review archive
Hidetoshi Nishijima and Tōko Miura. © 2021/2022. Sideshow, Janus Films, Criterion, and Bitters End. Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. Watched it on HBO Max
Watching international films is like a whole new experience. With Drive My Car, it was a different experience. A slow, yet filled film with beautiful performances and a heartbreaking story that only the director can achieve. This film is just amazing and it questions life and the purpose of love. It's like a 10-page essay but put into a full film. Something about this film makes me happy yet sad. It was truly an experience and while some things didn't work for me, I still love this film for being something truly original yet artsy. It's really that good. Let's dive into this wonderful yet bleak world of Hiroshima. After a silent tragic death, An aging, widowed actor seeks a chauffeur during the tour of his play. The actor turns to his go-to mechanic, who ends up recommending a 20-year-old girl. Despite their initial misgivings, a very special relationship develops between the two. Later, they discover the true meaning of love, death, and accepting the person on the actions they do to keep their relationship intact. This film was very special right from the beginning. It's slow yet there's every movement or something going on in each scene. The atmosphere of this film is something else. The cinematography captures the emotions of the character very well with the environment and open space to feel big. Every scene feels like the characters are small or big. They have depth in each shot of the film. The cinematography is beautiful and I love the colors used with the main ones being blue and red. It's all wide still shots that give every scene something gigantic. It's very beautiful. The driving scenes didn't drag the film at all. I was worried going into this film that the driving scenes would be too long or boring. But I didn't find it boring. The cinematography and different angles of shots helped the scenes distinguish themselves from other driving scenes. The night scenes were beautiful and when the two main leads have their dialogues during the car scenes, it makes those scenes less boring and more interesting. A lot of great editing choices and having each scene breathe to get invested with these characters. The music of the film was great as well and pretty calming if you watch this film at night. It's a slow yet calm film and the production itself was fantastic. The story was quite interesting. A lot of unexpected plot movements that kept every scene fresh and kept the conflict much stronger. The story was pretty strong in how it explores the grief of the death of Yusuke's wife but also does not accept the fact that she cheated on him. The film explores denial and wanting to move on from this tragedy. Plus, the play that he is directing is from a script that his wife wrote or gave ideas for creating the play. That's interesting and it helps more with the story on whether he should continue the play or cancel it because it's a play that he seems less interested in directing. The story progresses throughout the film with unexpected turns and interesting locations that makes every scene distinct. Luckily the story does end in a satisfying way and it's a wholesome ending for both main characters. The characters in this film were pretty great. The two characters Yusuke and Misaki were very strong in the film. At first, their chemistry wasn't strong, but their final scene together was very strong and rewarding. That scene was very emotional and helps Yusuke finally to grieve his wife's death and finally move on towards his play and other future projects. For Misaki, it also helped her to take time to grieve her mother's death and her current state of life. Both characters were very strong and the writing was very great. A lot of character development not just on Yusuke but on Misaki. Their performances were very great and compelling. The side characters were quite surprising and very good. Masaki Okada as Koji was excellent in the film. His performance was quite interesting and his character was written like a mystery yet respectable. Jin Dae-Yeon as Gong Yoon-soo was great in the film. His performance was pretty chill and his character was compelling. He helped Yusuke with the play and the dinner scene with the two leads was calming and good. It helped Yusuke see a different relationship and think about his past even more. The rest of the cast was great and the screenplay was very strong in this film. I cannot forget about the director. Ryusuke Hamaguchi did a fantastic job with his direction of the film on bringing these elements into something much deeper yet big through the visuals and characters. It's more about grief but also re-finding your love and emotion to keep moving on. The directing was fantastic and his vision of the story was very clear throughout the film. I also cannot forget about the car. The red car looks dope and I really want to drive it now. The red color pops out in every frame and it stands out in the environment and landscape of the cities. It's pretty cool. Overall, this film was surprisingly amazing and calming. The film however kind of drags a little bit too long with its runtime. The driving scenes are cool but they could've been cut shorter. The opening scene was quite interesting but it felt dead for some reason. I can't find the reason behind it but it was too slow and I didn't connect to the characters right on. There are some scenes that could include music to make the scene a little bit more alive. Koji's storyline didn't feel wrapped even though it did, I felt like there could've been one more scene to give a conclusion. There were some themes that were explored but it wasn't fully explored. Plus, this film takes time to get to know the characters. You need patience in order to fully experience the film to receive those emotions and payoff in the end. The ending felt very rewarding and conclusive that it felt like a true cinematic experience. The ending play was pretty good but in my opinion, I wish it connected back to Misaki and Yusuke but the scene itself was very well performed. Overall, this film was amazing. Filled with great performances, excellent writing, amazing directing, and beautiful cinematography. It's a slow film for sure, but the payoff is great and you really need to focus on the dialogue to understand these characters. Plus the visuals. It was definitely a cinematic experience and emotional as well. I don't know how the director did it but wow, he definitely pulled it off very well and I am now interested in watching his other works. This film was fantastic. Now Streaming on HBO Max. Vizeit Score: "A-" Copyright © 2022. Vizeit Studios. All Rights Reserved. Review Written By: Everardo Garcia Jr.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
Copyright © 2024 Vizeit Reviews. All Rights Reserved. |