Oscar season is a marathon whether you win or lose. Ryuske Hamaguchi was lucky enough to be on the winning end when “Drive My Car” won the International Film Oscar two years ago. In so doing, the filmmaker became just the fifth Japanese director to win the honor and the first since Yōjirō Takita triumphed in 2009 for “Departures.” It also became the first Japanese film nominated for Best Picture, a landmark achievement for a nation with a legacy of auteur filmmakers.

Continue reading Ryusuke Hamaguchi Takes An Unexpected Turn With ‘Evil Does Not Exit’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

Acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi wowed international audiences and critics with his drama “Drive My Car,” which earned the Best International Feature Film Oscar in 2022. The venerated director is back with “Evil Does Not Exist,” an ecological fable with genre elements about a father and daughter living in the wilderness outside Tokyo. The domestic distributors Sideshow and Janus Films have released a trailer, and the movie will open in limited release in May.

Continue reading ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ Trailer: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Follow-Up To Acclaimed Oscar-Winning ‘Drive My Car’ at The Playlist.

Following critically acclaimed films like “Asako I & II” (2018) and the one-two punch of two 2021 films, “Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy” and “Drive My Car” Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s reputation was sealed as a name that merited international recognition. But it wasn’t until the latter film, “Drive My Car,” which won three awards at Cannes that year, including Best Screenplay, and Hamaguchi received two Academy Awards nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay that he really became an international filmmaking star (he was the third Japanese director ever to be nominated for Oscar’s Best Director).

Continue reading ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ Trailer: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Venice Award-Winner Is Coming Soon at The Playlist.

There’s nothing like New York in the Fall— crisper air, pumpkin spice lattes, Cityside Pumpkin patch, the leaves changing in Central Park, and the New York Film Festival. What could be better?

The 61st annual New York Film Festival kicks off in a few days, and there is a lot to look forward to. Some films audiences may have seen at Telluride, TIFF, or Venice, but that doesn’t make this year’s line-up any less exciting as an exploratory and human theme is seen across sections of the film festival.

Continue reading New York Film Festival Preview: 19 Films To Watch At 2023’s Fall Fest at The Playlist.

Unassuming Japanese master Ryusuke Hamaguchi was jolted into the dehumanizing glare of the Oscar machine after “Drive My Car” became an unexpected cause célèbre a few years ago. That generational masterpiece saw him ascend to the pinnacle of instant and unanimous global adoration and forged a salivating fanbase eagerly anticipating his subsequent work. It has arrived now in the form of “Evil Does Not Exist,” his engaging but decidedly minor eco-fable that, by his own admission, was chiefly meant as a palate cleanser.

Continue reading ‘Evil Does Not Exist’ Review: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘Drive My Car’ Follow-Up Is An Oblique Ecological Fable [TIFF] at The Playlist.