When the opening credits for this film rolled at roughly 40 minutes in, I knew I was witnessing something special. Drive My Car is a film that is co-written and directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi and is Japan’s entry for the 94th Academy Awards (the Oscars). Drive My Car clocks in at 3 hours long and is simply a breeze to get through. From the opening moments the film simply grabs you and keeps you invested for its entire runtime. The film is very performance driven, due to this factor if there was a single weak performance the whole film would fall apart. So, its excellent that everyone in the cast gives a strong performance and is simply fantastic. The film has beautiful cinematography, there’s lots of driving in this film and every driving scene is just so visual stunning. I also love how information is presented using cinematography. It’s simply just a great looking film.
The story of film is unique and interesting, there’s a very strange opening that feels out of place when watching it but makes more sense as the film progresses, but the story is excellent and goes in directions I didn’t expect. There’s a reason the credits roll 40 minutes in and by that point you are on board and ready to be taken on a great journey. Drive My Car is simply a great film that I hope more people will check it out. It is long journey, but it is worth the drive.
