Perfect Days is a German-Japanese film directed by Wim Wenders in 2023. It is a drama written by Wenders and Takuma Takasaki, and stars Koji Yakusho.
Hirayama is an old man who cleans public toilets in Tokyo. He is single and lives a simple and healthy life. The film slowly reveals things about him through his daily life and interactions with a few people.
This film provides examples of:
- Almighty Janitor: Hirayama cleans toilets for a living but still commands respect from most people around him and has a cool selection of tapes.
- Ambiguous Ending: The final scene of the movie is a long shot of Hirayama's face as he drives his car and listens to music. His face shows a variety of complex emotions, leading the audience to wonder how he really feels about his life.
- Cigarette of Anxiety: While he generally lives a healthy life, at some point Hirayama feels sad. He buys beers and cigarettes and starts smoking while also drinking (for just one night apparently). The one cigarette that he lights makes him cough, so he may not be used to it.
- Drowning My Sorrows: See Cigarette of Anxiety.
- Elective Mute: Hirayama is perfectly able to speak, but he opts to not talk unless it's strictly necessary.
- Hidden Depths: Hirayama may work a menial job and live a simple, frugal life of orderly routine, but has impressive choices in music and enjoys reading literature.
- In-Universe Soundtrack: Whenever he drives his car, Hirayama plays music on his car's tape player. He has a large collection of tapes, and mostly listens to English language music from the 1970s, plus a few Japanese songs.
- Literary Allusion Title: This film is named after the song Perfect Day by Lou Reed. This song is played once while Hirayama is driving his car, and during the credits.
- Mysterious Past: Family tensions between Hirayama, his sister, and their father are implied without elaborating, only that Hirayama has been out of contact with them for years.
- Nice Guy: You'll be hard-pressed to find a more helpful, patient and easygoing man than Hirayama, who has a positive effect on nearly every person he interacts with.
- Running Gag: Young people can't figure how to insert a tape in Hirayama's car tape player. Hirayama doesn't let them try, possibly because he is afraid they might damage something.
- Slice of Life: Nothing much happens besides the daily life of Hirayama. He cleans up public toilets, drives his car while listening to music, rides his bicycle, takes pictures, and has a few interactions with other people.
