The Oscar is recognized as the main award of cinema, annually awarding the achievements that occur within the film industry, creating every year great expectations about which will be the next filme to take the highest prize in cinema.
This award for many years was focused only on Hollywood cinema, the main pole of North American film production, but the truth is that the audiovisual artistic market is much bigger than that, being increasingly recognized.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts' first step in this direction was the creation of the Best Foreign Film award, a category renamed International Film, recognizing the value of cinema made outside the US.
Not as something exotic and distinct, but rather as productions to be seen with importance, recognizing the different cultural trends present in various countries, just as a moving company can handle different markets.
But in addition to the international film category, it is also possible to see greater recognition of these productions with a global aspect, with them increasingly being nominated for other categories within the biggest cinema awards.
Brazil itself managed to have some recognized productions, such as Fernanda Montenegro being nominated for the best actress award for Central do Brasil (2019), and Cidade de Deus (2001) being nominated for four golden statuettes.
But what happened only occasionally, with a rather fragmented history, like a delivery company dealing with cargas fracionadas, there was a change regarding the recognition of international cinema.
These productions also began to occupy other important categories in the awards. And in the 2022 edition, the great recognition was the Japanese Drive My Car, marking another outstanding victory for Asian cinema.
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The impact of this victory for Japanese cinema
One of the purposes in relation to the international film award is to put a special spotlight on productions made by different countries, which would hardly have the same kind of prominence if they were restricted to recognition in their respective countries.
The globalization of the market as a whole has also helped international cinema to gain a greater reception, as access to such productions becomes increasingly practical with the help of streaming services.
The same type of commercial opening can allow an agency focused on assessoria ambiental services to expand its scope of operations, by having tools that permitem the extension of such a business to different markets.
In the case of film awards, there is another factor related to a greater number of recognition of foreign productions, which is the greater number of representatives among voters, with professionals from different countries.
Specifically in the 2022 edition, it was possible to find films from different markets being recognized in different categories, such as a production from Denmark nominated for best animation and documentary, and one from Norway as best original screenplay.
But none had the same prominence as the Japanese Drive My Car, which ended up being nominated for four awards, including Best International Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, but the highlight was the nomination for the top prize of the night.
The Asian production was among the ten main films, to compete for the Best Film award, which ended up going to No Rhythm of the Heart (CODA), the American version of a French production, in a way also recognizing the strength of international cinema.
But it's not as if this defeat allowed for only one conception, like a reflection on a smooth , since the mere presence of Drive My Car already marked a significant event for Japanese cinema, yet it also won the international award.
A guaranteed recognition on top of other great productions, namely:
- The Hand of God (Italy);
- The Worst Person in the World (Norway);
- The Happiness of Small Things (Bhutan);
- Flee: No Place To Call Home (Denmark).
And the victory of Drive My Car becomes even more impactful by continuing the recognition process of Asian cinema as a whole, which has been on the rise following the main prize win in 2020 by the Korean film Parasite.
But just as it is necessary to make a soil sample for analysis of land quality, it is also important to carefully understand what the film is about, in order to understand the reasons why it was recognized.
What is the synopsis of Drive My Car?
The film follows actor and theater director Yusuke Kafuku, played by Japanese actor Hidetoshi Nishijima. He tries to run a show while dealing with grief after his wife's death, even though they had a troubled relationship in life.
The director's chosen way to his lines is to listen to his text while driving, however a rule established by his new theater group requires the presence of a professional driver, with a young woman having to assume the keys to his car.
The plot was nominated for the category of adapted screenplay because it is an adaptation of a short story by Japanese author Haruki Murakami in a work that deals with the weight of dealing with the loss of a loved one, especially if there are unfinished business.
A touching and reflective film about life, bringing its own vision of human relationships. The work has a script and direction by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, a Japanese director who has already been recognized by world cinema for other works.
Being an interesting name to follow his filmography, even though it is necessary to rely on a stainless steel filter and a nearby bathroom, as he also stands out for his high-duration productions, straying in some works from the standard average of two hours.
Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Background
In the same year that Drive My Car was released in theaters, in 2021, another production by the director also hit the screens, the drama Wheel of Fortune, which follows the lives of three women and how their relationships end up intertwining.
This film was recognized by the Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival), receiving the Silver Bear from the jury, the festival's grand prize, while Drive My Car was awarded by the Cannes festival in the category of Best Screenplay.
But the director's first work to receive a certain worldwide attention was Happy Hour: Happy Hour, from 2015, standing out mainly because of its extensive five exhibitions, functioning almost like a miniseries, but continuously.
Returning to the awards for Drive My Car, in addition to the Oscar and recognition at Cannes, the film also received the foreign film award at celebrations such as the Golden Globes and the Critic's Choice Awards.
And as positive as the recognition is, the same doesn't seem to have happened during the Oscars celebration night.
The controversy surrounding the victory of Drive My Car
The Oscars night, which took place this year on March 27, was marked by controversial situations, with a physical ime involving actors Chris Rock and Will Smith, but the award was also criticized for the way it treated its artists.
When an event focused on environmental issues is held, it is expected that there will be interest and respect from the audience regarding the specialist in consultoria ambiental invited to speak in that space.
The same attention you expect when you receive an award as important as the Oscar, but that's not what the Japanese Ryusuke Hamaguchi received. After receiving the statuette in the category of international film, the director was practically ignored.
His speech was quickly cut short, with the production turning up the sound in the background while he still mainly thanked the film's distributors, who allowed such a story to reach the entire world.
He still tried to continue talking, but was interrupted again as he thanked the actors in the production, and then had to leave the stage. A negative event that ended up being overshadowed by other controversies that occurred in the biggest night of the cinema.
But for those who actually intend to acknowledge Hamaguchi's work, know that Drive My Car is already available on the art film streaming platform MUBI, where it is also possible to find Asako I & II (2018), another work by the director.
Some sessions of Drive My Car can be found in theaters, after its recognition as an international film, you just need to get used to the forro metálico present in your cinema, since the production has a duration of three hours.
