Friday film week 38

A low-key film to make you happy.

Most of us live partially chaotic lives in the modern world, chasing income while carrying small and big traumas from our pasts. This week’s Friday film is a good reminder that life can be peaceful and good, if you choose it actively every day.

Friday film: Perfect Days

Hirayama lives simply, in all aspects of his life. He lives alone in a flat, and tends to his plants in his sparetime. He has a job cleaning Tokyo’s public toilets. All his daily to-dos are well worked routines, and he seems to like that everything has a designated place.

By repetitive movements, quiet moods and golden moments the film brings credibility to a feeling of an analogue character in a digital world. This is also reflected in the music he plays from cassettes in his car, a little treat for those who grew up in the 1980s.

When Hirayama’s niece Niko visits unexpectedly, the innate routine of his life is disrupted, and we sense an imbalance for the first time.

Legendary director Win Wenders (Salt of the Earth, Buena Vista Social Club) has directed the film that won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar.

Watch it here.  

Published: 17/09/2024   Last updated: 17/09/2024