I decided to do a rewatch for this, mostly because I wondered how different my experience and understanding of the film would be the 2nd time around having read through so much of Murakami's works already. I can definitely say that the 2nd watch was so much more fulfilling and exactly as emotional as I remembered it (or maybe I just cry too easily). As for Murakami in relation to film adaptations: while the film does change quite a bit from the original story (especially the bit about Uncle Vanya being performed multilingually), I feel like the director (Ryusuke Hamaguchi) did a fantastic job of capturing the quintessential "Murakami journey".
Something I noticed was that the film direction was pretty much exactly in the style of Murakami that I'm used to by now. The general scene is mundane, boring, slow, and there is no suspense or build up to any major plot points: Oto's death, Kafuku's car crash, Takatsuki's arrest, and more. Everything just happens, and most of the "action" or progression in the film comes through in the subtle interactions between characters and the context constantly running beneath dialogue, forcing the viewer to become more intimate with the characters and to realize along with them. I also think I prefer the visual medium - while Murakami's writing usually takes us along Boku's point of view, it feels refreshing to be able to fully account for the experiences of other supporting characters such as Misaki, and to understand them in their own contexts, as opposed to brushing them off as pillar supports to the main character.
And although it's an adaptation of just one short story, the film encompasses plenty of Murakami themes: the first one we discussed in this class was the recurring idea of mirrors and their reflections being a sort of view into the alter ego, and I think the film portrayed this amazingly through the actors' performances. The juxtaposition between Takatsuki and Kafuku as Kafuku's inner struggle between emotional control versus expression in relation to his grief and regret over Oto's death was able to be illustrated not just through dialogue/interactions (the way we'd read it in a short story), but also in the cinematography and direction (blocking, focus, etc.), and I found it a joy to be able to piece out this relationship not just with words on a page, but with an actual picture before me.
Another huge one is the idea of the "other world" and the journey required to get there. It seems obvious to me now that Kafuku's car acts as a sort of "in-between", where characters inside it sit between reality and that "other world", where they're closer to their inner thoughts or "true selves" to assist in the reconciliation of their struggles. Takatsuki's conversation about the Yamaga story with Kafuku in the backseat, and Kafuku's subsequent move to the passenger seat is a perfect example of this. Eventually, both Kafuku and Misaki also make the full journey to the "other world": a long drive, ferry ride, more driving, and a climb through snow to a deserted and isolated location allowing them both to reach their conflict's resolutions, and I just kept thinking about how similar it was to Boku's journey up to the farmhouse in A Wild Sheep Chase. There's so much more, and I think this Reddit post is a fantastic analysis of the film and its themes: https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/tkcqq2/drive_my_car_thoughts_and_theories/
I'm just glad I found an excuse to watch it again, and it helps me appreciate Murakami more when I've kind of started looking at him and his writing in a more cynical fashion. I think it also helps that the actors involved were so good in their roles ESPECIALLY Park Yu-rim (who played Yoon-a - how can someone who hasn't spoken a single word out loud turn my eyes into wells?).
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