Perfect Days [2023]

 Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days – described by the amusing witticism “Zen and the art of public toilet maintenance” – is a film that both enthralled me and filled me with uneasiness. It’s stunningly crafted, with gorgeous audiovisual designs, understated poetic reflections, gently impressionistic style, simmering emotions that vacillated between wonderment and melancholy, embracing of the mundane, and absorbing remembrance of a time when the world was still analogue. The cyclic routine of Hirayama – a cleaner of fancy toilets in an upscale Tokyo district – is brought to life by Kōji Yakusho’s immersive and near-unspoken turn; he loves his morning coffee, has a prized collection of classic rock and pop audio cassettes that he listens to while driving, takes photos of trees with his old film camera during work breaks, has the same dinner every night, visits his favourite bookstore and bar during the weekends (the latter often ends with impromptu gigs), and lives at a small and minimalist home where he tends to his little garden and voraciously reads esoteric books. Its irresistible splendour, however, stood at unsettling odds with its rather problematic romanticization of a blue-collar man who’s employed in a menial job which surely involves unsavoury tasks, long working hours, miniscule salary, lack of employment benefits, and being compelled to live a dreary existence that’s antithetical to pursuing transcendental and eclectic aesthetic standards. The job of a public toilet cleaner anywhere is anything but cute, which made the film’s idealized gaze patronizing and discomfiting. Its maudlin tone and nostalgic indulgences made it tad kitschy too. This dichotomous viewing experience, therefore, made it a paradoxical work could’ve done with imbuing the “perfect” in the title with edgier and more ironic undercurrents.

p.s. Watched it at the 2024 Bangalore International Film Festival (BIFFES)

Director: Wim Wenders

Genre: Drama/Urban Drama/Existential Drama

Language: Japanese

Country: Japan/Germany