Lightness of Being

PERFECT DAYS ★★★★ Director:wimwenders Cast:kôjiyakusho,tokioemoto.arisa

Nakano,aoiyamada,sayuriishikawa

Streamingon:mubi

WHEN ONE learns that at the heart of Perfect Days is the Japanese concept of komorebi, which means the play of sunlight filtering through leaves, one involuntarily anticipates a tender, even poetic, tale to unfold on screen. As German auteur Wim Wenders almost resolutely follows the daily routine of Hirayama (Koji Yakusho), a diligent toilet cleaner in Tokyo, the beauty of his solitary but content life is revealed.

The film’s pace remains languid throughout its 125-minute runtime. The narrative is largely uneventful. When Hirayama’s structured routine is disrupted, it gives the movie its dramatic moments and emotional depth.

The screenplay, written by Wenders and Takuma Takasaki, unhurriedly and earnestly tries to acquaint the audience with Hirayama’s everyday life. The protagonist, who lives in a compact duplex, wakes up to the rustling sound of a sweeper cleaning the street. After that, he puts the book he was reading the night before back on the shelf; folds his bedding; shaves; waters the plants on the balcony;wearshisworkoverall;getsacoffee, puts a cassette tape in his van’s music system and then drives to work while listening to old western songs.

At work, he follows another set of routine as he dedicatedly cleans each public toilet he has been assigned to. He even carries a small mirror to inspect if any speck of dirt has been left behind. When his younger colleague Takashi (Tokio Emoto) asks him why he puts in so much effort when the visitors are once again going to dirty the toilets, Hirayama does not answer. In fact, he barely speaks in the movie.

But Yakusho is remarkably expressive. His face brightens up when he watches the sunlight make its way through the cover of leaves as the branches sway to the breeze. He experiences a surge of emotions when a girl overwhelmed by the sound of Patti Smith’s voice on the old cassette plants a kiss on his cheek. He is moved when a little lost boy waves at him to express his thankfulness. He smiles when he discovers that an unknown person has made the next move in a game of tic tac toe on a paper he had left half-hidden in one of the toilets.

The solitary life of Hirayama is made up of several small moments like these. He may be engaged in a job that’s mundane and even looked down upon, but he is not to be dismissed as an average Joe. His interests are varied. He takes photographs of sunlight seeping through the trees; has a rare collection of cassettes; and reads literary classics every night before falling asleep.

It’s befitting that highly-regarded Yakusho plays the role of Hirayama. The actor (winner of the Best Actor award at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival where the film premiered) essays the character with amazing serenity as if he embodies the harmony that Hirayama has managed to achieve in his life.

Some unexpected encounters and occurrences do threaten his equilibrium. But the narrative never deviates from the tender tone to portray his ordinary but incredibly blissful life. As you reach the last scene of Perfect Days, you experience a certain tranquillity — the kind that comes after watching the play of shadow and light against the gently moving leaves.