Not surprisingly, the most celebrated film of the year took one of the most coveted Oscars in the world. No, this isn’t about “Power of the Dog” or the Best Picture race. We’re referring to Ryusuke Hamaguchi‘s “Drive My Car” winning the 2022 Oscar for International Film (read our review).
READ MORE: Hidetoshi Nishijima Carried The Pain Of “Drive My Car” On and Off the Set [Interview]
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe) and Best Director, the adaptation of a number of Haruki Murakami’s short stories became the fifth Japanese film to take the honor. The other films being Akira Kurosawa’s “Rashomon,” Teinosuke Kinugasa’s “Gate of Hell,” Samurai, Hiroshi Inagaki’s “The Legend of Musashi,” and, most recently, Yōjirō Takita’s “Shoplifters.” With Japan’s lastest win, it surpases Spain for third among all nations with the most wins in this category. Currently, Italy leads France 14 to 12.
“Drive My Car” debuted at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Best Screenplay Prize, FIPRESCI Prize and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. It is the sixth Cannes world premiere to win this Oscar category over the past decade. Since Cannes Hamaguchi’s acclaimed drama has won a number of critics awards including Best Film from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics. It also took the Golden Globe for Best Picture – Non-English Language, the Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film and the Gotham Award for Best International Feature.
Hamaguchi shot another film, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” in between a pandemic break for “Drive.” It won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival. It was released in Japan this past December. His next film is expected to be “Our Apprenticeship” which will be filmed in Paris and feature multiple languages.