Ryusuke Hamaguchi Explained

Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Birth Date:	16 December 1978
Birth Place:	Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
Years Active:	2001–present
Signature:	Ryusuke Hamaguchi signature.svg
Module:	Romaji: Hamaguchi Ryūsuke Hide: no

is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. An alumnus of the University of Tokyo and the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, he started gaining attention in his home country with the graduate film Passion (2008).

Hamaguchi first gained international recognition with the film Happy Hour (2015) and continued with Asako I & II (2018). In 2021, he released two films, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and Drive My Car; for the latter, he received two Academy Awards nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. He is the third Japanese director to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Director.^[1] In 2023, he released two films Evil Does Not Exist and Gift.

Career

After graduating from the University of Tokyo, Hamaguchi worked in the commercial film industry for a few years before entering the graduate program in film at Tokyo University of the Arts where he studied with and was influenced by Kiyoshi Kurosawa.^[2] His graduation film Passion was selected for the competition of the 2008 Tokyo Filmex.^{[3] [4] [5]}

With Kō Sakai, he made a three-part documentary about survivors of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, with Voices from the Waves being selected for the competition at the 2013 Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival,^[6] and Storytellers winning the Sky Perfect IDEHA Prize.^[7]

His next film, Happy Hour, was first developed while Hamaguchi was an artist in residence at KIITO Design and Creative Center Kobe in 2013.^[8] It came out of an improvisational acting workshop he held for non-professionals, with many of the film's performers having participated in the workshop.^[9] The four lead actresses shared the best actress award and the film earned a special mention for its script at the 2015 Locarno Film Festival.^[10] Hamaguchi was also given a special jury award at the 2016 Japan Movie Critic Awards,^[11] as well as a best newcomer award in the film division of the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Geijutsu Sensho Awards that year.^[12]

His Asako I & II was selected to compete for the French: [[Palme d'Or]]|italic=no at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.^{[13] [14]}

In 2021, Hamaguchi won the Silver Bear award at the Berlinale with his Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. That same year his Drive My Car won Best Picture awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, Boston Society of Film Critics, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association as well as "Best Motion Picture - Non-English Language" at the Golden Globes. Hamaguchi was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director for Drive My Car, becoming the third Japanese director to accomplish this feat.

In 2023, his film Evil Does Not Exist was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.^[15] That same year, he released the film Gift, which uses the same footage as Evil Does Not Exist (though with a different story) and is accompanied by a live score.^[16]

Influences and style

Hamaguchi has referred to himself as "purely a cinephile" and "conventionally in love with Hollywood films." He has been influenced by the works of John Cassavetes.^[17]

In April 2024, he listed his 50 favorite films for LaCinetek.^[18] His selection explores various cinema genres and periods, including works from directors such as Robert Bresson, Clint Eastwood, Howard Hawks, Edward Yang, Kenji Mizoguchi and Robert Zemeckis.

Quotes

• "To some extent, all films are fiction and documentary at the same time. I have experienced to make both, and I believe there is no such thing as pure fiction or pure documentary."^[19]
• "The actor is acting in front of the camera. What the camera captures there is a documentary about the actors, because they're doing something which happens only once."^[19]
• (On the multilingual staging in Drive My Car) "In a multilingual staging, of course, they're not understanding the meaning of the words. Instead, the body language and the voice tones is what becomes more important to convey those feelings or the emotional state of the respective actors. It becomes easier to focus and react. That's a nice way I look at it to get a more simple and strong performance."
• (On the ending of Drive My Car) "Once I talked with a big fan of Drive My Car who said that it really would have been perfect without that ending. (Laugh) Well, I think maybe the reason I ended that way is to make it a bit imperfect." "In terms of the final staging of the play in applause, if I had ended the movie at that point, presumably the audience would want to do a round of applause, and it would almost be like closing of a full circle. But for me that didn't really feel like a satisfying ending. I wanted to do something a bit more disruptive, to leave some sort of break."
• (On the ending of Drive My Car) "I have no any plans of making a sequel, but I was just sort of playing around with things at the end there. One other thing I'd like to say is that the title itself also might give a clue to how you can interpret the ending."

