Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


​

Movie
Serendipity and chance are the tale of many a Hollywood film, but they don’t always turn out as planned (which is usually the theme), and this sort of “ooopsie daisy” style of narrative is the focus of director/writer Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest effort at making a feature film. The 2 hour film consists of three separate vignettes revolving around groups of people who undergo a series of fate and circumstance in their meeting, and re-meeting later on in life with various sundry results. None of the three films have a connection other than themes of contemplation about life and relationships, but each is fascinating in it’s own way. We get to see menage a trois love triangle play out in real time, a vengeful attempt at ruining someone’s life who ruined yours ending up ruining a third in the process, and a sweet story of mistaken identity.

The first of the three stories is the menage a trois love triangle that I mentioned above. It seems that two young women are talking about the romantic interlude Tsugumi had the other night. However, it’s not long into the conversation that the other woman figures out that the man in the story is actually her ex boyfriend that ended with a tragic breakup. This story is a bit harsh and twisted, with an AMAZING story of subtext and manipulation as well. I’m not going to say it’s the best of the three, but it certainly captured my attention and has some amazing bits of stylistic shifts of tone and direction.

The 2nd is probably the most “bland” of the three. Sasaki (Shouma Kai) is a young college age student who needs a passing grade in his French class to graduate and move on with his life. However his professor Segawa (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) is a bit of a hard nose and refuses to work with him. Thus Sasaki is out on his tail and held back a year. However, he gets an idea when he sees that his professor has won a prestigious writing award. He can use his married girlfriend Nao (Katsuki Moria) as a sort of “honey pot” revenge where she can seduce the professor, and subsequently ruin him. However, things go wildly awry when a message meant for the professor ends up going to someone COMPLETELY different in the staff, ruining HER life in the process. I’m actually not so sure what the message of this particular story was, as it is the most opaque of the narratives. There’s elements of contemplation and sorrow in a future piece of the final few minutes where Sasaki and Nao meet back up to find out what happened to the other, but it’s more something to just sit and contemplate on rather than being spoon fed a message.

The last of the stories is actually the most powerful and my personal favorite. There’s a title scroll that sort of tries a science fiction route with a virus wiping out all of computers, so that human kind goes back to only pen and paper as a form of communication (a plot point that really only is there so as to set up the lack of communication that unfolds later in the story). Then we see a shy woman named Natsuko suddenly seeing a woman that she believes is her old lover from high school. The two mistakenly think that each is someone they knew back in the day, and only find out one at Nana’s home where the puzzle pieces click together. However, instead of being embarrassed the two use the mistaken identity scenario to unabashedly unload on the other with the pain that they’ve been keeping inside regarding the relationships with the person they THOUGH the other was. It’s a sweet story of two women who don’t know each other (even though they thought they did) and end up creating a bond that starts a new friendship at the end of the day. I honestly had a huge smile on my face by the time the credits rolled on that particular vignette, and believe that even if you don’t like the other two stories, this one is completely worth the price of admission alone.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

As is the case for many Asian films, I haven’t been able to find any definitive proof on what cameras were used, or what digital intermediate was utilized for the master, but the 1080p 1.78:1 framed AVC transfer looks quite good, albeit uniquely indicative of Japanese filming techniques. The obviously digitally shot movie has that very unique flat look that Japanese films like to use, with mostly monochromatic color schemes that vary off into light blues and yellowish tinges over the course of the vignette driven narrative. Outdoor shots are never overly bright and blooming, but stick to that light blue/gray sky with neutral looking colors. Fine details tend to be excellent here, with every stitch on the clothing showing up, as well as intricate facial details. Nighttime shots (such as the opening vignette with the cab ride and the office visit) are much more artifact prone, with smeared blacks and a sort of sallow skin tone to the whole endeavor. Details are still good and there’s nothing OBVIOUSLY wrong, but you notice light grain spikes and smeared details across faces and clothing in the sallow looking light. Overall, this is a very good looking transfer for a Japanese film, and solid encode by Film Movement.








Audio:

The film comes with a Japanese track in both lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1, as well as Dolby Digital 5.1 track as well, and naturally the DTS-HD MA lossless is going to be the winner here. As you can guess from my description of the movie itself, this is a VERY dialog driven film with very few moments where surrounds or subs can come into play to make it a dynamic mix. Vocals are crisp and clear, located straight up in the center of the room, with moderate ambient activity reverberating throughout the two main channels. Surrounds do get some mild city traffic in the background, or the shock of something being thrown over a shoulder, but overall this is a very mild and talky film that doesn’t break out of the dramatic mold very much. Everything is well done in the confines of that particular style, but nothing that is going to shock and wow the listener either.










Extras:

• Interview with director Ryusuke Hamaguchi
• Bonus Short Film -- The Chicken (Directed by Neo Sora | United States | English and Japanese with English subtitles | 14 minutes) -- Hiro, a young Japanese immigrant in New York City, faces a complex dilemma when he can’t bring himself to butcher the live chicken he bought for dinner.

Final Score: ​

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is going to appeal to a niche audience, much the same way Dinner with Andre or Midnight Diner does as well. It’s a good film with some interesting character driven vignettes, but it’s just not going to be a movie you pop in for a popcorn watch. I really enjoyed 2 of the vignettes, and kind of was “meh” on the third, but the slow paced and drama oriented take was a nice change of pace from your typical Japanese film fare, and the unique visual aesthetics sort of drew me out of my slumber of “oh, just another drama”. Solid film, good audio and video with some rather anemic extras. Still worth a watch if the trailer interests you.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Kotone Furukawa, Ayumi Nakajima, Hyunri, Aobi Kawai, Kiyohiko Shibukawa
Directed by: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Written by: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: Japanese: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Japanese DD 5.1
Subtitles: English
Studio: Film Movement
Rated: NR
Runtime: 121 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: January 18th, 2022

Recommendation: Check It Out

 

[Todd Anderson]

Hmmm. Noted. I think I'll stick this on my Amazon wish list and price watch