| Japan, 2021 | Light Drama | Low-key Mainstream | Trailer |
Some weeks back I read an article by one of my trusted sources describing Ryuusuke Hamaguchi as one of the enfants terribles of contemporary Japanese cinema, and labeling his career as short but quintessential. Due to life’s coincidences, it happened that his newest movie was screened here this week, so I didn’t hesitate to go and check his work out.
The title describes this movie in two aspects. The concept of wheel at describing this work may denote the factor of life’s flowing, as things, events, coincidences, never stop happening; or it also may focus on this movie’s topic about the short, fortunate situations the characters are living but are, as everything in life is, short-spanned and mutable. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy shows three short, disjointed stories with these themes underlying behind: A girl seems to regain feelings for her ex boyfriend when her best friend casually starts dating him, an university student tries to deceive one of her teachers but it ends as a cathartic experience, and a mature woman thinks she has encountered again the person she once loved.
Japanese people are insanely good at crafting domestic, low-key dramas that end being more wholesome and heartwarming that saddening. It happens both in manganime and also live action media. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy continues with this tradition and delivers a fantastic little experience that arises the audience’s feelings of empathy and humanity. At the same time, it also deals with the kind of topics that are usually not discussed in Japanese society by making its characters express themselves freely and naturally.
I am eager to see what else Mr. Hamaguchi can deliver us.