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Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Original title: Gûzen to sôzô
  • 2021
  • 2h 1m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
11K
YOUR RATING
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer1:48
1 Video
99+ Photos
DramaRomance

An unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectori... Read allAn unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.An unexpected love triangle, a failed seduction trap and an encounter that results from a misunderstanding, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.

  • Director
    • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
  • Writer
    • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
  • Stars
    • Kotone Furukawa
    • Ayumu Nakajima
    • Hyunri
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    11K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
    • Writer
      • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
    • Stars
      • Kotone Furukawa
      • Ayumu Nakajima
      • Hyunri
    • 36User reviews
    • 118Critic reviews
    • 86Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 10 wins & 23 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:48
    Official Trailer

    Photos165

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    Top cast8

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    Kotone Furukawa
    • Meiko (segment "Magic (or Something Less Assuring)")
    Ayumu Nakajima
    • Kazuaki (segment "Magic (or Something Less Assuring)")
    Hyunri
    Hyunri
    • Tsugumi (segment "Magic (or Something Less Assuring)")
    • (as Hyonri)
    Kiyohiko Shibukawa
    • Segawa (segment "Door Wide Open")
    Katsuki Mori
    • Nao (segment "Door Wide Open")
    Shôma Kai
    • Sasaki (segment "Door Wide Open")
    • (as Kai Shôma)
    Fusako Urabe
    • Moka (segment "Once Again")
    Aoba Kawai
    Aoba Kawai
    • Nana (segment "Once Again")
    • Director
      • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
    • Writer
      • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews36

    7.510.7K
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    Featured reviews

    6Pjtaylor-96-138044

    Spin the wheel.

    'Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy (2021)' is a triptych of entirely independent short stories loosely connected by their shared themes of fate and finding truth through purposely affected false pretences. Told primarily via dialogue with very little formalistic flair, the three stories vary in quality but are consistently grounded and character-driven. They're all very play-like in their execution and construction, with their various reveals and thematic elements being contained entirely within the conversations that act as their beating heart. This is, of course, is to be expected from writer-director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, whose other recent effort, 'Drive My Car (2021)', was similar in terms of its - for lack of a better term - talky nature. The difference is that Hamaguchi plays around with structure in that piece and uses both its more prominent theming and its intimidating length to craft genuinely affecting character interactions as it approaches its finale. Here, he doesn't have time to really do what he does best - that being slow-burning, character-building drama - or, at the very least, he doesn't get to do it to the best of his abilities. The format simply doesn't allow for the same kind of development. That's not to imply that this effort is entirely unsuccessful. It's relatively engaging throughout and its stories progress fairly unexpectedly without feeling as though they're being subversive for the sake of it. The naturalistic acting enhances the cleanly grounded atmosphere, with the players disappearing into their roles to the point that it's sometimes easy to forget they're performing at all. There are some really long takes in here, too, which subtly showcase the technical prowess of all involved - both in front of and behind the camera. Ultimately, it is a little underwhelming, though. It doesn't grip you all that tightly and the pacing of all three shorts is fairly loose, leading to a bit of a meandering vibe that doesn't do the piece any favours. It's never boring, but it's never exciting or emotionally moving, either. It is interesting on occasion and it's undeniably a well-made affair, but it never rises beyond being just good (if that makes sense). Still, it's a solid effort overall.
    9tedempsey-80741

    Watch if only for the 3rd Act

    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."
    9sps-70659

    One in a Hundred, a Must See

    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.
    7Jeremy_Urquhart

    Three compelling stories, all well-told

    (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.
    8ObsessiveCinemaDisorder

    3 Engaging Conversations in a Well-Executed Anthology Film

    Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is a Japanese anthology film told as three dialogue-driven vignettes, about an unexpected dating mix-up, a malicious seduction, and a misunderstanding between strangers. The three shorts are not love stories, but rather stories about love in the face of coincidence.

    Written and directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, the man behind the currently Oscar-nominated Drive My Car, the film evokes drama out of everyday mundanity.

    If you had Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy on mute, you wouldn't see anything visually dramatic happening. There's no violence, chases, or explosions. Hamaguchi delivers three dramatically engaging conversations on film, much like a theatrical play. What the dialogue churns out of its characters is remarkable, ranging from the dark, the perverse, and the deceitful. It covers every color of the emotional spectrum, which I suspect was Hamaguchi's goal.

    The film brilliantly steers clear of the trappings of anthology films. The three segments are in a perfect balance with each other and all serve the film's overall theme. There was no best segment out of the three, which is quite impressive.

    After seeing Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, I thought about the everyday quality of life and how often that is forgotten as being dramatic. What the film explores is in a similar artistic area that the HBO show Mare of Easttown was exploring earlier this year.

    Every dramatic moment in life tends to be a person in front of you about to reveal something for better or worse. And life just all seems like luck of the draw. This theme washed over me and I recollected similar moments in my own life afterward.

    Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy captures its idea with impressive precision and also with a whimsical smile on its face. They don't really make films like this anymore and I'm glad someone brought it back. I look forward to seeing Drive My Car now.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The three stories were actually designed as the three of a group of seven stories, which have all been written already. The first two were shot in late 2019, and the third one was shot in July 2020, in the midst of the long break in the shooting of Drive My Car (2021) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • Goofs
      In one of the first shots, the photographer and the models review the pictures taken on a laptop. At the right of the screen, a pedestrian can be seen walking on the sidewalk towards the characters, and she suddenly stops and stares off screen, probably at a crew member telling her to act natural or move along.
    • Connections
      Featured in Radio Dolin: Why is 2021 - The Year of Woman Film Directors? bonus: Tarantino and Yankovsky (2021)
    • Soundtracks
      Kinderszenen Op. 15 No. 7 Träumerei
      Written by Robert Schumann

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    FAQ14

    • How long is Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 17, 2021 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Official sites
      • Diaphana Distribution (France)
      • Film Movement (United States)
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Fortune and Fantasy
    • Filming locations
      • 3 Chome-14-5 Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan(Kazuaki's office exteriors)
    • Production companies
      • Fictive
      • NEOPA
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,549,323
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 1 minute
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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