LakshmiHirayama (Kôji Yakusho), a toilet cleaner by profession lives and works alone in an inadequately, albeit neatly furnished apartment in Tokyo. He somewhat seems to enjoy his job of cleaning the public toilets in the busy Shibuya district, to the extent that he carries his own supplies of toilet cleaning products in his van. His ostensibly monotonous lifestyle starts with watering the plants in his house, buying a vending machine coffee, driving to work listening to cassette tapes of classic English music like Lou Reed, eating a sandwich at noon in a picturesque park where he tends to photograph tree tops and then going home after work, reading himself to sleep. On his days off, he does his laundry and uses the opportunity to also develop his film rolls of the photos he captured during the week.
Director Wim Wenders managed to turn this story of an individual into a feature film instead of a documentary. The title is the opposite of what could be considered as ‘perfect days’ to most people. But this captivating story shows that even toilet cleaners can have perfect days, contrary to the general opinion. Wenders was inspired to write “Perfect Days” alongside Takuma Takasaki after visiting the Tokyo Toilet Project, where over a dozen artists created public restrooms that are elegant examples of dignity, inventiveness, and artistic brilliance. Through this movie, he managed to portray how the world perceives people like toilet cleaners, taking them for granted, in their daily life.
Hirayama is a common name in Japan, and particularly is derived from the main character of “An Autumn Afternoon,” the final film of the legendary Japanese minimalist Yasujiro Ozu. The film competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on 25 May and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Best Actor Award for Kōji Yakusho. Yakusho’s portrayal as the man-of-few-words Hirayama in the movie deserved the coveted prize. He played the modest everyday hero- shaving his moustache, dressing in his work blue jumpsuit, playing oldies by any semblance of Lou Reed, Van Morrison and the Kinks, delighting in Tokyo’s stunning fabricated and beautiful vicinities, and fastidiously scouring and sparkling those spectacularly customized toilets while plying a running game of X’s and O’s. It turns out that what appears to be austere seclusion is a busy, precise life of meditation; a confrontation later in the movie raises the possibility that resentment and renunciation may also be at work.
Several quotes in the movie have deep meanings. One of my favourite moments was when his niece, Niko (Arisa Nakano), suggested they get on a boat and he simply said “Next time is next time. Now is now”, while staring across at the horizon standing on the bridge after a day of work.
This movie is slow, but beautiful and paired with an incredible soundtrack. Probably one of the best movies from Japan last year and is now an Oscar nominee for Best International Feature Film. Don’t think twice, go for it- it will surprise you!
| Release Date: 2023-05-25 (Cannes) 2024-02-07 (World) | Distributor(s): DCM, Bitters End, Neon | ||||
| Cast: Kōji Yakusho | Producers: Wim Wenders, Takuma Takashi, Koji Yanai | ||||
| Director: Wim Wenders | Screenplay: Wim Wenders, Takuma Takashi | ||||
| Runtime: 123 Minutes | Genres: Drama, narrative |
Lakshmi
