[KineJapan] Drive My Car

[Keung Yoon "Becky" Bae]

I’ve read in interviews that Hamaguchi Ryusuke originally intended to shoot
the entire film in Busan, with some Korean staff and actors, but the plans
went awry because of a COVID spike. The interview mentioned he had been
interested in a collaboration since his school, Tokyo Geidai and the Korean
Academy of Film had had some coproductions.

On Wed, Mar 16, 2022 at 05:45 Eija Niskanen via KineJapan <
kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:

> Hi!
> I saw it for the 2nd time yesterday  - this time on big screen for a press
> screening in Helsinki. I wonder what you make of the last scene happening
> in Korea? Or was there some Korean funding involved, which demanded some
> location shooting in South Korea?
> Eia
>
> ke 2. helmik. 2022 klo 4.20 Goddard, Timothy via KineJapan (
> kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu) kirjoitti:
>
>> For those of you who were interested in tonight’s webinar but were unable
>> to attend, an edited recording will be available here:
>>
>>
>>
>> https://www.japanhousela.com/happenings/events/
>>
>>
>>
>> —Tug
>>
>>
>>
>>  —
>>
>> Dr. Timothy Unverzagt Goddard 高大同
>>
>> Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures
>>
>> Yale University
>>
>> 320 York Street, Room 112
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/320+York+Street,+Room+112+%0D%0A+New+Haven,+CT+06511?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/320+York+Street,+Room+112+%0D%0A+New+Haven,+CT+06511?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>
>> New Haven, CT 06511
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/320+York+Street,+Room+112+%0D%0A+New+Haven,+CT+06511?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>
>> https://eall.yale.edu/people/timothy-unverzagt-goddard
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From: *KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of
>> Miryam Sas via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
>> *Date: *Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 4:04 PM
>> *To: *Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
>> *Cc: *Miryam Sas <mbsas at berkeley.edu>
>> *Subject: *Re: [KineJapan] Drive My Car
>>
>> It looks like the series of talks is being recorded--at least from what I
>> can gather from the recordings of the previous symposia in the series.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Feb 1, 2022 at 10:37 AM Roger Macy via KineJapan <
>> kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>>
>> I agree that the audition scenes are striking, particularly that of the
>> signing mute character, but my memory is that Hamaguchi allowed himself
>> some medium close-ups there.  I’m pretty sure I would have walked out of
>> the (diegetically) ‘real’ theatre performance if confronted with an
>> enormous screen for the surtitles with two very small actors at the bottom
>> of it, who weren’t ‘speaking’ a common language.
>>
>> 5 pm PST is pretty late in old Europe but I’d be interested whether
>> Hamaguchi felt a detachment, or commitment, to that style of theatre
>> direction.
>>
>> Roger
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tuesday, 1 February 2022, 17:28:25 GMT, Goddard, Timothy via KineJapan
>> <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear Marcus,
>>
>>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> 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:
>>
>>
>>
>> https://www.japanhousela.com/events/ma-in-japanese-film/
>> <https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.japanhousela.com%2Fevents%2Fma-in-japanese-film%2F&data=04%7C01%7Ctug2%40connect.yale.edu%7C0adb58d7726547dec47508d9e5c67cd3%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637793462932174223%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=jx5DSztD3unOk1GuKwn1mc0rEJPykJJ734KUzDJzI58%3D&reserved=0>
>>
>>
>>
>> He’ll be joined in conversation by Hitoshi Abe of UCLA and Ken Tadashi
>> Oshima of UW.
>>
>>
>>
>> —Tug
>>
>>
>>
>> —
>>
>> Dr. Timothy Unverzagt Goddard 高大同
>>
>> Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures
>>
>> Yale University
>>
>> 320 York Street, Room 112
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/320+York+Street,+Room+112+%0D%0A+New+Haven,+CT+06511?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/320+York+Street,+Room+112+%0D%0A+New+Haven,+CT+06511?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>
>> New Haven, CT 06511
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/320+York+Street,+Room+112+%0D%0A+New+Haven,+CT+06511?entry=gmail&source=g>
>>
>> https://eall.yale.edu/people/timothy-unverzagt-goddard
>>
>>
>>
>> *From: *KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of
>> Markus Nornes via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
>> *Date: *Tuesday, February 1, 2022 at 12:11 PM
>> *To: *Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
>> *Cc: *Markus Nornes <nornes at umich.edu>
>> *Subject: *[KineJapan] Drive My Car
>>
>> I finally saw Drive My Car the other day. It's one of those films that
>> dwells inside you long afterwards. Loved it.
>>
>>
>>
>> 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_.
>>
>>
>>
>> Hamaguchi builds a curious self-reflexivity into *Drive My Car.* 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).
>>
>>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> So this got me wondering. *Drive My Car* would seem to embody the legacy
>> of what Aaron called the "detached style" of 90s/turn of the century
>> Japanese film—films like *Eureka,* another quiet film about trauma,
>> memory, and healing. I won't rehearse Aaron's argument here (if you haven't
>> encountered it, here is a nice gloss
>> <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%7C0adb58d7726547dec47508d9e5c67cd3%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637793462932174223%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=sne4P7yw9nRRjlfu3bh5NqsK4tcVC%2FVRNVcSVnPnRt8%3D&reserved=0>)
>>   But I suspect Aaron has something to say about this?
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm very curious about how other people are experiencing this film.
>>
>>
>>
>> Fun Fact: I drove that very car back in the late 80s, and sold it to none
>> other than Darrell Davis.
>>
>>
>>
>> Markus
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ---
>>
>> *Markus Nornes*
>>
>> *Professor of Asian Cinema*
>>
>> *Interim Chair, Dept. of Asian Languages and Culture*
>>
>> Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages
>> and Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design
>>
>>
>>
>> *Homepage: **http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/*
>> <https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww-personal.umich.edu%2F~nornes%2F&data=04%7C01%7Ctug2%40connect.yale.edu%7C0adb58d7726547dec47508d9e5c67cd3%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637793462932174223%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=5iphfIg%2Bw6%2FTgXD1YpSuOhyuRL8pHY3OsXv7wIpF6vI%3D&reserved=0>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Department of Film, Television and Media 6348 North Quad 105 S. State
>> Street
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/105+S.+State+Street+%0D%0AAnn+Arbor,+MI+48109-1285?entry=gmail&source=g>
>> Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/105+S.+State+Street+%0D%0AAnn+Arbor,+MI+48109-1285?entry=gmail&source=g>*
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> *Miryam Sas*
>> Professor, Comparative Literature, Film & Media, Japanese Arts
>>
>> University of California, Berkeley
>>
>>
>>
>> *Feeling Media: Potentiality and the Afterlife of Art *(Duke University
>> Press, forthcoming Fall 2022 )
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>>
>
> --
> Eija Niskanen
> Programming director
> Helsinki Cine Aasia, March 12.-15.2020
> www.helsinkicineaasia.fi
> +358-50-355 3189
>
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