NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (July 2022): Criterion have transferred Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Director-Approved Special Edition" with a "New 2K digital master, approved by director Ryusuke Hamaguchi". The 1080P image is pristine. The 3-hour film was shot on HD and the disc is dual-layered with a supportive bitrate. I imagine the UK MUBI HD transfer is very similar. Contrast is well-supported - in the dark and brighter scenes. It's as consistent and clean as you might anticipate from a modern film rendered to Blu-ray.

NOTE: We have added 54 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (24-bit) in the original Japanese (and some English) language. Drive My Car has a few deft separations - often car-related and they come through quite crisply to the rear speakers. Outside of that the film is passive and contemplative. The score is by Eiko Ishibashi (The Albino's Trees,) subtly supports Drive My Car via lossless transfer. Criterion offer optional English and English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray offers supplements. There is an new (March 2022) interview with director Ryusuke Hamaguchi was recorded in New York. In it, he discusses filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa's influence on his own work, his distinct approach to casting and working with actors, and the impact that making Drive My Car has had on him. There is also 3/4 of an hour of footage from the international premiere of Drive My Car at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival featuring interviews with director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, actors Toko Miura and Reika Kirishima, and producer Yuji Sadai. Producer Teruhisa Yamamoto filmed the making of Drive My Car. This 2022 documentary captures his journey, as well as that of the entire filmmaking team during the production process of Drive My Car. Spanning locations in Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Hokkaido it features interviews with cast members and rare behind-the-scenes footage, and it captures the creative collective journey of the filmmaking team. There is a trailer and the package has an essay by author Bryan Washington (Memorial.)

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car is  extremely deep involving a grieving theater director using indirect communication through recorded cassette tapes accessed while he is driving, glimmers of creative insight (often during intimacy with his adulterous lover), the duplicity of the lives of women orbiting his life from his young driver to a mysterious mute actress, his metaphorical eyesight issues - all scattered within his working methodology while producing Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya stage play. Unrestrained by convention - the opening credits arrive almost 42-minutes into the film. I would LOVE to see Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's 2007 student effort Solaris - a remake of Tarkovsky's 1972 film based on the Stanislaw Lem novel. Drive My Car is brilliant, intellectual and multi-layered. The Criterion Blu-ray is very highly recommended!

Gary Tooze