Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s ‘A Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy’ Explores Japan’s Gender Dynamics Via Intimate Shorts
Rebecca Davis editorJapanese writer-director Ryusuke Hamaguchi may be known for his deep explorations of women in love, but he never set out to specifically chronicle female intimacy.The filmmaker made his name with 2015’s epic five-hour-long “Happy Hour,” which follows the friendships and lives of four middle-class women in their thirties, followed by the unconventional love story “Asako I & II,” which competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018.He has returned to similar territory in a new fashion in his latest work, “A Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which premiered in competition at this year’s Berlinale.