Friday April 8: Wheel of Fortune & Fantasy

Wheel of Fortune & Fantasy / 偶然と想像 | 2021 | 121 mins

Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Celebrated filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi takes on three different stories in this anthology film. In episode one, model Meiko is shocked to discover her friend Tsugumi’s new love interest is her own ex-boyfriend Kazuaki. In episode two, married mother Nao is convinced by her lover to seduce a successful university lecturer in order to create a scandal and humiliate the academic. Finally, a third episode imagines an alternate reality where people have stopped using computers and smartphones. Two women bump into each other at a train station, both believing they were classmates many years previously… but they soon start wondering whether they knew each other at all.

Time: 7.30pm (Doors 7.15pm)

Where: Garter Lane Theatre

Wheel of Fortune & Fantasy is one of two recent films from Hamaguchi, alongside the award-winning Drive My Car (screened at JFF 2021). An anthology format proves a perfect fit for his character-focused, methodical form of storytelling. All the stories here feature moments of mysterious revelation, unexpected connection and extraordinary emotional catharsis. It’s another masterpiece from one of world cinema’s most remarkable filmmakers. 

RYUSUKE HAMAGUCHI (born 1978) graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts as a Master of Film in 2008. He came to widespread international attention with his five-hour long drama Happy Hour (15), hailed by several critics as one of the best films of its decade. His follow-up feature Asako I & II premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, competing for the Palme d’Or. Drive My Car (21) this year became the first ever Japanese film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.