Ryusuke Hamaguchi is a Japanese director born in Kawasaki, celebrated for patient, dialogue-driven films examining intimacy, grief, and the fragile process of genuine human connection. Happy Hour, an extraordinary five-hour drama following four women's friendships and personal crises, established his reputation for extended, naturalistic conversation rendered with remarkable emotional precision. Drive My Car, adapting a Haruki Murakami short story about a widowed theater director's bond with his young driver, won the Academy Award for Best International Feature and became one of the most acclaimed films of the early 2020s, alongside the anthology film Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy released the same year. Evil Does Not Exist extended his patient, contemplative style into an ecological drama set in a rural mountain village. Hamaguchi's unhurried, deeply attentive approach to dialogue and emotional revelation has made him one of the most acclaimed contemporary Japanese directors internationally. Read more