Three short stories about chance meetings and second chances in Japan. In each one, a conversation changes the course of a life. Watch how Hamaguchi lets two people talking in a room carry a whole film.
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is a 2021 drama and romance film directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (2 narrative, 2 psychology and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Match Point uses several of the same techniques.
Splitting a film into 3 short, self-contained stories that share a theme but not characters. Each one echoes the others, so the whole film feels like a single idea seen from 3 angles.
How this film uses it
The film is three short stories with different women at the center. Each one is about a missed or mistaken connection. Seeing them together, you notice how often the same feelings come back in new settings.
Where to see it
The three episodes. "Magic (or Something Less Assuring)," "Door Wide Open" and "Once Again" each follow a different woman.
Letting chance, luck or a prophecy steer the plot, so outcomes feel governed by forces beyond character intention and moral desert.
How this film uses it
Each episode turns on a coincidence. A new crush is a friend's old boyfriend, a misdirected email ruins a plan and a stranger at a reunion turns out to be the wrong person. The title suggests a wheel of fortune, and the film lets it spin.
Where to see it
The first episode. Tsugumi tells her friend Meiko about a man she has just met, and he turns out to be Meiko's ex-boyfriend.
Showing one character steering another through suggestion, reading, triggers or false trust. The manipulation works because the target wants to believe or cannot resist.
How this film uses it
In the second episode a student pushes his lover to seduce his professor and cause a scandal. He steers her with trust and promises, and the plan works against them. Hamaguchi lets you see the damage in the aftermath.
Where to see it
The second episode. Sasaki persuades Nao to seduce Professor Segawa, and a misdirected email exposes him.
Using existing classical pieces as the soundtrack, with no newly composed score. The music brings its own history, cultural weight and emotion into the film.
How this film uses it
The soundtrack is three short solo piano pieces by Robert Schumann. They give the film a calm, old-fashioned quality that suits its small rooms and long talks. The music frames the stories without pushing you to feel anything.
Where to see it
The score. Three short solo piano pieces by Schumann are heard across the film.
Having a character invent and keep up a false version of reality to shield someone they love, or themselves, from a truth too painful to bear. The lie is a way to survive.
How this film uses it
In the last episode, two women who mistook each other for someone else play out a make-believe version of the past. The pretending lets them say things they could not say as themselves. The lie is how they get to the truth.
Where to see it
The third episode. At a reunion, Natsuko mistakes Aya for her first love, and the two role-play to work through old feelings.
Questions
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy use?
CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (2021): Anthology Triptych Structure, Fate as Plot Force, Psychological Manipulation, Classical Music as Score and Protective Fiction.
Who directed Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy?
Ryusuke Hamaguchi directed Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, released in 2021. CineCode also covers Drive My Car (2021).
What films are similar to Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy?
Films that share techniques with Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy include Match Point (2005), Life is Beautiful (1997), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Amadeus (1984).
