Wim Wenders, director

The other week a FB friend highly recommended the recent Wim Wenders film Perfect Days, about a Japanese man who works cleaning Tokyo's public toilets—and has his personal routines and trials and joys. I love Wenders's Wings of Desire, so I was intrigued. (When Netflix ceased its DVD service and informed subscribers that they could simply keep the last two discs they ordered, I had to think: which two movies would I want to own? I ended up choosing Wings of Desire and Dirty Dancing. I'm not sure what that means exactly.)

Monday night, David was out doing something musical, so I finally sat down to watch Perfect Days. Well. Yes. It is, dare I say, perfect. Although slow, the pace is just right. The protagonist, Hirayama, played so beautifully by Koji Yakusho, has depth; he seems centered, at peace. He's curious and thoughtful. And he is not without emotion. I liked him very much. Here's the trailer to the movie (which is about as informative as any trailer ever is, so don't judge the film on it alone...):

And the toilets! It turns out they were specially designed by top-flight architects, as Wenders explains in this lovely interview that also includes Yakusho, and also covers so much more:

What other movies has Wenders made? A bunch, of course, though I've only heard of—and seen—a few of them: Paris, Texas (1984),  Wings of Desire (1987), and The Buena Vista Social Club (1999). He seems to focus on documentaries these days; together with Perfect Days, in 2023 he released a film about the German artist Anselm Kiefer, which I would like to see. I saw Kiefer's work at the Hirshhorn in DC in 2006 and was blown away. Amazing stuff. I'm sure Wenders does him and his work great justice. 

I was originally going to title this post "Nina Simone sings 'Feeling Good,'" because that is the tune that Perfect Days, in an astonishing shot, ends with. And then yesterday, there was the same song, in S. 1, Ep. 2, of Evil. Whoa. Twice in two days, a fabulous song completely new to me? That's just freaky.

But also, so good. Here it is.  (Click on the Watch on YouTube line.)

And now, go watch Perfect Days (it's on Hulu) to see that final shot—and to enjoy all the other music in the movie. I love it when a movie really uses music. And just enjoy the movie, and Hirayama-san and his world.

And then consider your world. I hope it's a good world, full of delights and surprises. If it's also got pain or heartache, I hope you can still see the delights and surprises. Life isn't necessarily easy. But it's what we've got. Until we don't anymore.