There are fewer things I love more than when you go see a movie and it sneaks up on you emotionally in a way you weren’t anticipating. I had heard great things about German filmmaker Wim Wenders’ newest film Perfect Days, but didn’t expect to be utterly shaken to my core by this simple story that comes so close to feeling trite and maudlin but never crosses that line. Instead, it’s just two hours of pure, joyful loveliness and a stirring reminder to get the most out of every second of this life while you can.

Perfect Days is a quiet little slice-of-life drama about a man in Tokyo named Hirayama (Koji Yakusho). Hirayama lives in a small apartment by himself, and we follow a week or so in his life. He makes a living cleaning the public restrooms of Shibuya, Tokyo. And we experience the joy he takes in his daily routine and the pride he takes in his work, and pleasure he finds in the little things in life. He wakes up, waters his plants, goes to work, goes to the bathhouse, goes to the same bar for dinner, buys a book at the same used bookstore once a week and listens to his prized collection of cassette tapes on the way to and from work every day. Hirayama also has great taste in music, and the soundtrack here is spectacular.

As we follow Hirayama through the mundanity of his everyday life that he takes so much joy from, we learn so much about his life based on how others treat him and how he reacts toward everything. We don’t get much of a backstory on this character. We get bits and pieces of his family life when his niece (Arisa Nakano), a teenage girl who has run away from home, comes to spend a few days with him. She goes to work with him and observes him, and seems lovely. We meet his sister, her mother, when she later comes to pick her up. And we are meant to gleam some things from these interactions about what his life may have been like in another time, but Wenders never spells anything out for the viewer, and there’s a lot for you to uncover based on small interactions. And I love when those who crafted a film trust the audience enough to pick up on the little details. This is certainly less common in American film.

And honestly, this plays a lot like Japanese Jeanne Dielman, but if the lead character was the nicest, loveliest man you’ve ever met and there was much less existential dread. The legendary Koji Yakusho won best actor at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival for this and you can see why. This performance works because if you don’t believe the joy on Hirayama’s face when he leaves his apartment, looks up at the sky, and smiles with his whole face, the movie does not work. And it is one of the most singularly beautiful pieces of acting I have seen lately, and one of the most compelling cinematic character studies in recent memory. 

A small tangent about the public restrooms in Japan. A big part of why I couldn’t look away from this entire movie is because each of the public restrooms Hirayama cleans is so architecturally interesting and visually stimulating. There is one that has a kind of log motif, one that has points of light that change colors, one that gives the Las Vegas Sphere a run for its money, one that seems to be voice activated, one that has an exterior of translucent colored glass that turns opaque when one locks the door from the inside. There is such beauty in these public restrooms alone, it’s easy to see why Hirayama takes such pride in his work.

It should not be this fascinating to watch a man clean public restrooms for two hours. But Koji Yakusho’s lovely performance, the intricate character detail, the gorgeous photography of Tokyo (cinematographer Franz Lustig shot this), make this experience one of rare beauty and grace. It’s emotionally compelling and deeply memorable, and it made me want to look at my own life through a different way. It feels trite and mawkish, but this film presents a deeply convincing argument for appreciating your life, no matter how ordinary it can feel at times. Even in the most mundane day, there is something beautiful enough in life to take one’s breath away. Perfect Days is a deeply gorgeous, melancholic, immersive and life-affirming experience.