Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021, Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

Hamaguchi's latest Berlinale silver bear winner is a tale of love and longing alongside its endless complications. Divided into three distinct short stories and presented in the familiar anthology route, Wheels of Fortune and Fantasy is a terrific ride into the heart of modern relationships.

Magic, the first segment takes off with a minor photography session followed by a lengthy but sensual conversation scene inside a car as it glides through neon-lit Japan whilst Hamaguchi keeping the camera more or less stagnant. The conversation soon unfolds into a love triangle between its central characters and what originates from it is their perception of love and the minute choices they make. Though the episode goes on smoothly, there remains a belief that something was missing as it culminates.

Door Wide Open chronicles around a college professor and his ex-student, who has recently encountered one of his books and decides to meet him and further seduce him by reading an erotic extract from the novel, tho in a mind of having a different purpose to fulfil. The methods by which Hamaguchi depicted intimacy, keeping the sexual tension floating throughout without any explicit scenes is meritorious. 

Once Again, the third one is a trip down memory lane just the name insinuates. A reunion of high school students. A pair of friends cross paths in an escalator after two long decades but do they really know each other after all these years? Hamaguchi paints down a profoundly ruminative story of lost love, where memories linger momentarily.

All of these beautiful stories are brought to life by Hamaguchi in the traditional nuanced and minimalist Japanese way and is filled with laborious people, whose lives are rather difficult to comprehend; dwelling in an awkward ambience, which binds the episodes and shines through the gracefully slick mise en scene.

A refreshing film for the senses with a slice of life vibe, perfectly suitable for these distressing times.