Ryūsuke Hamaguchi: Celebs Rumors

The 72nd Berlin Film Festival kicks off in physical form today with M. Night Shyamalan leading the main competition jury. Also notable among panelists is Oscar nominee Ryusuke Hamaguchi whose Drive My Car this week became the first Japanese movie ever nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. Hamaguchi was actually on a plane heading to Berlin when the nominations were announced, and only learned of the results upon landing.

Where to watch: Amazon Prime VideoDirector: Kenneth Branagh | Starring: Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Morgan, and Jude HillA semi-autobiographical film that chronicles the life of a working-class family and their young son's childhood during the tumult of the late 1960s in the Northern Ireland capital. Where to watch: Apple TV+Director: Sian Heder | Starring: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, Marlee MatlinRuby is the only hearing member of a deaf family from Gloucester, Massachusetts. At 17, she works mornings before school to help her parents and brother keep their fishing business afloat.

2022 Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday, and one pleasant surprise was the recognition for a Japanese drama that has become the latest foreign-language nominee to break out of the International Film category and earn major Academy recognition.After a Best Foreign Language Film win at the Golden Globes earlier this year,  -- directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and based on Haruki Murakami's short story of the same name -- was certainly expected to be a contender in the Best International Feature Film category. However, the film scored additional nods for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as a Best Picture nomination.Members of the cast and crew reacted to the nominations in statements to ET.

Lady Gaga for “House of Gucci.” Bradley Cooper missed out for his scene-stealing turn in “Licorice Pizza.” In better news: after not receiving a SAG Award nomination, Kristen Stewart landed her first Oscar nomination for playing Princess Diana in “Spencer.” And the buzz for “Drive My Car” was real: The film received four nominations, including one for director Ryusuke Hamaguchi.Here are the biggest snubs and surprises.SNUB: Lady Gaga, “House of Gucci” As Patrizia Reggiani, Lady Gaga played an Italian woman who married into the Gucci family and orchestrated the murder of her husband. Gaga campaigned ferociously for the Oscar — and she was the only actress who had picked up every precursor, as a nominee for the BAFTA, Critics’ Choice Award, Golden Globe and SAG.

bullying and abuse. Clarke denied accusations of sexual misconduct and the award finally had to be suspended. But this year’s list is very lively: the best director section is not lacking in inclusivity and good taste: Aleem Khan, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Audrey Diwan, Paul Thomas Anderson, Jane Campion and Julia Ducournau.

Best Picture: “Drive My Car” (48 points)Runners-up: “Petit Maman” (25), “The Power of the Dog” (23)Best Actor: Hidetoshi Nishijima, “Drive My Car” (63)Runners-up: Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog” (44); Simon Rex, “Red Rocket” (30)Best Actress: Penelope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers” (55)Runners-up: Renate Reinsve, “The Worst Person in the World” (42); Alana Haim, “Licorice Pizza” (32)Best Supporting Actor: Anders Danielsen Lie, “The Worst Person in the World” (54)Runners-up: Vincent Lindon, “Titane” (33); Mike Faist, “West Side Story” (26) and Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog” (26)Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Negga, “Passing” (46)Runners-up: Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story” (22); Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter” (21)Best Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, “Drive My Car” and “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” (46)Runners-up: Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog” (36), Celine Sciamma, “Petite Maman” (28)Best Screenplay: Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe, “Drive My Car” (46)Runners-up: Pedro Almodovar, “Parallel Mothers” (22); Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza” (20)Best Nonfiction Film:Runners-up:Best Cinematography: Andrew Droz Palermo, “The Green Knight” (52)Runners-up: Ari Wegner, “The Power of the Dog” (40); Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, “Memoria” (35)Special citation for film awaiting U.S. distribution: “Returning to Reims,” Jean-Gabriel PeriotFilm Heritage Award: Bertrand Tavernier and Peter BogdanovichFilm Heritage Award: Maya Cade for the Black Film Archive

As 2021 draws to a close, the film aficionados who make up Deadline’s International Critics Line crew have each chosen their to three titles of the year to hail from abroad. Some were world premieres at Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Venice or Toronto, though not all are on the Oscar International Feature shortlist, nor are they each in a foreign language It’s also interesting to see some overlap, with a trio of films showing up more than once.

With his latest feature Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi looked to do justice to Haruki Murakami’s short story of the same name from the internationally acclaimed author ‘s 2014 collection, Men Without Women.

