2022-04-17 08:25
Just finished watching Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy and I have to agree with at least one critic I read (I don't remember who, maybe A.S. Hamrah... and yes it was in his January column at The Baffler) who said it was the better of the two of Hamaguchi's movies from the year (the other being Drive My Car). I quite enjoyed the latter, but having now watched the former, I was much more moved by it. It feels like it packed a lot more into it's 2 hours than Drive My Car did into its 3 hours, and the writing and acting were excellent. The movie has 3 episodes each built around unexpected meetings after long passages of time. Of the three the third, featuring two woman who meet thinking they are someone else they knew from high school 20 years ago, is so simple in plot and execution but really builds up powerfully, definitely the highlight.