La ruleta de la fortuna y la fantasía

This was my second Hamaguchi film of the year (the other being "Drive My Car"), and I'm starting to think I just don't vibe with his style.

To be fair to this movie, I'm not a fan of anthology films, so it was my choice to watch one. And I also watched it assuming that it would be similar in style to "Drive My Car" (it is) and knowing that I wasn't in the mood for a movie like that (it was due back to the library the next day so I felt forced to watch it).

I just get very restless watching Hamaguchi films. They're static and feel very long. Perhaps my favorite movie of 2021 was "Mass," a film that's mostly four characters talking in a single setting for two hours, so it's not like I'm resistant to the kinds of movies Hamaguchi makes. They just don't speak to me for some vague reason, even as I can see that they're objectively very good movies.

Grade: B+

Clearly, this movie polarises viewers. For me, way better than same director's Drive My Car. As good as Burning, American Honey, Stuff and Dough, or Our Time, a few of my benchmarks for 21st century cinema.

The original Japanese title, which translates as Coincidence and Imagination, is much more apt than the clunky English title.

To illustrate his theme, the director writes the most utterly brilliant dialogue, which is sort of like 3D scrabble on steroids.

For all of that, it still needs the wonderful third reel, where the coincidences coalesce into genuine insight and wisdom, of the sort that can reduce you to sudden tears in a darkened cinema.

Hamaguchi-san, you are an ornament, go to the top of the class. I reckon the old masterful deceiver, Bunuel, will be smiling down upon you.

(Apologies in advance for spending most of this review comparing the film to Drive My Car... I couldn't help it 😔)

The less well-known (but still quite good) 2021 film by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. I understand why Drive My Car has made more of an impact, and overall I enjoyed it more. But this is a different sort of movie and it's interesting to compare and contrast the two.

Apparently Drive My Car blended several short stories, but did it in a way where (to me at least) it felt like one coherent three-hour film. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy tells three short stories as three short films, each approximately 40 minutes long. Because of this, I'd say it lacked the almost hypnotic effect that Drive My Car had, where it sucks you in and becomes absorbing the longer it goes on.

One other interesting difference: it doesn't make the movie better or worse, but I found it interesting how in Drive My Car, the lead characters keep their emotions held in, whereas in Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, characters are surprisingly open. Even when they hide the truth, it doesn't take long for them to reveal it (maybe besides the third story, which emotionally feels the most similar to Drive My Car).

This film isn't as beautiful as Drive My Car. Some of it looks a little rough and flat to be honest, but maybe the minimalist style was intentional, and to be fair, there are a few visually arresting shots throughout that really stand out.

The stories themselves are interesting, and the dialogue mostly engaging. Acting is good across the board too, and overall, while it's not always consistently absorbing, I enjoyed it for the most part, and much of it is undeniably well-made.

2021 was a good year for Hamaguchi, and I'm interested to see what he directs next.

Bookended by fantastic pieces,I would have rated a little lower, but the third act is marvelous. TBH the second story is good but way overshadowed by the other two. What a great treatment of what it means to "love."

With mise-en-scène that strongly resemblance of a stage play, there's an undeniable sort of distance between the viewers and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy. At least for a while. But then Hamaguchi Ryûsuke was able to break the distance with his direction that felt both intimate and personal. In the end, the film has a lasting impact, even long after the end credit rolls.