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Information

A.k.a.
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
Year
2021
Runtime
121 min.
Director
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Genres
Drama, Romance
Rating *
7.5
Votes *
0
Checks
531
Favs
58
Dislikes
2
Favs/checks
10.9% (1:9)
Favs/dislikes
29:1
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. leodelgado01's avatar

    leodelgado01

    Beautiful. It could be a stage play, for how much it relies on characters talking with one another, mostly in dialogues, and interacting in pairs. There aren't many flashy moments of camerawork and editing (except a couple really interesting ones, ex.: the one at the cafe, the one at the escalator etc.) and there are many long takes of people just talking. That being said, I loved this film. Divided in three parts, stories only connected by the theme that carries the whole thing, the movie follows these sometimes intense, other times casual, always authentic conversations, avoiding easy answers, exploring the impact of fate and fortune (and misfortune) and the weight of our choices. There is tragedy and there is romance and there is comedy and there is loneliness and heartbreak and doubt and so much more. Nothing is alienating: even when a character does something weird or bad, I never felt them as anything more (or less) than people. 2 years 2 months ago
  2. ucuruju's avatar

    ucuruju

    like a warmness coursing through my veins. 2 years ago
  3. Siskoid's avatar

    Siskoid

    Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy presents three thematically-linked stories, and it's those links, along with the title, that give his mundane slice-of-life tales a sense that great forces - psychological and cosmic - are at work in our lives, forces that take us into the territory of poetics. In each story, two things: A web of coincidence creates a chance encounter that one character describes as Dramatic Meeting. And characters will go in with one intention and end up doing something else with greater conviction. If the film is about regret, it's largely about overcoming that regret and moving on. Where there is ambiguity, it's the sort of every-day ambiguity that comes from not knowing another person (or even oneself) fully, and ultimately it's in the service of finding some grace in the world, and therefore, some poignancy for the audience. Each story is better than the last, and though each is small, private, and essentially just a conversation or series of conversations, each feels momentous in its own way. Unadorned cinema at its best. 1 week 6 days ago
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In 3 official lists

  1. This movie ranks #40 in iCheckMovies's 2020s Top 100
    iCheckMovies's 2020s Top 100's icon

    iCheckMovies's 2020s Top…

    40
  2. This movie ranks #588 in Cahiers du Cinéma's Annual Top 10 Lists
    Cahiers du Cinéma's Annual Top 10 Lists's icon

    Cahiers du Cinéma's Annu…

    588
  3. This movie ranks #658 in TSPDT's 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films
    TSPDT's 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films's icon

    TSPDT's 21st Century's M…

    658
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