Directed by: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Written by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Starring: Furukawa Gein/Shibukawa Kiyohiko/Kambe House/Nakajima Bu/Mori
Genre: Drama/Love
Production country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Release Date: 2021-03-04(Berlin Film Festival) / 2021-12-17(Japan)
Running time: 121 minutes
Accidental and imaginary synopsis
The film consists of three short films: Magic (Less Real Than Magic), The Open Door, and Again. The multiplicity and mirroriness of the female role is a theme in Hamaguchi’s previous work, as well as in his new book, Chance and Imagination. “Happy Hours” and “Day and Night” are literally novels, while “Chance and Imagination” can be said to be a collection of short stories. The narrative pace reinforces this impression: three episodes, each centered on a female character, are divided into three acts. Three short films tell the story of an unexpected love triangle, an attempted seduction and a misunderstanding that leads to a meeting. Although fragmented, it maintains an organic narrative flow and even emphasizes it. Although most of the action takes place in a single space with only two actors involved, the film doesn’t feel like a chamber play. Not only because of the dialogue, but also because of its complex concept of time and space, the final episode almost turned into a science fiction movie. The moments we witness are all connected to touching universal fates, marked by choices, regrets, deceptions and coincidences that are the film’s true protagonists.