Of all the major films to debut at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, you might be surprised to know that one of the most beloved is the Japanese drama, “Drive My Car.” And later this month, audiences are going to finally get the chance to watch Japan’s official Oscars entry on the big screen. READ MORE: Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘Drive My Car’ Is A Masterful Drama You Can’t Turn Away From [Cannes Review] As seen in the trailer for “Drive My Car,” the film tells the story of a stage actor and director who develops a surprising bond with his chauffeur after the unexpected death of his wife.

We won’t get the official list of submissions from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a week or two, but there’s enough intel on the International Film race to start categorizing the contenders. The most important thing to realize is that there is no way a great film isn’t going to get snubbed with just five nominees.

Much like author Haruki Murakami—whose short story “Drive My Car” provided the basis for the filmmaker’s other (outstanding) movie being released this year—Japanese director Ryūsuke Hamaguchi is clearly a hopeless romantic at heart, making films about people afraid of falling in love, or too ashamed to face its consequences. Both artists’ works also frequently feature doubles and doppelgangers as symbolic motifs—Hamaguchi’s film “Asako I & II,” broken up into two parts, wherein a woman falls instantly in love with two men who look identical but have radically disparate personalities and demeanors.

If you’re a world cinema lover who does not yet know the name Ryûsuke Hamaguchi—winner of the Best Screenplay prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his adaption of Haruki Murakami’s short story, “Drive My Car” (read our rave review)—that is very likely about to change. READ MORE: Best Of Cannes 2021: 15 Must-See Movies From The Festival Hamaguchi has been a busy fellow recently, also co-writing Kiyoshi Kurasawa’s “Wife of a Spy,” (another great Japanese film you should check out) as well as taking home Berlin’s Grand Jury prize for his anthology project, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” the trailer for which has just been released.

Since his 2008 debut film, Passion, Japanese director/writer Ryusuke Hamaguchi has been continuing to make an impact on the world cinema scene. His success at various festivals includes 2018, when he was first in competition in Cannes with Asako I & II, and earlier this year at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival, where his Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize.

Unconventionally, the title credits for Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s new film, “Drive My Car,” appear on screen an incredible 41 minutes into what is an almost 3-hour long film. What transpires beforehand is so captivating it’s almost a jolt to see them, but Hamaguch’s choice is a necessary demarcation.

Guy Lodge Film CriticHaruki Murakami’s short story “Drive My Car” is a sleek, streamlined slip of a thing that nonetheless, in the author’s signature style, packs an awful lot into its lean sentences. It’s a grief-stricken marriage story enfolded in a corrupted friendship study, related in turn via a separate tale of odd-couple companionship, all told in fewer than 40 pages.

EXCLUSIVE: The Match Factory has boarded international rights to Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s (Asako I & II) anticipated Haruki Murakami short story adaptation Drive My Car.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentBerlin Grand Jury Prize winner “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” Japanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s deft three-story reflection on chance, the legacy of love and the contrariness of erotic desire, has clinched further key territory sales for its sales agent M-Appeal World Sales.Fast on the footsteps of clinching the top Berlinale 2021 Silver Bear in March 5’s Berlin prize announcement, “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy” this week closed Spain with Enrique González-Kuhn’s Caramel Films, Brazil, with the Belas Artes Group, China with Jetsen Huashi Wangju (Changzhou) Cultural Media Co, and Hong Kong, for theatrical distribution, with Edko Films.The deals add to strong first sales to France

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticWhen Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi made his return to fiction after time away in the realm of documentary, he dispensed with the idea that stories must conform to feature length.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Pornfrom Romanian director Radu Judehas won the Golden Bear for best film at the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival. A scathing social satire about sex, lies and videotape, the movie was shot entirelyduring COVID lockdown last summer, with cast and crew all wearing antiviral masks.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorSales agent M-Appeal has closed further territory deals for Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which just won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.Benelux rights have gone to September Film, and StraDa Films has picked the film up in Greece. September Film plans to release the title theatrically post pandemic.

Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi returns to what are fast becoming his signature themes in Berlin competition contender Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy: Odd coincidence, mysterious doubling, and intelligent women compelled by powerful but uncertain feelings. Many critics likened Hamaguchi's 2015 breakthrough, Happy Hour, to a sprawling literary novel (the film was five hours long and won plaudits for its beguiling dialog and finely observed set pieces).

Japanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi won wide acclaim and festival prizes with his 2015 breakthrough feature, the bittersweet ensemble drama Happy Hour. But the nuanced, novelistic eye behind that delicately observed five-hour epic seemed to desert Hamaguchi on his 2018 anti-romance Asako I & II, which premiered to lukewarm reviews in Cannes.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentM-Appeal has taken world distribution rights to Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which has its world premiere In Competition at the Berlin Film Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer.