SLC-S25/W1 – Movie Snapshots | Around the World (Perfect Days)

Watch a movie from a country other than your own country or not of your country's origin.

This week, as part of the Around the World challenge, I chose to travel through Japanese cinema by watching the film Perfect Days, a work of rare sensitivity directed by Wim Wenders in 2023. Although the director is German, the film is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, both in its form and content.

It is not just a foreign film, but a real journey into another way of perceiving the world, time and beauty. My country of origin being Tunisia, this film offered me a dive into a universe very different from mine, both linguistically and culturally and emotionally.

Talk about the main idea of the movie

The central idea of Perfect Days is both simple and moving, the film introduces us to a man, Hirayama, who works as a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. His life is punctuated by daily gestures repeated with care and almost ritualistic precision: he gets up at dawn, folds up his bed, waters his plants, gets a coffee from a vending machine, then gets in his van to go to the city parks where he carries out his work with admirable dignity and seriousness, but behind this routine lies a profound message, even the most modest life can contain an infinity of meaning, beauty, and inner richness. The film teaches us that peace is not found in the spectacular, but in the ability to fully inhabit the present, to observe the light, the trees, the faces, the silences, and to accept the world as it is.

Share the characters

The film features a small number of characters, but each one is meaningful:

Hirayama (Koji Yakusho):
A discreet, meticulous man, passionate about music and photography, who hides a mysterious past, he embodies a Zen philosophy of life: performing each task with care, living in the moment, and cultivating inner peace.

Takashi (Tokio Emoto):
A carefree young colleague who joins Hirayama at work. Initially indifferent, he transforms through his contact with Hirayama, learning respect, observation, and patience.

Niko (Arisa Nakano):
Hirayama's niece, who comes to his house unannounced, temporarily disrupts his routine, but allows the viewer to discover another side of the hero, more paternal, more vulnerable.

Hirayama's sister:
She appears briefly, but her gaze and silence speak volumes, she symbolizes a past life, perhaps one of comfort or family, that Hirayama abandoned.

Each character is a key to better understanding Hirayama's inner balance and his choice to live a secluded life.

Describe the plot and setting of the movie.

The film takes place entirely in the city of Tokyo, but a Tokyo very different from the stereotypical image that we usually have of this megalopolis, it is not the city of neon lights, crowds, and speed, it is a silent city, made of small parks, peaceful alleys, modest buildings and public toilets of exemplary cleanliness, it is in this sober setting that the story is set, the unfolding of which is slow, almost meditative, we follow Hirayama in his movements, in his habits, in his silences, one day, he welcomes Takashi, another day, he receives a visit from Niko.

Source

The days pass, seemingly similar, but each contains a micro-variation, a discreet emotion, a moment of awakening. One of the most striking scenes in the film is undoubtedly the one where Hirayama, alone in his car, listens to the song "Perfect Day" by Lou Reed, while his eyes slowly fill with tears, it is a moment of suspended grace, where we understand without explanation that this man carries within him a story, a pain, an acceptance.

If you were the Director of the movie what would you do differently?

If I had been the director of this film, I might have added a few additional touches to enhance the emotional impact of certain scenes, without altering the overall spirit of the work. I would have liked to insert brief black and white sequences, like silent flashbacks, showing Hirayama in his previous life and perhaps in an office, in a large house, or at a family dinner.

This would have allowed to suggest, without explaining, what he left to live differently, I would also have liked to offer more space to the relationship between Hirayama and his niece Niko, a dialogue between them, even short, could have enriched the intergenerational dimension of the film, finally, to anchor the film even more in Japanese culture, I would have added some sounds of traditional music, very discreet, or a scene of local ritual, like a festival or the visit of a sanctuary.