“Drive My Car” An intellectual exploration of “words” that transcends the “walls” of dialogue

Adding a wide variety of “walls” for interaction with others to people

In "Drive My Car," there are many invisible "walls of dialogue". The main story is probably the story of Kafuku, who lost his voice. Cut off from communicating with his wife due to death, he can only listen to her voice on tape. What's more, that voice is for memorizing and practicing the lines from "Uncle Vanya." The sound is not an expression of my feelings.

Additionally, there was a certain "problem" between the two, and Oto had been having an affair (probably with multiple partners) before his death. Even though Kafuku knew about this, he did not ask who the other person was or why he did such a thing, nor did he say that he knew about his wife's infidelity, and Oto departed with a lack of communication. Put it away. Two years later, Kafuku still lives with regrets and questions about what kind of person his wife was and what she was thinking.

Misaki, who will serve as his driver, believes that the reason she left her hometown is due to a lack of communication. She has not been able to build a healthy relationship with her mother, and this has left her feeling angry. Takatsuki doesn't have a good sense of distance from people, can't control his anger, and tries to get physical with others as a way to understand them. He is also a person who suffers from poor communication.

“Drive My Car” (C)2021 “Drive My Car” Production Committee

And here, Yoon-soo (Jin Dae-young) from South Korea, who is a staff member of the theater festival, and Yoon-ah (Park Yoo-rim), who is performing on the Kabok stage, become involved. Yuna uses Korean sign language to communicate with others, so when Kafuku tries to communicate with her, it requires multiple steps: having Korean sign language translated into Japanese, and then telling and listening. Kafuku's plays are composed of nine different languages, with each speaker speaking in their native language, and the other cast members also have different roots.

``Uncle Vanya'' and ``Waiting for Godot'' are also works in which poor communication was the key. Tragedy befalls each character in ``Uncle Vanya,'' but at the same time, one wonders, ``Could everything really have been avoided?'' It can be said that this is a story in which misfortune spreads due to the loss of smooth communication. Needless to say, in ``Waiting for Godot'', communication with Godot, which is the topic of conversation, cannot be established (this characteristic is also carried over into movies such as `` Kirishima, Club Activity Quit '' (12)).

As the title ``Men Without Women'' suggests, each short story is characterized by ``absence'' and the accompanying ``disappearance of dialogue'' at the time of the original work, but Director Hamaguchi expands and deepens these elements. That's my impression. In this way, ``Drive My Car'' clearly presents the ``communication hurdles'' inherent in each type of communication, and then looks at how they can be overcome.

A world where stories are used as a medium for interacting with others