The Melbourne International Film Festival is here and when I saw it was a Yakusho Koji movie, I clicked buy. I did not know that it was directed by a German director Wim Wenders and that Yakusho Koji had won best actor at Cannes!
Yakusho Koji plays Hirayama, a professional toilet cleaner who cleans public toilets in Tokyo. When I say professional I mean his van is loaded up with all sorts of equipment and he has a hundred keys strapped to his belt to open all locks in public toilets along with a lot of cleaning tools.
Hirayama takes pride in his toilet cleaning job. He is thorough, does not half-ass it like his useless kouhai and checks every nook and cranny. Hirayama lives a simple existence with his plants, books and cassette tapes but what he has is dignity and pride in his work even though everyone looks down at him from the mother with the lost child to his sister. I recommend not watching the trailer below because it spoils so much of the movie including the memorable lines. It is best to watch it with no knowledge at all.
Perfect Days is a slow movie about someone doing a manual labour job that comes with interesting challenges but I was captivated all the way through because the acting was so good, most of it from Yakusho Koji. I never thought watching Yakusho Koji cleaning public toilets would be so interesting. Hirayama barely speaks in Perfect Days but he is able to convey so much with his acting.
I won't spoil what happens but there is a very nice cameo from someone playing the mama at Hirayama's usual bar. I thought she looked very familiar but it was only after she sang that I figured out who she was.
Perfect Days is a well done artsy movie that appeals to most people because the acting is so strong and it is a simple movie that will stay with you long after watching. I've seen artsy movies try this slow artsy style but fail most of the time. *cough* Koibitotachi *cough* A must watch movie for me because it is so simple yet so deep. I love that Perfect Days does not fully explain Hirayama's past but offers enough glimpses that you can surmise why he come to chose his current life. I recommend you seek it out at your nearest film festival.
I feel like visiting the toilets featured in this movie especially the glass one and it looks like they are part of this Tokyo Toilet Project.
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