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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Dear Marcus,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Glad to hear that you liked the film so much. I saw it at Lincoln Center in New York back in early December, and it had a similar effect on me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Hamaguchi will be participating in a webinar organized by Japan House Los Angeles this evening that might be of interest to you and other KineJapan members:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="https://www.japanhousela.com/events/ma-in-japanese-film/">https://www.japanhousela.com/events/ma-in-japanese-film/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Heˇ¦ll be joined in conversation by Hitoshi Abe of UCLA and Ken Tadashi Oshima of UW.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">ˇXTug<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Garamond",serif">ˇX<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Garamond",serif">Dr. Timothy Unverzagt Goddard
</span><span lang="ZH-TW" style="font-family:"Batang",serif">°Ş¤j¦P</span><span style="font-family:"Garamond",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Garamond",serif">Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Garamond",serif">Yale University<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Garamond",serif">320 York Street, Room 112<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Garamond",serif">New Haven, CT 06511<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://eall.yale.edu/people/timothy-unverzagt-goddard"><span style="font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#0563C1">https://eall.yale.edu/people/timothy-unverzagt-goddard</span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">From:
</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces@mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Markus Nornes via KineJapan <kinejapan@mailman.yale.edu><br>
<b>Date: </b>Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 12:11 PM<br>
<b>To: </b>Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <kinejapan@mailman.yale.edu><br>
<b>Cc: </b>Markus Nornes <nornes@umich.edu><br>
<b>Subject: </b>[KineJapan] Drive My Car<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I finally saw Drive My Car the other day. It's one of those films that dwells inside you long afterwards. Loved it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The rhythm and pace of the film is really special. Actors deliver lines in a slightly flat tone and regular cadence. They break into "acting" when they audition, in advanced rehearsal or on stage, which is
probably what makes those scenes so striking. I have to admit I hate films-about-theater, and one reason is the style of performance comes off as so stilted and wrong (have yet to see Hamaguchi's Intimacies, but I'd probably dislike it). But this was one film-about-theater
that quite mysteriously _worked_. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Hamaguchi builds a curious self-reflexivity into
<i>Drive My Car.</i> The weird style of rehearsal built into the narrative was also what he subjected his actors to in preproduction. And, judging from comments by a couple of them, they really didn't know what to make of it (the actors are disciplined if they
deliver lines with any degree of emoting). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">There is a key line delivered by a mute character to the theater director that goes something like, "Unlike the others, I always have to struggle with words and communicating meaning, so I understand how what
matters is not always in the words. I understand what you are doing." This is definitely what's going on in this film; at the same time, I couldn't help noticing the climax is ultimately...wordy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">So this got me wondering. <i>
Drive My Car</i> would seem to embody the legacy of what Aaron called the "detached style" of 90s/turn of the century Japanese filmˇXfilms like
<i>Eureka,</i> another quiet film about trauma, memory, and healing. I won't rehearse Aaron's argument here (if you haven't encountered it,
</span><a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.academia.edu%2F217600%2FRecognizing_Others_in_a_New_Japanese_Cinema%3Femail_work_card%3Dtitle&data=04%7C01%7Ctug2%40connect.yale.edu%7C23ffb038eb5f4e1cc41008d9e5a5dbc4%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637793322789503154%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=haOHT8o1V1ooUF8UvG2xcZojiQ5zOdoYK%2BZD3OAx7J4%3D&reserved=0"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">here
is a nice gloss</span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt">) But I suspect Aaron has something to say about this?<span class="gmail-apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I'm very curious about how other people are experiencing this film. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Fun Fact: I drove that very car back in the late 80s, and sold it to none other than Darrell Davis. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Markus<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#888888">--- </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Courier New";color:#274E13"><img border="0" width="55" height="96" style="width:.5729in;height:1.0in" id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1YYQZdrswh1HD_xCKXSzMs3lLalKxLVgs&revid=0By9QGX7UmiKRSEdLZ0xoVDNEM2xLclB3R0pDbk93ek8yeEtVPQ"></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Courier New";color:#274E13">Markus Nornes</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Courier New";color:#38761D">Professor of Asian Cinema</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Courier New";color:#38761D">Interim Chair, Dept. of Asian Languages and Culture</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Courier New";color:#38761D">Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:#B6D7A8">Homepage:
</span></u></b><a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww-personal.umich.edu%2F~nornes%2F&data=04%7C01%7Ctug2%40connect.yale.edu%7C23ffb038eb5f4e1cc41008d9e5a5dbc4%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637793322789503154%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=i97gnXCiNQUQOZR3zujk04HrCNDgmyWonKkTAC%2BuDU0%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:white;background:#B6D7A8">http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/</span></b></a><b><u><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#6AA84F"><br>
</span></u></b><b><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Courier New";color:#93C47D">Department of Film, Television and Media<br>
6348 North Quad<br>
105 S. State Street<br>
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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