Japanese Cinema Finally Goes To The Oscars

Last year 9.8 million people watched the American Academy Awards on television. This prestigious ceremony celebrates the hard work and dedication that actors, directors, writers and film crews put into the movies they create together. However, it has taken a very long time for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to begin to recognize movies outside of Hollywood. This year is the 94th year of the awards, and finally a Japanese movie, Drive My Car, has been nominated in the Best Picture category. The academy is also taking the movie seriously enough to have also nominated it for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best International Feature Film. Drive My Car is definitely one to watch, and of course watching movies in Japanese is a great way to learn the language.

Drive My Car

Drive My Car, which is written and directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, was loved by critics. It is based on the story by Haruki Murakami. The movie is about a renowned stage actor and director who, following his wife’s unexpected death, travels to Hiroshima to direct a production of Uncle Vanya. His journey finds him unraveling some of the mysteries that his wife left behind. It wasn’t just the acting that impressed the Academy panel, but also the impressive filmography. The logistics of making a movie is challenging and requires a professional crew to deal with the ever-changing sets and scenery. The transportation is intrinsic to the success of the movie. In Drive My Car, the filming locations were constantly changing, and this was beautifully portrayed.

Previous Nominations

There have been a few Japanese movies that have been nominated for an Oscar in recent years, but never for the main category of Best Picture. In 2018, Shoplifters, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda was nominated for Best International Feature Film, and in 2008 Departures, directed by Yōjirō Takita, won the category. Japan also has a strong tradition of animation. Mirai was nominated in 2018 for Best Animated Feature, Boss Baby in 2017 and The Red Turtle in 2016. A Japanese movie has only once won the category though, back in 2002 for the classic Spirited Away. In 93 years of the Academy Awards, Japan, which has one of the oldest movie industries in the world, producing a quarter of all movies made, has only won an Oscar 14 times.

A Changing Industry

The Academy Awards have really diversified in the last few years, with Korean movies like Parasite and Minari leading the way. The Oscars are paying more attention to movies in other languages, and this is opening up the incredible world of Japanese cinema to a far wider audience. This will also help Japan become more recognized not just for a strong tradition of anime and horror movies, but also for outstanding storytelling.

A Japanese movie being nominated for an Oscar is very exciting. This shows how important the Japanese movie industry is to the world.

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