I spare the reader the synopsis as it has been told by other reviewers, but 3 years after the release I feel compelled to add my 5/5 star rating. Not many movies have been able to captivate me that strongly as this one. At first being confusing and wildly unusual (as every piece from the author Murakami) the story began to envelope me, almost unnoticed, then more and more. The personal stories of suffering become more about how do deal with it, transcending into universal truths. The theatre play beautifully echoes this development. The ending is very satisfying in that it gives peace to the main character's struggle, showing a way how to survive personal ordeals. For those with attention span deficit the movie may be too long, also too complex. For my part, it needed the time to grow and find a conclusion. Not a single minute wasted.

Another thought provoking Japanese 🇯🇵 movie, where every line is profound.

El tono introspectivo en el que narra la relación entre un dramaturgo y su relación con su chofer particular, puede ser un poco agotador, por su metraje de cerca de tres horas y su ritmo relajado. De cualquier manera, deja un cierto buen sabor de boca.

Hamaguchi lets you live the inner life of his characters, and you just wish the movie would never end, as in 'Happy Hour.'

It's like a therapy session mixed with a remake of Uncle Vanya. The characters suffer from splitting and denial.

It lasted like forever! One of those movies that never end, very slow. I liked the story, and the acting, but there were times where I actually fell asleep cause nothing relevant happened. If you are on the mood for a slow burning drama then go ahead.

Yeah I suppose this could have been half as long but the movie slows everything down deliberately (hence why the opening credits don't happen until about 45 minutes into the runtime) so that we can linger on the the characters and small observational moments that most movies don't have the time to indulge.

I really wanted to like this movie. With 15 minutes left all I could think is that I hope the credits run for 12 min. I just wanted it to end and it wouldn't. I suppose it's touching in some places, but mostly it's just long and painfully boring.

artsy scribble sometimes elegant and smooth

It has very good philosophical and artistic background. Every shot is beautiful and it gives you the perfect cinematic experience. The only downside is its long duration.

It's perhaps overly indulgent but that's not to say nothing happens. There's a whole lot going on and I appreciated the change of pase from most other movies. And there's certainly no denying it's quite beauty and impeccable craftsmanship.

An absolutely sublime but extraordinarily long and complex film made from the adapted short story by Haruki Murakami. Drive My Car tells the story of actor and director Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima); his complex sexual and muse-like relationship with his wife Oto (Reika Kirishima); and then slowly coming to terms with his grief after her sudden death. Two years later, he is commissioned to direct an production of Chekov's Uncle Vanya in Hiroshima. There, whilst directing his incredibly ambitious multilingual production, he slowly forms an unlikely friendship with a young female chauffeur Misaki Watari (Toko Miura) assigned to drive him back and forth from rehearsals in his equisite vintage Saab 900. In the car, Kafuku listens to tapes of his late wife reading lines from the play in the car, processing his grief as he gradually opens up to Misaki, Lots of huge positives frim this utterly compelling Japanese film, but it will probably benefit from re-watching several times to fully appreciate its immense subtleties. For me though, the real stand-out was Lee Yoo Na (Park U Rim) a deaf (or at least mute) actress using Korean Sign Language in both play rehersals and the concluding public production. She creates the incredibly poignent (and silent) penultimate scene that ‘speaks volumes’. Given all the current hype about actors (mis)using cultural appropration, I can imagine a non-signing actress playing a signing character being a problem for some. I also dont know any sign language (let alone Korean SL) to be able to judge its accuracy when used here. But for me at least, I think its sublime beauty in portraying complex language only visually in this film is simply and absolutely stunning.

Superb movie. A cinematic experience like few others I've experienced.

omg i tried and failed to finish this like countless times and finally dropped it after watching halfway through and was fucking bored af every second of it omggg i have not watched smtg so incredibly dull, monotonous and boring liKE💀. The male lead although good-looking is also cringy af like what kind of acting is that I-😭💀. like even the godfather is more interesting than this😭.Ik theyre tryna go deep and shit but it completely missed the mark and idk what the critics are snorting to give this a whopping 97%, U WONT REGRET MISSING THIS LMAO

C+. I imagine not everyone would be patient with this films length and pacing but it sure is a film thats very human and unforgettable, if you get it i guess. A unique exploration about attachment & loss.

Impressive to have read the short story on which this film is based and see how they transformed it into a three-hour duration. So Murakami felt the time to feel the scenery and the focus on the car being driven through the highways of Japan. Not to mention Yusuke and his strange way of dealing with the reality of him, while Misaki seems to have no emotion whatsoever. These characteristics make both characters interesting to study throughout the story because the only thing that unites them, at first, is a red car.

I get what they were going for, but it was soooooooo slow and boring. The sex scenes were corny AF.

Clichés abound but it also has plenty of insights on acting and the relation between art and reality.

Intense and complex, though not enough drama and a bit too long

Brace yourself for a long, slow-burn, three-hour sitting as Drive My Car meanders through complex layers of dialogue, emotions, mental anguish and road trips. Entertaining - it is not, but as art form, it is right up there among the best - beautiful cinematography, sensitive directing, an engaging screenplay, comprehensive editing (thumbs up to director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi for avoiding the use of flashback scenes) and the brilliant performance of a multi-lingual cast. There is so much to digest here.