Guiding Lights: What Inspired Drive My Car, Cruella, and More

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car, inspired by Opening Night The layered meditation on acting in Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s three-hour-long masterwork, makes constant reference to a cinematic legend. John Cassavetes’s groundbreaking focus on intimate stories in films like 1977’s Opening Night was the guiding light for Hamaguchi, even as artists ranging from Anton Chekhov to Abbas Kiarostami to Haruki Murakami (whose short stories are the basis of the film) informed more specific aspects. Like the Cassavetes film, Drive My Car centers around the making of a play, in this case a production of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Life… Read Full Article