Ryusuke Hamaguchi brilliantly crafts a ‘slow burn’ film with ‘Drive My Car’
Nabeeha Anwar | Senior Staff Illustrator
“Drive My Car” is one of 10 films nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards.
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“Drive My Car” starts as a story between stage actor and director husband, Yūsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and screenwriter wife, Oto Kafuku (Reika Kirishima). As the initial scene, where the couple talks about Oto’s new idea for a story comes to an end, we see a glimpse of the Kafukus’ lives and world.
Nearly 30 minutes into the film, it is shockingly revealed that Oto cheats on her husband. Soon after, Oto suddenly dies from a cerebral hemorrhage. The film then cuts to two years later and the opening credits begin to roll.
The opening credits set the tone for the rest of director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s film, which lasts 2 hours and 59 minutes. “Drive My Car” falls under a category known as a “slow burn film.” A slow burn can be best described as “a filmmaking style, usually in narrative productions, wherein plot, action and scenes develop slowly, methodically toward a (usually) explosive boiling point.”
Hamaguchi is known for using this style in his previous works such as “Asako I & II” and “Happy Hour.” The latter lasts for a grand total of 5 hours and 17 minutes.
Despite the long runtime and the seemingly slow nature of the film, “Drive My Car” proves to feel less like a chore to watch and more a rewarding experience. The film, which was one of 10 to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, creates a carefully constructed world featuring multifaceted and complex characters. This masterpiece uses a near three-hour runtime to build this world and always keeps the viewer wanting to know more about the life of Yūsuke and how he interacts with the grief of loss and the knowledge of his wife’s unfaithfulness.
His fellow characters have their histories and lives revealed over the three hours as well. With this runtime, the multi-layered story feels like it’s being peeled away incrementally.
For movies with a considerably long runtime, pacing is key. Dragging on for too long can crush any narrative momentum a film has and can make it feel like a laborious experience to watch. Hamaguchi’s 2021 work does not do this. The slowness of “Drive My Car” only serves to help tell the story of Yūsuke, his chauffeur Misaki Watari (Tôko Miura) and the rest of his actors, who are preparing to act in Anton Chekhov’s play “Uncle Vanya.”
Brilliant and powerful scenes, like when Kōshi Takatsuki (Masaki Okada) and Yūsuke have an intimate and revelatory conversation in the titular car, push the plot and its themes forward. But there are also multiple scenes throughout the film that might have come off as unnecessary or boring if not crafted by a skilled auteur like Hamaguchi — the short story by Haruki Murakami that the film is based on didn’t have a world as expansive as depicted in the movie.
For example, midway through the movie, Yūsuke and Watari are invited to the house of actress Lee Yoon-a (Park Yu-rim). We learn that she is actually married to one of the producers of the play, a detail that we wouldn’t have otherwise known had it not been included in the film. The dinner scene provides a great view of the side characters and also pushes forward the film’s theme of self-acceptance. The pacing of the film features scenes similar to this one to build its themes and not rush to the climax with an undeveloped meaning and purpose.
This idea is on full display near the end of “Drive My Car.” Yūsuke and Watari, who have developed a deep relationship by this point, visit her childhood home, which is in ruins. We learn more about Watari’s mysterious past and watch the emotional breakdown of Yūsuke and his remorseful memories of his wife. Hamaguchi’s pacing builds to this singular moment and it pays off masterfully.
However, this is not the ending of the plot. After this scene, we see Yūsuke’s version of “Uncle Vanya” come to life. The play served as a way to show how Yūsuke can move on from his departed, yet unfaithful lover. For the final scene, we cut to Watari in the present driving Yūsuke’s car that he once held onto so dearly. The shots and Watari’s singular presence signify Yūsuke has learned to accept his situation and circumstances and has decided to move on with this life.
These final scenes of this three-hour story can feel like they are dragging the film and stopping it from ending. But Hamaguchi’s perfection of the craft helps the conclusion feel natural and smooth, capping off an incredible film with a poignant ending.
Published on February 14, 2022 at 9:29 pm
