It’s immensely difficult to find inner peace and content during heartbreak.  

I recently faced tragedy in my personal life, and the last several days have been rather difficult for me. Moments like these are where I find comfort through cinema. One film I recently saw truly moved my broken heart — Wim Wenders’ recent film, “Perfect Days,” which premiered in competition at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, with Best Actor being awarded to Kōji Yakusho, the star of the film. I attended a screening of “Perfect Days” at the Bud Frank Cinema, and this was a film that I truly needed to see right now. 

“Perfect Days” follows Hirayama, a quiet man who works as a toilet cleaner for The Tokyo Toilet. Hirayama is quite content with his life and frequently listens to music on audio cassettes during his drives to work. 

As Hirayama, Kōji Yakusho gives a truly stellar performance, relying primarily on subtlety and facial expressions in his portrayal of this quiet, reserved figure. In certain scenes, his smile leaves the viewer with a sense of inner peace. Because of these facets, Yakusho’s performance truly deserves the Best Actor award at Cannes.

Photo of Hirayama in the “Perfect Days” movie. (Contributed/nextbestpicture.com)

Assisting Hirayama during his shift is his younger co-worker Takashi (played by Tokio Emoto), who is the polar opposite of him and frequently asks for favors.

In his first narrative work in six years, Wim Wenders has crafted one of the finest films of his career. Wenders — A prominent figure in the New German Cinema film movement who has previously directed such works as his 1984 road movie “Paris Texas,” the 1977 neo-noir film “The American Friend” and his underrated 1991 sci-fi road movie “Until the End of the World” — has made a film that is pure poetry, a meditation on finding peace within one’s living and an embrace of the routine. “Perfect Days” is a film that could stylistically be compared to his 1987 fantasy drama “Wings of Desire” in its pacing and thematic elements. This includes some scenes in which Hirayama takes photos of the trees near a local shrine, with the trees almost becoming characters. A showcase of Wenders’ excellent direction includes garnering an outstanding performance from Yakusho and the beautiful and poetic screenplay he co-wrote with Takuma Takasaki.

One scene in this film that feels like a callback to Wenders’ previous work is where Hirayama is at the bookstore and buys a novel by Patricia Highsmith. An interesting facet of this scene is that one of her most famous novels, “Ripley’s Game,” was adapted by Wenders as “The American Friend.” 

One of the best aspects of the film is the outstanding soundtrack. From a few tracks from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds that were featured in “Wings of Desire” to the pioneering krautrock band Can reuniting to record a track for “Until the End of the World,” Wenders’ films have garnered a reputation for having perfectly curated soundtracks. “Perfect Days” continues this trend. Some of the songs featured in this film include The Animals’ famous version of “The House of the Rising Sun,” prominently featured during the film’s opening sequence with Hirayama driving his car to Shibuya to begin his morning shift and Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” (featured during a sequence in the second act that left me quite emotional). Other great tracks featured in the film include “Sunny Afternoon” by The Kinks and Otis Redding’s soulful classic “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.”

As for the cinematography, Franz Lustig has captured a plethora of stunning shots. In his sixth collaboration with Wenders, Lustig captures some gorgeous shots in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which adds to the overall intimate feeling of the film, including the wide shots of Shibuya (the ward where Hirayama primarily works) and Hirayama’s neighborhood, along with a wide shot of Hirayama near a riverbank in the film’s third act. 

“Perfect Days” gives the viewer insight into the life of a man truly content and at peace with his life. Wim Wenders has made a beautiful slice-of-life drama that leaves the viewer with a heartwarming and peaceful experience with an outstanding leading performance from Kōji Yakusho and gorgeous cinematography. 

One day, we will all experience peaceful, perfect days and feel truly satisfied in our lives, including myself. 

“Perfect Days” is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Apple TV.

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