Perfect Days follows Hirayama (Koji Yakusho), a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo whose life is built around his structured routine. He starts every morning by watering his plants and listening to music on his way to work. Despite the repetition of his life, he never seems unfilled and manages to find genuine joy in the world around him.
I knew very little about this film, or even about Toyko, but after watching it I feel like I understand the love that Hirayama, and the director, Wim Wenders, have for the city and its people. This love and care even extends to his work as a public toilet cleaner which I can tell you as someone who used to clean pub toilets, is thankless and often disgusting work. And yet Hirayama takes as much care with this job as you’d expect from a dedicated surgeon, despite comments from his unreliable colleague Takashi (Tokio Emoto) that the toilets will just get dirty again anyway.
"In a world of manufactured scarcity and chasing trends, it is Hirayama who is unmoved by the changing tides of culture"
But it is this care and focus on the present that defines Hirayama as a character. The belongings that fill his house and his life are old and worn through love rather than neglect. In a world of manufactured scarcity and chasing trends, it is he as a character who is unmoved by the changing tides of culture. Instead, he rests on the things he appreciates, not because they are popular but because he loves them. Trends come and go, the things that were popular fall out of fashion and then come back like Hirayama’s cassettes and film camera.
The soundscape of the film is subtly striking. There is very little verbal dialogue and even less of it is said by Hirayama himself. Instead, the film is filled with the dialogue of the city, the sounds of traffic, trees in the wind, a light switch being turned on. Every morning Hirayama wakes to the same sound of a broom sweeping on the street outside, and every morning he picks a cassette tape from his collection to listen to on his way to work. This use of music is the only distraction from the sounds of the city and the film has a brilliant soundtrack of classic rock like Patti Smith, Van Morrison, and of course, given the title Lou Reed.
"If nothing else, this film is a reminder to water your plants, listen to good music, and breathe"
It's a testament to Yakusho’s performance as Hirayama that despite very little dialogue or tension he always holds your attention and conveys a sense of kindness even in his silence. This kindness is seen in the care he gives to the world around him and the people in it, as he gives the people around him space, he doesn’t judge them or hold grudges against them, even though sometimes that would be justifiable. This space allows them to show us that they are more than they first appear, that people are complex and fascinating and ultimately good and kind. Hirayama meets the world with unwavering kindness and although it may sometimes be to his detriment, he never regrets it or stops giving it out. And even when things go wrong he never dwells on it or takes it out on the world because he understands that these things will come and go, “now is now, next time is next time.” Sometimes you have an awful day and feel like it's the end of the world, but the next day the sun is out and everything feels a little bit easier.
This film might not be the most exhilarating or heart-pounding event of the year, but not every film needs to be the next big blockbuster and there is value in a small self-contained film that doesn’t rush you or feel the need to tie everything up too neatly. It allows you to sit and live in this world with the characters up until the final shot. So, if nothing else, this film is a reminder to water your plants, listen to good music, and breathe.
