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Perfect Days -
As Ferris Bueller put it, "life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." This Japanese drama is excellent for how it shows this philosophy in action. Koji Yakusho earned his acting award at Cannes for how content and peaceful he makes Tokyo toilet cleaner Hirayama out to be His life could be considered repetitive: he tends to his garden at the same time, buys the same kind of canned coffee on the way to work, spends his breaks sitting in the park taking pictures with his trusty 35mm film camera, has the same meal at the same bar after work, etc. but Yakusho totally sold me on the routine's benefits. The movie as a whole, on the other hand, manages to not be as repetitive, and Yakusho is just as adept at selling you on how his philosophy helps him weather life's storms.
While remembering to stop and smell the roses can make life better no matter where you live, the way director Wenders makes Tokyo seem like a supporting character really drives its value home. He does this at the small scale with how he depicts the tiny book shops, used media shops and the cafe Hirayama frequents as well as at the large scale, especially during a moment where Hirayama and his niece stand on a bridge overlooking the city. It made me wish the editor was Hirayama himself so I could take in the moment even more. As his fondness for film cameras, cassette tapes, etc., Hirayama is sort of an analog man in a digital world. Luckily, the movie does this without any generational supremacy. Mostly, it demonstrates that a moment spent scrolling on a phone is a profound moment in the real world missed. Also, Hirayama is not just taking pictures of squirrels when he is in the woods: he is attempting to capture a moment for which his lifestyle is necessary. We are with him 100% of the time, but the movie thankfully allows the few supporting players to shine. Highlights are his teenage niece, his less than devoted co-worker who should follow in his footsteps a bit more and a man close to his age who he reassures that it's never too late in life to do just that.
With this movie, Wenders once again succeeds at telling the stories of a unique individual and a real place at the same time. For these reasons, he joins the ranks of my favorite directors with this movie. Whenever I think about my grandfather, I always remember what I did with him when I visited him: sit together at the park while he solved his word puzzles and dropped the acorns he always gathered for his "squirrel friends." Since this tends be the first memory of him that comes to mind, Hirayama must be onto something.
As Ferris Bueller put it, "life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." This Japanese drama is excellent for how it shows this philosophy in action. Koji Yakusho earned his acting award at Cannes for how content and peaceful he makes Tokyo toilet cleaner Hirayama out to be His life could be considered repetitive: he tends to his garden at the same time, buys the same kind of canned coffee on the way to work, spends his breaks sitting in the park taking pictures with his trusty 35mm film camera, has the same meal at the same bar after work, etc. but Yakusho totally sold me on the routine's benefits. The movie as a whole, on the other hand, manages to not be as repetitive, and Yakusho is just as adept at selling you on how his philosophy helps him weather life's storms.
While remembering to stop and smell the roses can make life better no matter where you live, the way director Wenders makes Tokyo seem like a supporting character really drives its value home. He does this at the small scale with how he depicts the tiny book shops, used media shops and the cafe Hirayama frequents as well as at the large scale, especially during a moment where Hirayama and his niece stand on a bridge overlooking the city. It made me wish the editor was Hirayama himself so I could take in the moment even more. As his fondness for film cameras, cassette tapes, etc., Hirayama is sort of an analog man in a digital world. Luckily, the movie does this without any generational supremacy. Mostly, it demonstrates that a moment spent scrolling on a phone is a profound moment in the real world missed. Also, Hirayama is not just taking pictures of squirrels when he is in the woods: he is attempting to capture a moment for which his lifestyle is necessary. We are with him 100% of the time, but the movie thankfully allows the few supporting players to shine. Highlights are his teenage niece, his less than devoted co-worker who should follow in his footsteps a bit more and a man close to his age who he reassures that it's never too late in life to do just that.
With this movie, Wenders once again succeeds at telling the stories of a unique individual and a real place at the same time. For these reasons, he joins the ranks of my favorite directors with this movie. Whenever I think about my grandfather, I always remember what I did with him when I visited him: sit together at the park while he solved his word puzzles and dropped the acorns he always gathered for his "squirrel friends." Since this tends be the first memory of him that comes to mind, Hirayama must be onto something.