release, English is not subtitled) and italic for translations of sign language, as well as from signage (“Flowers & Vegetables For Sale” at a roadside shop).

The film’s subtitling game is so strong that it requires three distinct typographies: roman type for translation from Japanese roman type in parentheses for translations from all other languages (in the U.S. When we first see him on stage (he’s by turns an actor and director), he’s playing Vladimir in Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” speaking his lines in Japanese the production’s Estragon replies in Indonesian. The protagonist, Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a theatrical director known for his unconventional methods, casts a play with actors of diverse nationalities who perform their roles in their native tongue. Captioning is both layered onto and represented in the film: it is, as they say in film studies, both diegetic and non-diegetic. It’s a film that, even in Hamaguchi’s native Japan, is inconceivable without subtitles. In addition to Best Picture, “Drive My Car” is nominated for Best International Feature-if it doesn’t win in that category, it’s not clear what the award is for. All these languages, with the crucial addition of Korean Sign Language, are braided throughout (the gorgeous signing by the actress Park Yurim just about breaks your heart). It’s an exquisite Tower of Babel of a film-a thrilling mélange of Japanese, Korean, English, Mandarin, Tagalog, Indonesian, German, and Malaysian. Widely celebrated on last year’s festival circuit, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s “ Drive My Car” is the focus of renewed attention owing to its four Academy Award nominations.

Chekhov play vanya