Perfect Days (2023)
Directed by Wim Wenders,
Written by Takuma Takasaki, Wim Wenders
Starring Koji Yakusho
Release Date November 10th, 2023
Published December 19th, 2023
The story behind Perfect Days, as Wikipedia tells it, is that friends of filmmaker Wim Wenders invited the director to Japan to view the remarkable new public restrooms that have been built in Tokyo. Each of these public restrooms was designed by an artist using remarkable design, modern tech, and extraordinary design. Not many people get a specific invitation to come and look at arty toilets but not everyone is Wim Wenders. These friends of Wenders hoped that by inviting the filmmaker to see these art installations that happen to be working public toilets, he would be inspired to make a short film about them. Instead, Wenders was inspired to make a two hour feature length movie about a humble man who takes pride in cleaning these incredible works of art, that happen to be public toilets.
The work of art inspired by Tokyo's remarkable art-toilet project is one of the most lovely, gorgeous, and inspiring movies that I have seen in my more than 20 years as a film critic. Perfect Days stars Koji Yakusho as Hiroyama. Hiroyama asks for little and doesn't expect much. He goes to work everyday for Tokyo Toilet Service and painstakingly cleans every inch of every public restroom on his route. He takes pride in his hard work, even as the people who make the mess take little care to make Hiroyama's job easier. The pride that Hiroyama takes in his job is inspiring and shows a man who may not appear special from a glance is a great deal more than the sum of your perceptions of him. That's true of everyone you meet but it feels special in this case because it's in a movie, a communal experience like few others in the world.
When Hiroyama isn't diligently assuring that every public restroom on his route is as clean as possible, he's listening to his collection of classic rock and underground cassette tapes. Dear reader, the soundtrack to Perfect Days is utterly sublime. The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, The Animals, Otis Redding, the music of Perfect Days is a series of amazing needle drops that celebrate the greatest music of all time and appreciating that remarkable music and how it enriches our lives. The music and art we love and consume makes our lives better and when you consider that the public restrooms that Hiroyama takes such care to clean, the movie is a whole is about an appreciation of art of all kinds, diligent dedication appreciating the beauty of the world.
Find my full length review at Geeks.Media
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