Political views

In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Hamaguchi signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.^{[20] [21] [22]}

Filmography

Year	Title	Original title	Director	Writer	Length (min)	Notes
2001	Go to the Movies	映画を見に行く			8	Short film
2003	Like Nothing Happened	何食わぬ顔			98	Short version 43 min
2005	The Beginning	はじまり			13	Short film
	Friend of the Night				44	Short film
2006	Scent of Memory	記憶の香り			28	Short film
	Attack	遊撃			17	Short film
2007	Solaris				90
2008	Passion				115	Graduation work at The Tokyo University of the Arts
2009	I Love Thee For Good	永遠に君を愛す			58
2010	The Depths				121	Co-written by Kôta Ôura
2011	The Sound of the Waves ^[23]	東北記録映画三部作　なみのおと			142	Documentary; co-directed by Ko Sakai
2013	Voices from the Waves - Kesennuma ^[24]	東北記録映画三部作　なみのこえ　気仙沼			109	Documentary; co-directed by Ko Sakai
	Voices from the Waves - Shinchi-machi ^[25]	東北記録映画三部作　なみのこえ　新地町			103	Documentary; co-directed by Ko Sakai
	Storytellers ^[26] ^[27]	東北記録映画三部作　うたうひと			120	Documentary; co-directed by Ko Sakai
	Intimacies ^[28]	親密さ			255	Short version 136 min
	Touching the Skin of Eeriness	不気味なものの肌に触れる			54
2015	Happy Hour	ハッピーアワー			317	Co-written by Tadashi Nohara and Tomoyuki Takahashi
2016	Heaven Is Still Far Away	天国はまだ遠い			38	Short film
2018	Asako I & II	寝ても覚めても			119	Co-written by Sachiko Tanaka
2020	Wife of a Spy	スパイの妻			115
2021	Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy	偶然と想像			121
	Drive My Car	ドライブ・マイ・カー			179	Co-written by Takamasa Oe
2023	Evil Does Not Exist	悪は存在しない			106
	Gift	ギフト			74	Created to accompany a live score by Eiko Ishibashi

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref
2015	Nantes Three Continents Festival	Le prix du public	Happy Hour		^[29]
2021	Berlin International Film Festival	Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize	Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy		^[30]
	Cannes Film Festival	Best Screenplay	Drive My Car		^[31]
		FIPRESCI Prize
		Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
	New York Film Critics Circle	Best Picture			^[32]
	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best International / Foreign Language Film			^[33]
	Boston Society of Film Critics	Best Film			^[34]
		Best Director
		Best Screenplay
	Los Angeles Film Critics Association	Best Picture			^[35]
		Best Screenplay
2022	Academy Awards	Best Picture
		Best Adapted Screenplay
		Best Director
		Best International Feature Film
	National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Film			^[36] ^[37]
		Best Director
		Best Screenplay
2023	Asian Film Awards	Best Director			^[38]
	Venice International Film Festival	Golden Lion	Evil Does Not Exist
		Grand Jury Prize

