Dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi | 2021 | Japan | 121 Mins | M
WINNER of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize – 71st Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival)
An unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding. WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY explores three female-centred short stories thematically linked by coincidence, regret, and imagination.
“In the place where dialogue and words usually end, the dialogue of this film only begin. That’s when they go deeper, so deep that, amazed and troubled, we ask ourselves: How much deeper can it go? The words of Hamaguchi are substance, music, material. At first it looks almost minor: a man and a woman, sometimes two women, stand in a room with white walls. Then the scene moves forward, and as it advances you feel that the whole universe, including yourself, is standing there with them inside this simple room.”
BERLINALE JURY STATEMENT
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★★★★”Ingenious, playful, sparklingly acted and thoroughly entertaining” ★★★★★ “wondrous, searching and loquacious” ★★★★“The writer-director’s greatest gift is wringing intense emotion from each moment” “A playful triptych of self-contained vignettes… that are bound together by a shared fascination with memory, coincidence, and the deep truths that shallow lies tend to uncover.” “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is another aching, beautiful film from Hamaguchi, and plays like the visualisation of an obscure literary collection begging for rediscovery.” “Hamaguchi writes forensically flawed female characters with empathy and unsentimental honesty.” “The geometry of desire is elegantly plotted in “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” a wistful, moving, outwardly unassuming movie.” “This is a film you surrender to, appreciating every move as it reminds you of past loves and regrets.” “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is an emotionally resonant and beautifully therapeutic piece of cinema.” |
