by Nathaniel R
March is promising to be a big month for Japanese Best Picture nominee Drive My Car. It just became the second release from Janus Films to make more than one million at the US box office (their biggest hit remains Italy's Oscar winning The Great Beauty) and despite its steady box office performance, it's moving to streaming on March 2nd on HBOMax. Then, two weeks before the Oscars on March 11th, it is competing at the 45th annual Japan Academy Awards. The nominees for that ceremony are after the jump including a description of the five films up for the big prizes...
PICTURE
- Drive My Car (9 nominations) The four-time Oscar nominated film is a contemplative drama about a grieving theater director staging a production of Uncle Vanya
- In the Wake (12 nominations) - This is a crime drama about a detective discovering the link between two murders
- It's a Flickering Life (8 nominations) - A nostalgic family drama that also doubles as a tribute to classic Japanese cinema. It comes from 90 year old auteur Yôji Yamada who directed Twilight Samurai which was Oscar-nominated in the Aughts.
- Last of the Wolves aka The Blood of the Wolves II - (14 nominations) a sequel to a crime drama involving detectives and yakuza gangsters
- Under the Open Sky -(7 nominations) a drama about a former yakuza who struggles to adapt to life after a long prison sentence
DIRECTOR
- Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
- Izuru Narushima, A Morning of Farewell
- Miwa Nishikawa, Under the Open Sky
- Kazuya Shiraishi, Last of the Wolves
- Takahisa Zeze, In the Wake
A Morning of Farewell, which was not nominated for Best Picture but obviously came close due to its multiple nominations, is about a doctor who does outpatient service and becomes involved the lives of her patients and colleagues.
ANIMATION OF THE YEAR
- Belle
- Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
- Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko
- Jujutsu Kaisen 0
- Sing a Bit of Harmony
Belle and Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko were both eligible for the Oscars this year but neither were nominated.
ACTRESS
Masaki Suda and Kasumi Arimura are both nominated for their romantic drama "We Made a Beautiful Bouquet"
- Yuki Amami, What Happened To Our Nest Egg?
- Kasumi Arimura, We Made a Beautiful Bouquet
- Mayu Matsuoka, Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction
- Mei Nagano, And So the Baton is Passed
- Sayuri Yoshinaga, A Morning of Farewell
What Happened to Our Nest Egg? is about what it sounds like it it's about, We Made a Beautiful Bouqet is a young adult romance, Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction is about employees of a troubled magazine. And the Baton was Passed is abouit a high school student and her relationship to her stepfather.
ACTOR
- Tori Matsuzaka, Last of the Wolves
- Hidetoshi Nishijima, Drive My Car
- Takeru Satoh, In the Wake
- Masaki Suda, We Made a Beautiful Bouquet
- Kôji Yakusho, Under the Open Sky
As with the American Oscars, none of the Best Actresses are from Best Picture nominees but most of the Best Actor nominees are. Valuing men's stories more than women's stories is not just a US problem! We suspect Hidetoshi Nishijima's main competition here is Kôji Yakusho (who was up for the Asian Film Award this past fall) but it's always hard to read buzz when it comes to awards in other countries.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Suzu Hirose, A Morning of Farewell
- Satomi Ishihara, And So the Baton is Passed
- Kaya Kiyohara, In the Wake
- Mitsuko Kusabue, What Happened To Our Nest Egg?
- Nanase Nishino, Last of the Wolves
SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Hiroshi Abe, In the Wake
- Nijirô Murakami, Last of the Wolves
- Taiga Nakano, Under the Open Sky
- Ryohei Suzuki, Last of the Wolves
- Shinichi Tsutsumi, The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Tôko Miura in "Drive My Car"
Hayato Isomaura in 'A Family'
- Fukase - Character
- Mio Imada - Tokyo Revengers
- Hayato Isomura - A Family and What Did You Eat Yesterday
- Tôko Miura - Drive My Car
- Hio Miyazawa - Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction
- Nanashe Nishino - Last of the Wolves
- Onoe Ukon II - Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai
- Ai Yoshikawa - Honey Lemon Soda
SCREENPLAY
- Drive My Car
- It's a Flickering Life
- In the Wake
- Last of the Wolves
- Under the Open Sky
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Drive My Car
- It's a Flickering Life
- In the Wake
- Last of the Wolves
- Under the Open Sky
LIGHTING DIRECTION
- Drive My Car
- It's a Flickering Life
- In the Wake
- Last of the Wolves
- Under the Open Sky
ART DIRECTION
- Baragaki Unbroken Samurai
- It's a Flickering Life
- In the Wake
- Last of the Wolves
- A Morning of Farewell
EDITING
- Drive My Car
- It's a Flickering Life
- In the Wake
- Last of the Wolves
- A Morning of Farewell
SOUND RECORDING
- Drive My Car
- It's a Flickering Life
- In the Wake
- Last of the Wolves
- A Morning of Farewell
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC
- Belle
- It's a Flickering Life
- In the Wake
- Last of the Wolves
- A Morning of Farewell
- We Made a Beautiful Bouquet
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
- Dune (Canada/US)
- Minari (US)
- Nomadland (US)
- No Time To Die (UK)
- Tailor (Greece)