Notes and References

1. Web site: Tartaglione. Nancy. Oscars: 'Drive My Car' Makes History As First Japanese Film Nominated For Best Picture. Deadline. 8 February 2022 . 9 February 2022. en.
2. Web site: 里信. 邦子. 「ハッピーアワー」の濱口監督、「人は本当に思っていることが言えない」. SWI swissinfo. 20 August 2015 . 5 March 2018. ja.
3. Web site: 『Passion』濱口竜介（監督）インタビュー. Eiga Geijutsu. 5 March 2018. ja.
4. Web site: Tokyo FILMeX Competition. TOKYO FILMeX 2008. Tokyo FILMeX. 5 March 2018.
5. Web site: 映画に寄せるたおやかなパッション──濱口竜介監督インタヴュー. Flower Wild. 5 March 2018.
6. Web site: YIDFF: Past Festivals: 2013: Screening List. Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. 5 March 2018.
7. Web site: YIDFF: Past Festivals: 2013. Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival. 5 March 2018.
8. Web site: 濱口竜介監督作品『ハッピーアワー』ロカルノ国際映画祭にて最優秀女優賞受賞／脚本スペシャルメンション授与 KIITO. KIITO. 5 March 2018. ja.
9. Web site: Sullivan. Dan. Review: Happy Hour, Ryusuke Hamaguchi. Film Comment. 5 March 2018.
10. Web site: Palmarès 2015. pardo.ch. 4 March 2018.
11. Web site: Dai 25-kai Jusho Sakuhin. 日本映画批評家大賞 公式サイト. Japan Movie Critics Award. 5 March 2018.
12. Web site: Geijutsu Senshō Rekidai Jushōsha Ichiran. Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. 5 March 2018.
13. Web site: The 2018 Official Selection. Cannes. 12 April 2018 . 12 April 2018.
14. Web site: Cannes Lineup Includes New Films From Spike Lee, Jean-Luc Godard. Variety. 12 April 2018 . 12 April 2018.
15. Web site: Lodge . Guy . Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone's 'Poor Things' Wins Golden Lion at Venice, Peter Sarsgaard and Cailee Spaeny Take Acting Prizes (Full List of Winners) . Variety . 10 September 2023 . 9 September 2023.
16. Web site: Newman . Nick . 25 July 2023 . Ryūsuke Hamaguchi Will Debut His Second New Film of 2023, Gift, with a Live Score from Eiko Ishibashi This October . 27 May 2024 . en-US.
17. Web site: Rizov. Vadim. "My First Studio, Commercially Made Film": Ryūsuke Hamaguchi on Solaris, Asako I & II and Japanese Film School. 11 January 2022. Filmmaker Magazine. 22 May 2019 .
18. Web site: Ryūsuke Hamaguchi's list . 24 June 2024 . LaCinetek . en-US.
19. The Nikkei [*Japan's economic newspaper] (10 October 2021)
20. News: 28 December 2023. Gaza : des cinéastes du monde entier demandent un cessez-le-feu immédiat. Libération. fr. 24 January 2024.
21. Web site: Claire Denis, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Christian Petzold, Apichatpong Weerasethakul & More Sign Demand for Ceasefire in Gaza. Newman. Nick. 29 December 2023. The Film Stage. 24 January 2024.
22. News: 31 December 2023. Directors of cinema sign petition for immediate ceasefire. The Jerusalem Post. 24 January 2024.
23. Web site: The Sound of the Waves YIDFF 311 Documentary Film Archive. 30 December 2021. ja.
24. Web site: YIDFF: 2013: International Competition. 30 December 2021. www.yidff.jp.
25. Web site: Voices from the Waves Shinchimachi YIDFF 311 Documentary Film Archive. 30 December 2021. ja.
26. Web site: Storytellers YIDFF 311 Documentary Film Archive. 30 December 2021. ja.
27. Web site: Storytellers Metrograph. 30 December 2021. nyc.metrograph.com.
28. Web site: Intimacies Metrograph. 30 December 2021. nyc.metrograph.com.
29. Web site: Senses. 17 January 2022. Festival des 3 Continents.
30. Web site: Awards & Honours 2021. 17 January 2022. www.berlinale.de. en.
31. Web site: 17 July 2021. All the 74th Festival de Cannes Awards. 17 January 2022. Festival de Cannes 2021. en.
32. Web site: Awards - New York Film Critics Circle - NYFCC. 17 January 2022. en-US.
33. Web site: 2021 WAFCA Award Winners - The Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA). 17 January 2022. www.wafca.com.
34. Web site: 27 July 2018. Current Winners – 2021 Awards. 17 January 2022. Boston Society of Film Critics. en.
35. Web site: www.adam-makes-websites.com. Adam Jones-. Awards - LAFCA. 17 January 2022. www.lafca.net.
36. Web site: National Society of Film Critics. 17 January 2022. National Society of Film Critics. en.
37. Web site: National Society of Film Critics 2022 Winners List. Abbey . White. 8 January 2022. 8 January 2023 . Hollywood Reporter . en.
38. Web site: Asian Film Awards: Decision to Leave And Drive My Car Lead Nominations . Ntim . Zac . 6 January 2023. 6 January 2023. Deadline Hollywood.