The film follows Hirayama’s meticulously structured daily routine. He wakes up at dawn, tends to his small collection of maple trees, dons his "Tokyo Toilet" uniform, and drives his van through the city while listening to classic western rock on cassette tapes. His work is unglamorous—cleaning the highly architectural public restrooms of Shibuya—yet he performs it with a zen-like dignity and obsessive attention to detail. The Criterion Collectionhttps://www.criterion.com
How does one survive the loop of ? Hirayama’s answer is analog media. He drives a 1980s van. He listens to cassette tapes of The Velvet Underground, Otis Redding, and Patti Smith. In the age of algorithmic playlists, Hirayama listens to the same side of a tape over and over until the magnetic ribbon wears thin.
, played by Kōji Yakusho in a career-defining, nearly wordless performance that earned him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival Perfect Days -2023-2023
The narrative structure reflects this routine. The film presents a series of "perfect days," cyclical yet distinct. We see the seasons change subtly; the light shifts, the trees grow. The repetition is not boring; it is grounding. It forces the viewer to align their internal clock with Hirayama’s, finding comfort in the ritual.
Perfect Days: Where the Light Comes Through | Current | The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collectionhttps://www
Wenders is fascinated by the concept of Komorebi —a Japanese word untranslatable to English, referring to the sunlight filtering through trees. Hirayama photographs these moments with his analog camera, pasting the developed snapshots into albums. He looks up, shielding his eyes from the sun, smiling. This connection to nature serves as his spiritual nourishment.
His job: scrubbing toilets in the Shibuya ward. He takes it seriously. He carries a kit of specialized tools. He uses a mirror on a stick to check under the rim. He smiles at the cherry blossoms reflected in a chrome urinal. He listens to cassette tapes of The Velvet
Every morning, as he drives to work, he pops a cassette into the stereo. The soundtrack is a mix-tape from heaven: Lou Reed ("Perfect Day," naturally), The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Nina Simone, Van Morrison.
There is a quiet revolution happening in cinema, and it smells faintly of bleach and morning sunlight. It’s called Perfect Days , the 2023 masterpiece from German director Wim Wenders, and it might just be the most peaceful two hours you’ll spend this year.