Gûzen to sôzô

Three short stories consisting entirely of long conversations between friends, acquaintances, or somewhere in between. Ryusuke Hamaguchi continues to excel at believably portraying very human behavior and relationships in slightly heightened scenarios.

Life told in snapshots as we try to navigate the hurt.

Three stories with hardly (or no) emotional or dramatic build-up across each one: the first one is a well acted tale of uninteresting relationship issues, the second one is sexy, and the third is intriguing for how it implements the fantasy. There's some moments of largeness in this small and unfussy film, but I'm not heaps excited by it all.

Every love story is as natural as scripted, as universal as particular, as mundane as spectacular. Hamaguchi bends genres in three sections - one about best friends and the man they both like in different stages, former heartbreaker girlfriend and the current magic connection; a married woman engaged in free love experiences trying to seduce a writer, but derailing big time; two old lovers who think they meet again, but not, then let's just pretend we did. Deeply felt and carefully put together.

Viewed October 2, 2021. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is built out of long scenes of people talking and processing; through his open, unhurried takes and the subtlety of the performances, Hamaguchi somehow manages to capture his protagonists' inner evolution. I liked the second story the best because it was funny and sad in equal measure, and because it's really only about the horrors of writing and sending emails.