Das Glücksrad
Gûzen to sôzô Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
****
Japan 2021 Opened Sept . 1 , 2022 121 minutes
© Film Kino Text
Directed by : Ryûsuke Hamaguchi Writing credits : Ryûsuke Hamaguchi Principal actors : Kotone Furukawa , Ayumu Nakajima , Hyunri , Kiyohiko Shibukawa , Katsuki Mori , Shōma Kai , Fusako Urabe , Aoba Kawai
Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi ’ s film made a strong impression at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2021 by winning the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize . It is a very interesting and complex romantic drama and an anthology consisting of three episodes of an unexpected love triangle . The first part , titled “ Magic or Something Less Assuring ,” reveals a failed seduction . The second part is “ Door Wide Open ,” and the final is “ Once Again .” The last two result in a misunderstanding and a wondering of where all this will lead , due to the choices and regrets that were made along the way .
Each episode consists of strange surrealistic moments that make the audience wonder if it is fiction or reality . The film has subtle nuances and at times feels like a romantic poem coming to life , but then something happens and the storyline flows in a completely different direction . Hamaguchi uses his poetic craft to capture moments in which the wheel of fortune may give or take , much like the wind causing air currents to flow by . ( Shelly Schoeneshoefer )
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skeptical researcher , she engages the creature in a very long conversation . However , determined to be finally released from his long imprisonment in order to ascend to a superior djinn existence , the spirit starts telling Alithea about his various lives , his love story with the Queen of Sheba , and other tales of adventure and incarceration . Eventually , the professor makes a surprising wish , which will take them both happily into another experimental life .
Director George Miller mixes contemporary life with magical and exotic images , including some erotic scenes , which really carry the spectator away . Unfortunately , the movie meanders at times , instilling some doubts as regards to its ultimate purpose : is it an escape from everyday life , or a fantastic satire of everyday life supposed to wake us sleepy human beings up ? Whatever ! The willingness to invite the spectator ’ s imagination to alternate between dream and reality is worth the overexploited themes and supernatural events and produces marvelous fantastic scenes . ( Brigitte Bernard-Rau )
28 In Hamburg