"What can we do? We must live our lives. Yes, we shall live, Uncle Vanya. We shall live through the long procession of days before us, and through the long evenings; we shall patiently bear the trials that fate imposes on us; we shall work for others without rest, both now and when we are old; and when our last hour comes we shall meet it humbly, and there, beyond the grave, we shall say that we have suffered and wept, that our life was bitter, and God will have pity on us."
-Anton Chekhov. Uncle Vanya
Hello everyone! I'm back this month (am I a monthly blogger now?) with a movie I've been looking forward to watching since the beginning of the season: Drive My Car. Besides its massive critical praise and the number of awards it received, I was initially drawn to its title. I’m a big enthusiast of road movies, or any kind of movie that tells the journey of a character who reaches a better understanding of themselves, and Drive My Car was the perfect film for this case. While Hamaguchi takes his time exploring the characters, it finally pays off with a powerful climax scene in the end. The excerpt I used at the beginning of the post was taken from the said part, and not only was it my favourite scene of the film but also it was one of the best ones I've ever seen before. Thanks for joining me and I hope you enjoy reading the post!
While the film was adapted from Haruki Murakami's short story of the same title, we could tell that Hamuguchi played a lot with the narrative and added a richer background to the characters. I remember reading the story before seeing the movie and genuinely wondering how Hamaguchi would adapt it to the big screen since the story didn't catch my attention, it was simply a man looking back at his memories of his deceased wife. The story hardly depicted his wife (Oto) as a mysterious character, so I didn't have any urge to learn more about her. In the film, however, Oto sits at the very centre of two characters grieving her, unraveling some parts about her that neither of them ever knew. In the end, I was blown away by Hamaguchi's ability to give so much depth to characters and intelligently weaving the story with Chekhov's Uncle Vanya - which is an essential read before or after seeing the film. Even more important than reading the original story perhaps.
Kafuku, Oto's husband, is our main perspective throughout the film. It's difficult to follow Kafuku's thoughts or aspirations since he never voices them out loud. Towards the end of the film, however, it's revealed to the audience that the characters from the play Uncle Vanya serve as a reflection of the movie's characters. Vanya's existential alienation was channeled through Kafuku, or Sonia's soothing presence was portrayed by the character Misaki, which I'll get to later on. This level of resemblance to the classic text brings a rich texture to the scenario, and makes it more satisfying to reflect on characters if you ask me.
Misaki, with her confident stance and intelligent remarks, was easily my favourite character of the movie. She initially appears as Kafuku's personal chauffeur, and slowly befriends him after sharing a striking tragedy of her own. It was particularly meaningful that Kafuku only trusted her to use his car and no one else, which also shows the level of trust he has in her. It could also be implied that Kafuku saw Misaki as his long-lost daughter, only allowing her to see the darkest corners of his soul.
Frankly, I found the bond between Kafuku and Misaki more meaningful than that of his wife, because the former symbolizes the never-ending hope one must live with while the latter symbolizes grief. It's also worth mentioning that both Kafuku and Misaki have to continue their lives with the mysteries their loved ones left behind: for Kafuku his wife's life choices and Misaki her mother's psyche. With this in mind, Sonia's long monologue at the end of the play makes the text even more effective.
All in all, I enjoyed Drive My Car immensely, especially after hearing Hamaguchi's
insights and reading Uncle Vanya. I was also told that Samuel Beckett's play called Waiting For Godot also handles similar themes, so it's on my reading list for sure.
I'd like to thank you so much for reading this far, and you're also welcome to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr; all with the same nickname moviesatdawn. You can also post a comment below or send your suggestions to: moviesatdawn@gmail.com. Thanks for joining me this month and I'll see you later some time in March (maybe sooner)!
TATSUKI: But Mr. Kafuku, can any of us ever perfectly understand another person? However much we may love them?
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| Chills. Every. Single. Time. |
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