Andrew Dalton
Associated Press Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The emotional epic “Drive My Car” from Japan won an Oscar for best international feature film on March 27.
Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s film becomes Japan’s fifth Oscar-winning film and the first since 2008’s “Leaving.”
When Hamaguchi took the stage at the Dolby Theater, the triumph of three hours of grief, connection, and artistic journey spawned his own miniseries.
He paused for applause before the director of the show started playing music prompting him to leave the stage, but he objected.
“I want to thank all the members of the Academy for bringing us here,” Hamaguchi said, before thanking the film’s distributor for bringing it to America.
“Wait a minute,” he said, and the audience laughed. He then thanked his actors, “especially Toko Miura, who drives a fine Saab 900 in the film,” and stopped again for applause. Another musical cue followed, and Hamaguchi tried to start over again, but he was taken off stage.
Many on social media have condemned what they see as the current disrespectful treatment of the director.
With four Oscar nominations, including the best picture nomination for the first Japanese film, and several early wins during awards season to make it look like the best picture front-runner, no one has a crush on Drive My Car. Victory surprised.
“Driving My Car” is adapted from a short story by the novelist Haruki Murakami, and is produced in multiple languages for Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya”, played by Hidetoshi Nishishima, the actor Kafu Yusuke. Still mourning the death of his wife, Kafuku led the rehearsal, where the actors sat and read lines flatly, absorbing the language for days before the performance.
Hamaguchi, 43, who also released the anthology film “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” last year, is known worldwide for his films, but he was not well known in Hollywood until he won the Best Screenplay award at Cannes last year’s film festival began to raise eyebrows about “driving”. my car”.
