Drive My Car

Drive My Car is a brilliant, profound film haunted by the metaphorical ghosts of lost loved ones.

Like Kafuku, Watari gives the impression of having a deep sense of melancholy, and like Kafuku she works on suppressing her emotional trauma in order to continue her life. Both of them are wounded by their uncontrollable grief, and each of them is plagued by a sense of guilt that convinces them that they could have saved their respective departed. When the two share a lengthy car ride near the end of the film, Kafuku beings to understand that there’s much to Oto that he didn’t know. Like much of the work of Haruki Murakami, Drive My Car is haunted by the metaphorical ghosts of lost loved ones. When he turns to direct a multilingual adaptation of the play, eventually casting his wife's lover in the role of Vanya, it becomes clear that his coping methods are still in effect. Even more than a passion or a manner of making a living, Kafuku utilizes his theater directing as a method of therapy. Koji reveals the end to one of Oto’s stories that Kafuku hadn’t known. As he begins work on a new production of Anton Chekhov’s play Uncle Vanya, he quickly realizes that the road to recovery — and acceptance — is lengthy and paved with unforeseen obstacles. She was also mentally ill, being afflicted with an identity disorder that created a childish, infrequently-appearing personality that was loving and kind to Watari. She understands that her mother was a victim of her illness, but she also remains victimized by her mother’s abuse. Drive My Car earns its three-hour length through its patient and slow-burning pacing that allows a thorough autopsy of its characters’ complicated and often conflicting emotions on their pain. He becomes unable to act in his stage performance of Uncle Vanya simply because it becomes too close to him. Steering its way through many revered international award ceremonies and picking up an impressive amount of accolades along the way, Drive My Car has proven itself to be a modern masterpiece whose artistic power is likely to last long into the future.