By José Alberto Hermosillo
“Perfect Days” is a chant for the working class, in which simplicity is one of the greatest gifts a person can have.
Veteran German filmmaker Wim Wenders blends Eastern and Western cultures in a compelling, multi-layered, observational drama of intrinsic beauty.
It is a cohesive social narrative grounded in universal moral values such as honesty, self-respect, self-discipline, and self-love.
“Perfect Days” explores self-preservation in a society where, in some cases, individualism leads to isolation and loneliness. Yet those self-made circumstances are no obstacle to having perfect days and finding happiness in small things.
What would be the perfect day for a toilet cleaner in Tokyo or any other city in the world? To have lunch on a bench, contemplating the sunlight spilling through the branches and leaves of the trees, and snapping a shot with a film camera to preserve the natural beauty of his environment. Those are invaluable moments that last forever.
Younger people usually interact with Hirayama in the same way. They do not distance themselves from him or treat him with excessive respect because of his age, as other countries do. They see him as one of their own. The generational gap is the same, as they also wonder about the outdated gadgets he possesses and reproduces. They know he has the knowledge to bring happiness and, at the same time, give them instant emotional satisfaction with American music.
Hirayama is a unique character, distinct from his wealthy sister or his curious, runaway niece. He enjoys a simple life and meticulously reads William Faulkner’s Modern and Gothic American literature and Patricia Highsmith’s novels every day.
“Perfect Days” is a character-driven film that explores Hirayama’s dreams and memories in a more linear, artistic way, like a trip to the Metaverse. Wender’s wife, Donata, created the recurring images that appear in his dreams.
On his way to work, he enjoys listening to American music on a cassette player. Songs such as “The House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals, “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison, “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed, and “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone made the “Perfect Days” soundtrack unforgettable and valuable for the curious young Japanese generation.
Veteran Japanese actor Kōji Yakusho skillfully and elegantly plays Hirayama, a role that earned him the Best Actor award at Cannes 2023. We remember him from the original 1996 film “Shall We Dance?” Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez made the American version more commercial. He also played a major role in Babel and other iconic films, such as “Cure” and “13 Assassins.”
Wim Wenders recently released another extraordinary documentary, “Anselm,” about the work of the German iconoclast Anselm Kiefer. Wim Wenders is a well-known director, known for his evocative works “Wings of Desire” and “Faraway, So Close!” in Germany, where he also made “Pina,” a documentary that pays tribute to the German choreographer Pina Bausch, and “The Salt on Earth,” another marvelous documentary on the work of the world-renowned photographer Sebastiâo Salgado. He also directed other independent and transcendental features in the United States, such as “Paris, Texas” and “Don’t Come Knocking.”
Other contemporary and memorable films that address the working-class subject include Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or-winning “I, Daniel Blake,” Pablo Larrain’s “Tony Manero” from Chile, and Gabriela Pichler’s “Eat Sleep Die” from Sweden.
With “Perfect Days,” Japan reached its fifteenth Oscar nomination and won two. The first Oscar went to “Departures” in 2008, and the second to “Drive My Car” in 2021.
The Japanese entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, “Perfect Days,” portrays the city of Tokyo as another character, with towns or districts where people gather to eat at a nearby market, buy music at an antique record store, bathe in a public sauna, or go out to a bar for dinner.
Tokyo’s urban landscape is intriguing, with highways, buildings, and especially the active broadcasting facility of Tokyo’s Skytree Tower, which the film shows a few times as a cardinal symbol of the city’s skyline.
We must remember that no job is degrading or demeaning, and Japanese people know that. You can be a toilet cleaner, a table cleaner, or flip burgers in a restaurant anywhere in the world. As long as you can do it with dignity and respect, you can find satisfaction as an ultimate goal, along with plenty of other activities that bring you happiness outside your work schedule.
The people of Tokyo must be proud of their city’s cleanliness, especially the toilets, because dedicated, professional people like the endearing character of Hirayama take care of them.
Have you ever wondered whether a Tokyo toilet cleaner can have a perfect day? The answer is yes. Even a hardworking toilet cleaner can have his “Perfect Days” in an automated city with people who lead fast-paced lifestyles.
“Perfect Days” reaches universality by appealing to all workers who do their jobs with dignity and self-respect and who enjoy the little things that make their lives happier.
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