019) is all of a sudden a mainstream film when really it is a cult classic that cinephiles would've incessantly championed as their North Star of 2019. A guiding light by which cinema should be directed. Storytelling on a level beyond the blockbuster realm of films. Beyond language even. That is Drive My Car to me. It is the reason I'll watch the next Academy Awards ceremony. In the hope that the global industry of filmmaking moves back into celebrating storytelling in all its glory and not looking at the money. Wishful thinking, I know but what is life without dreams?

The cinema of Drive My Car (2021).