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Rose Capp, Perfect Days, The Gerontologist, Volume 64, Issue 10, October 2024, gnae098, https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnae098
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Video: Perfect Days
Director: Wim Wenders
Release date: 21 December 2023 (Germany) and 22 December 2023 (Japan)
Distributor: DCM (Germany) and Bitters End (Japan)
If you have ever wondered if it is possible to make an absorbing 2-hr film where the central protagonist cleans toilets for a living, doesn’t speak for an hour, and not much happens, Perfect Days (Wenders, 2023) answers that question.
This intriguing film began life as a nonfiction work documenting the Tokyo Toilet project, a series of 17, architect-designed public bathrooms completed prior to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Director Wim Wenders was so taken with the singular designs he abandoned the documentary and developed a feature film script focusing on a man who takes pride in his job keeping the toilets immaculate.
Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) is a solitary and reticent older man who lives in a modest Tokyo apartment. Wenders allows the film to unfold at a mediative pace, matching his protagonist’s reflective approach to life. We quickly learn Hirayama’s daily routine, from how he folds his bedding and trims his moustache to his cerebral nighttime reading preferences (William Faulkner) and weekend laundry trips.