Comparative Drama

In A Theory of Adaptation, Linda Hutcheon defines adaptation in three ways: "an acknowledged transposition of a recognizable other work or works; a creative and an interpretative act of appropriation/salvaging; [and] an extended intertextual engagement with the adapted work."¹ Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 2021 film Drive My Car embraces all three of Hutcheon's definitions, often in surprising and compelling ways. Those familiar with the works of Haruki Murakami can not only trace the influences of the titular story, but two additional stories from the author's 2017 collection Men Without Women. However, it is arguable whether Hamaguchi explicitly "acknowledges" the "transposition" of Murakami's "Scheherazade" or "Kino" in his film. Hamaguchi expands what is merely a referent text in Murakami's "Drive My Car"—Anton Chekhov's 1897 play Uncle Vanya—into an additional, shaping textual influence.² This brings the total count of adapted texts in his one film to four. Viewers should not be surprised then at its nearly three-hour running time.

While each of the adapted texts have their own relationship with the film, Uncle Vanya has the most thorough and sustained one. It also works to satisfy most completely the second and third parts of Hutcheon's definition. With Chekhov's play, Hamaguchi is engaging in a "creative and an interpretative act of appropriation/salvaging" as he's performing "an extended intertextual engagement with the adapted work."³ The film can be divided into four acts, a nod to the traditional structure of Chekhovian dramas, including Uncle Vanya. Hamaguchi employs the play's dialogue [End Page 183] as background in the developing relationship between the film's protagonist—Yusuke Kafuku (played by Hidetoshi Nishijima)—and his driver—Misaki Watari (played by Toko Miura)—selecting key moments in Chekhov's work to act as critical commentary on the film's events. Most of the film's action also revolves around the rehearsal, staging, and first performance of the play. These moments work to address and resolve Kafuku's relationship with his deceased (and unfaithful) spouse, Oto, and join the work done in Murakami's short fiction. However, Hamaguchi pushes beyond Murakami's simple (and often dull) examinations of men in marital crisis to include, instead, women such as Lee Yoon-a (played by Park Yu-rim) who act to recover from her child's death. The director employs Uncle Vanya as a therapeutic device, one which the performers and audience can engage as they process loss and the guilt surviving often brings. Drive My Car reveals the healing power of theatre, both for actor and viewer.⁴