Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, 2021)

[yoloswegmaster]

According to Film Forum's October calender, Film Movement have the rights to Ryusuke Hamaguchi's 'Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy'.

[tasa]

It's been on FM's website for some time now, at least I remember seeing it a couple weeks back. Hopefully they'll release it on Blu-ray, some titles have been DVD only, like Kawase's True Mothers which had a Japanese BD come out earlier this year.

[Finch]

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy Blu-Ray coming January 11 2022 according to Deep Discount

[domino harvey]

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy Blu-Ray coming January 11 2022 according to Deep Discount

Now the 18th. Extras

Interview with director Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Bonus Short Film: The Chicken (Directed by Neo Sora) -- Hiro, a young Japanese immigrant in New York City, faces a complex dilemma when he can't bring himself to butcher the live chicken he bought for dinner.
In Japanese, with English subtitles

Anyone know the relation between this film and the Neo Sora short?

[knives]

There is probably none. As a rule FM includes one short with each of their contemporary features to help promote the medium.

[lzx]

Can confirm. The two directors have distinct styles, and the themes the films address are also very different.

[Finch]

Probably best to watch after the film but here is a youtube upload of a post-screening discussion with Hamaguchi at last October's NYFF.

[domino harvey]

I guess we don't have a thread for it but I watched Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy tonight and thought the first two segments were okay and the third was one of the best films I've seen in a long while. A perfectly simple but clever premise (with oddball sci-fi complications, granted), but how it played out greatly moved me way, way beyond the exercises of the other two segments

[swo17]

Why not start now?

I figured you'd like it, as I thought it had a little bit of a Mouret vibe. I liked the first two segments a little more than you, primarily for presenting forensic discussions of relationships in lieu of couples actually experiencing them, but yeah, the third segment is at Rivette levels of whimsy and such a great note to go out on. I still need to see Drive My Car, but that must be quite the year for Hamaguchi if this isn't even the film of his getting all the buzz

[Matt]

The only Hamaguchi I've seen is Asako I & II, which I did not enjoy. It felt to me like a basic cable channel remake of a Jia Zhangke movie. Can I expect something different/better from this film or Drive My Car? I understand if I'm just not on his wavelength. It's the same for me and Rivette or Hong Sang-soo.

[swo17]

Asako didn't do much for me either, and Happy Hour is a bit of an Out 1-type experience, so perhaps wouldn't be your bag. This is in a different vein of relationship films like those by Rohmer, Woody Allen, or the aforementioned Mouret

[domino harvey]

This movie is very, very, very much the product of someone who loves Rohmer. Only the third segment really transcends the influence to create a work that could stand alongside the idol, but all are clearly played in that key. If you vibe with Quatre aventures de Reinette et Mirabelle or La femme de l'aviateur, you'll probably enjoy this

[therewillbeblus]

The only Hamaguchi I've seen is Asako I & II, which I did not enjoy. It felt to me like a basic cable channel remake of a Jia Zhangke movie. Can I expect something different/better from this film or Drive My Car? I understand if I'm just not on his wavelength. It's the same for me and Rivette or Hong Sang-soo.

For what it's worth, Asako I & II did nothing for me either, Happy Hour was somewhat interesting and intermittently engaging but ultimately forgettable. Yet Drive My Car consistently engaged me with its poetic vibe. I admittedly found myself more impressed with how the film was crafted, i.e. its tone and energy, than I was emotionally affected by it, but that was there too. Oddly I keep comparing the film to Parasite, which is very different in terms of content, genre, and atmosphere, but they’re two films that are so perfectly paced in a deliberate manner that I was glued to the screen in a very unique way for me- like digesting the content from all my senses at once. I haven't seen Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy yet but it's been in my watch queue since last weekend when life got in the way, and I hope to check in out soon

[swo17]

Reinette et Mirabelle is a very good comparison for the episodic nature but also tonally and for its aims.

I think Happy Hour is great actually, but not as accessible as this

[knives]

I also adored Happy Hour, it reminded me a lot of Kore-Eda’s Little Sister.

