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Ryûsuke Hamaguchi

  • Director
  • Writer
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Ryusuke Hamaguchi is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Hamaguchi, a graduate of Tokyo University and Tokyo University of Arts, attracted attention in his country with the movie Passion (2008), which he shot for his graduation.

Hamaguchi first gained international recognition with the film Happy Hour (2015) and followed it up with Asako I & II (2018).

He released two films in 2021, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and Drive My Car, receiving three Academy Award nominations for the latter, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best International Feature.

He is the third Japanese director to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Director.
BornDecember 16, 1978
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornDecember 16, 1978
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 67 wins & 109 nominations total

    Photos6

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    Known for

    Evil Does Not Exist (2023)
    Evil Does Not Exist
    7.0
    • Director
    • 2023
    Hidetoshi Nishijima and Tôko Miura in Drive My Car (2021)
    Drive My Car
    7.5
    • Director
    • 2021
    Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)
    Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
    7.5
    • Director
    • 2021
    Happy Hour (2015)
    Happy Hour
    7.6
    • Director
    • 2015

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Director



    • All of the Sudden
      • Director
      • Pre-production



    • Gift (2023)
      Gift
      7.0
      • Director
      • 2023
    • Evil Does Not Exist (2023)
      Evil Does Not Exist
      7.0
      • Director
      • 2023
    • Hidetoshi Nishijima and Tôko Miura in Drive My Car (2021)
      Drive My Car
      7.5
      • Director
      • 2021
    • Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)
      Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
      7.5
      • Director
      • 2021
    • Asako I & II (2018)
      Asako I & II
      7.0
      • Director
      • 2018
    • Heaven Is Still Far Away (2016)
      Heaven Is Still Far Away
      7.3
      Short
      • Director
      • 2016
    • Happy Hour (2015)
      Happy Hour
      7.6
      • Director
      • 2015
    • Storytellers (2013)
      Storytellers
      6.5
      • Director
      • 2013
    • Voices from the Waves: Kesennuma (2013)
      Voices from the Waves: Kesennuma
      6.3
      • Director
      • 2013
    • Voices from the Waves: Shinchimachi (2013)
      Voices from the Waves: Shinchimachi
      6.5
      • Director
      • 2013
    • Touching the Skin of Eeriness (2013)
      Touching the Skin of Eeriness
      6.2
      • Director
      • 2013
    • The Sound of Waves (2012)
      The Sound of Waves
      7.0
      • Director
      • 2012
    • Intimacies (2012)
      Intimacies
      7.0
      • Director
      • 2012
    • The Depths (2010)
      The Depths
      6.3
      • Director
      • 2010
    • Aoba Kawai in I Love Thee for Good (2009)
      I Love Thee for Good
      6.5
      • Director
      • 2009

    Writer



    • All of the Sudden
      • Writer
      • Pre-production



    • Gift (2023)
      Gift
      7.0
      • concept
      • 2023
    • Evil Does Not Exist (2023)
      Evil Does Not Exist
      7.0
      • original concept
      • written by
      • 2023
    • Hidetoshi Nishijima and Tôko Miura in Drive My Car (2021)
      Drive My Car
      7.5
      • Writer
      • 2021
    • Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)
      Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
      7.5
      • written by
      • 2021
    • Yû Aoi in Wife of a Spy (2020)
      Wife of a Spy
      6.6
      TV Movie
      • Writer
      • 2020
    • Asako I & II (2018)
      Asako I & II
      7.0
      • screenplay
      • 2018
    • Heaven Is Still Far Away (2016)
      Heaven Is Still Far Away
      7.3
      Short
      • Writer
      • 2016
    • Happy Hour (2015)
      Happy Hour
      7.6
      • written by (as Hatano Koubou)
      • 2015
    • Intimacies (2012)
      Intimacies
      7.0
      • Writer
      • 2012
    • The Depths (2010)
      The Depths
      6.3
      • Writer
      • 2010
    • Passion (2008)
      Passion
      6.9
      • screenplay
      • 2008
    • Solaris
      • Writer
      • 2007

    Producer



    • Gift (2023)
      Gift
      7.0
      • planner
      • 2023
    • Evil Does Not Exist (2023)
      Evil Does Not Exist
      7.0
      • planner
      • 2023
    • Touching the Skin of Eeriness (2013)
      Touching the Skin of Eeriness
      6.2
      • producer
      • 2013

    • In-development projects at IMDbPro

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Alternative name
      • Hatano Koubou
    • Born
      • December 16, 1978
      • Kawasaki, Japan
    • Publicity listings
      • 2 Articles

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      His film Drive My Car (2021) is the first Japanese film ever to be nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture.
    • Quotes
      [press conference for Drive My Car (2021) at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival] The first time that I read Drive My Car, the short story, was in 2013. It was a friend of mine who suggested I should read it because he thought I would enjoy it. There were indeed elements which were familiar to me: drama, acting and, as the title says - Drive My Car - cars, vehicles. I think the inside of a car is a very good environment for intimate conversations; I have personal experience of this and had already explored this in other films. I think that in this film, Kafuku and Misake, in this enclosed space of the car, connect, and their relationship develops and I think their intimacy also increases, and that relationship already existed in the original short story, and I think it is at the heart of this film.

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