Cannes - Mohamad Hashem Abdelsalam
In 1994, German director Wim Wenders made a very nice film, almost forgotten now, entitled “The Lisbon Story,” which intersects, to a large extent, in more than one point, both productively and artistically, with his last feature film, “Perfect Days” (2023). The film's title (The Lisbon Story) is simple and deceptive. Those who do not know it think that it is a narration of the story of the city of Lisbon, but it is a human, philosophical and meditative journey, gentle, entertaining and funny, based on 3 main elements: the city of Lisbon, with its beauty and sounds; And the famous Portuguese band “Madridosa”; And the film industry. “The Lisbon Story” and “Perfect Days” share a great and tangible amount of simplicity, beauty, depth, high human value, and highlighting the role of art in people’s lives.
What is interesting is that Wenders did not intend to make a film about Lisbon. However, in 1994, Lisbon was the European Capital of Culture, so the city’s mayor, as part of his desire to present a different image of celebrating it, asked him to direct a documentary about it. For Wenders, this is just a project, which may be forgotten, but from which he will earn a lot of money, so he unleashed his creative imagination, abandoning the documentary in favor of a feature-length novel, which he wrote himself, and this is the first time he has not cooperated with a screenwriter. The basic plot is based on a trip, or “road movie,” with excitement, a light love story, wonderful music, and good and convincing acting by the talented Rüdiger Vogler.
With “Perfect Days,” the same thing happened, more or less. Commissioned by the Japanese authorities, with the aim of celebrating the latest public toilet systems, he was asked to direct a documentary or promotional feature for “Tokyo Toilets”, as artistic and cultural propaganda. As happened before, Wenders abandoned the documentary/promotional feature and created a long novel whose general theme is the basic idea required, but which goes further and deeper, humanly and philosophically, and is more contemplative, aesthetic and exciting, cinematically, despite its formal simplicity. In it, Wenders was able, with skill and sensibility, to capture the Japanese spirit, and present it as the most beautiful, deepest, and truest possible, far from any superficiality or touristic view, and this did not appear like this in “The Lisbon Story,” perhaps because he was assisted in writing the “Perfect Days” scenario by a professional Japanese screenwriter. , called Takuma Takasaki; Because he lived for periods in Japan and made films about it, he is also a lover of this country, its culture and its heritage.
In the past few years, Wenders has completed more than one documentary film of remarkable quality, professionalism, and artistry, such as “Pena” (2011) and “Salt of the Earth” (2014). His recent feature films have been very successful, and “Perfect Days” is considered one of his best and most beautiful feature films in decades, and perhaps since “Land of Plenty” (2004).
“Perfect Days” tells the story of Hirayama (Koji Yakusho), in his early sixties, who works as a toilet cleaner. He seems content with his life, his condition, and his livelihood, satisfied with it, and very reconciled with himself and with everything around him. It seems that he is not looking forward to anything, even if it is simple. From here, the “ideality of his days” stems, while the days depicted slowly and carefully appear not to be as ideal as indicated in the title. Perhaps it is so for some, and for Hirayama, but its repetitive routine pace, with all its boredom and separation from the contemporary world, modernity, progress and technology, and drowning in loneliness, contemplation and stillness, constitutes a nightmare for the majority of people, and is not ideal at all. Every morning, Hirayama quickly folds his bed and places it neat and tidy in the corner of the room. He brushes his teeth. He shaves, takes care of his plants, sprays them with water, and contemplates them for a moment. He smiles as he steps outside, after a quick glance at the sky.
He chooses a cassette tape from his extensive collection of rock and other music, from the 1960s and 1970s, and listens to it. Then another routine cycle begins, organized, disciplined, and strict, in which he passes by toilets of distinct shapes, designs, and chosen locations in public parks, and cleans them with monastic sincerity and devotion. At lunchtime, he sits on the same bench in the park every day. He takes one or more pictures of the sun's rays, their reflections and shadows through trees and branches, with his old camera. After work, he eats dinner at the same dining table, located in a market.
At home, in the evening, the routine continues. He ends his day reading a paper book, until he falls asleep. He turns off the reading lamp, takes off his glasses, and goes to sleep. He usually dreams of black-and-white sequences of trees, lights, suns, and skies, indicating a past life, or places he loves.
Every weekend, things are a little different, as he takes his bike to the laundromat, then the public bathroom to wash his body, and dive into a small pool. Then go to the library to buy new ones, then the photo endorsement shop to buy camera film, and receive printed photos. With the look of a professional artist, or an experienced writer who writes by light, he excludes photographs that he does not like, and keeps the good ones in his archive, according to an annual sequence and numbering. Finally, he heads to a bar, which he frequents constantly, and which is run by a woman his age, whose affair and relationship with her is later discovered.
The same routine repeats every weekend, albeit with slight and intangible differences that are noticeable in the titles of the books he buys, the names of the American writers he reads, and the American music he chooses from his large collection of cassette tapes, specifically rock, jazz, and the songs of Patti Smith, Otis Redding, and Nina Simone. Overall, his few direct interactions with others exude kindness and humility.
He treats everyone with the same tolerance, generosity and patience. This applies even to Takashi (Tokyo Emoto), his annoying, lazy, and reckless co-worker, who is late for work, and always distracted by his phone, and who relies on Hirayama to help him financially, cover his absence during work hours, and especially help him in his frustrating relationship with the girl, Amy (Aoi). Yamada, who is not emotionally compatible with her. Takashi is the complete opposite of Hirayama's personality, his system, methodology, discipline and silence.
Halfway through "Perfect Days," Hirayama's routine is slightly disrupted, once due to covering for his colleague's absence, after his sudden apology. Then, we feel how impossible it is for Hirayama to have anger, or to be controlled by anger, despite the disruption of his routine. But, once again, the delicate balance of his world is disturbed by the sudden appearance of his niece, Neko (Arisa Nakano). After a quarrel with her mother, she flees to him and stays at his house. Gradually, harmony occurs between them, and Wenders depicts the captivating interaction between two generations, one completely different from the other, and shows how intelligent, cultured and open-minded Hirayama is. His great social status and his belonging to an ancient family are revealed. It seems that he deliberately chose to live like this as a monk, for reasons of his own. Guide? A fleeting encounter with his wealthy, estranged sister, Keiko (Yumi Aso), when she comes to pick up her daughter.
The plot of “Perfect Days” may seem slow at first, and undeveloped, were it not for the captivating performance of Koji Yakusho, winner of the Best Actor Award at the 76th (May 16 - 27, 2023) Cannes Film Festival, and recently shown in the “Horizons” section of the festival. The 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival , despite its silence for most of the film’s duration (123 minutes); And Franz Lustig's striking cinematography, especially the close-ups of Koji's face, and especially that wonderful long shot at the end.
In “Perfect Days,” Wim Wenders proves that ordinary, routine days can be fun, exciting, and enriching, perhaps more so than another life that is too complicated, full of difficulties, or too luxurious; And that beauty and happiness can be found or created in ordinary, simple daily life. Although it is impossible to convince a person who enjoys and enjoys his work cleaning public toilets, even if they do not need cleaning, Wenders convinced us to look for beauty in the midst of ordinary life, in all its details, and that there are invisible people around us who are less in status and function than us, whose lives and personalities contain spiritual riches. Human values, culture, satisfaction, and life contentment are sometimes difficult to imagine and touch.
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