Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Ryusuke Hamaguchi is a Japanese film director and screenwriter whose films include Drive My Car, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, and Happy Hour.
Drive My Car: A 2021 Japanese drama film directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and adapted from a Haruki Murakami short story. Its slow-burn account of grief and rehearsal brought Hamaguchi international recognition.
Theater of the Oppressed: A participatory theatrical practice developed by Augusto Boal to examine and rehearse responses to oppression. Hamaguchi used its exercises in Happy Hour to help nonprofessional performers listen and respond closely.
Tōko Miura: A Japanese actor who played Misaki Watari in Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car. Her restrained performance anchors the film's driver-passenger relationship and its gradual disclosures.
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film: An annual Academy Award recognizing a feature film produced outside the United States with substantial non-English dialogue. Drive My Car won the award in 2022, giving Hamaguchi broad visibility in the United States.
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy: A 2021 film by Ryusuke Hamaguchi comprising three stories shaped by coincidence and miscommunication. Its triptych makes chance encounters and conversational turns central to the film's structure.
Screen acting: The practice of performing for a camera, where gesture, voice, and timing are recorded in detail. Hamaguchi's rehearsal methods shape how actors deliver dialogue and react to one another on camera.
Hidetoshi Nishijima: A Japanese actor who played theater director Yūsuke Kafuku in Drive My Car. His role connects the film's themes of acting, grief, and directing to Hamaguchi's own practice.
Cannes Film Festival: An annual international film festival held in Cannes, France, that awards the Palme d'Or and other prizes. Drive My Car won the festival's Best Screenplay award in 2021.
Happy Hour: A 2015 Japanese drama film by Ryusuke Hamaguchi about four friends in Kobe facing changes in their relationships. This long ensemble film established Hamaguchi's patient attention to friendship and everyday speech.
Rehearsal: Preparation in which performers repeatedly practice a scene, text, or movement before presentation. Repeated readings and adjustments are central to the actor-director work depicted in Drive My Car.