[senseabove]

Oof. I was vaguely considering giving Wheel... a try even though I disliked Asako, gave up halfway through Happy Hour, and was extremely underwhelmed by Drive My Car, but Reinette et Mirabelle is probably my least favorite Rohmer besides La Signe du Lion, so... thank y'all for saving me that two hours.

[swo17]

Well, for context, I think this film is not as good as R&M, which is one of my very favorite Rohmer's, whatever that means!

[domino harvey]

Also, this is nitpicking, but while I like the poster art that serves as the Blu-ray cover for this,

SpoilerShow

for all the iterations on the escalators, the two women are never in the relational positions pictured in the art

I hope someone got fired for that blunder, &c

[Matt]

Is it

SpoilerShow

an unused take that only appears in the trailer?



Since this is all I’ve seen of the film, it stuck out to me.

[domino harvey]

Well now I'm questioning my sanity (more than usual)

[therewillbeblus]

I'll add to the praise for this film- but while the third segment is the clear standout, I liked the first and (to a lesser extent) the second quite a bit. All three deal with one of my favorite topics of enigmatic intimacy, and how meaning can be inspired subjectively through a willing and attentive fellow human engaging with you in real time.

SpoilerShow

The first segment opens with a wonderful taxi ride conversation, illustrating how a bond was formed through "caressing with words," which is exactly the kind of grasp for palpable explanation these connections necessitate when trying to relay such a nebulous energy to a third party. The fact that this third-party picks up on the subject of this connection translates into a spiritual worldview of shared energy, and the subsequent conversation between that couple of exes is earnest in its demonstration of two people torn apart yet authenticating one another's worth through mature, transcendent debriefing. The final scene of 'fantasy' isn't one that is necessarily yearned for and unrealised in totality, but only one part of the woman's desires, while the other 'part' choosing to remain silent is equally self-actualized and accepts the fortunes already afforded to her, both in her previous relationship with the man and in the act of 'letting go' for herself and her friend and lover to move on in their respective journeys towards new experiences.

The second story's fantasy is one that occurs in corporeal form with the lead actress' voice provoking a sacred experience for the targeted professor, and yet he covets this recording to relive this fortune as a fantasy. He craves the ability to evade the elusiveness of such fortune, and the consequence of both the woman's human fallibility (perhaps in a fog of intimacy after being surprisingly valued and accessed as a spiritual mate against her myopic, malicious intent of the visit) and the man's unwillingness to accept the impermanence of fortune sans greed, bring about the downfall of both. Still, that experience is affirmed as intrinsically significant to each of them- and while the bitter student seems to have moved on to a 'better life' than we can objectively discern the woman or professor (whose current life circumstances are unknown to all) at the end, there is a sense that the student's narcissistic ethos is pitiable against the spiritual experience the other two principals have had. I think we're meant to leave the film with hope that both of their lives are better for having that moment together regardless of the consequences- as her kiss and ease of forgiveness in passing on the business card seems to indicate a higher spiritual plane of self-actualization, whereas the student's stated achievements are merely superficial and devoid of perceptible value.

The third story blends fantasy and reality more deeply, and is so intertwined it's not even worth dissecting at length, but I was profoundly affected by how a devoted stranger's presence (physically, but also 'present' with alert and motivated sensory engagement) can trigger objective recall of tangible emotions and memories in another, without having a blueprint beyond that enigmatic feeling. It's a story of two strangers helping one another delve psychologically deeper into the vulnerabilities of 'self' to find grace, and a reminder of how little effort and naked goodnaturedness it takes to inspire one another reciprocally to embrace opportunities to peel back life's mirages of obstacles to locate ethereal acceptance and gratitude.

[swo17]

This is now streaming on the Criterion Channel

[knives]

Well now I'm questioning my sanity (more than usual)

SpoilerShow

In case this wasn’t fully established the shot is in the movie. The scene works out with blue going up the escalator spots white, rushes to go up and then the shot occurs. It’s the first escalator scene.

Good movie by the way. I’m not in love with Hamaguchi, but I’m consistently enjoying him.