Perfect Days – Wim Wenders

23 Jun Perfect Days – Wim Wenders

There was something about this movie that kept calling me. And I am so glad I saw it. It was beautiful.

The last Wim Wenders film I saw was Wings of Desire, which was similarly a beautiful statement about mindfulness and what it means to live as a human, to live a worthwhile life.

I thought of the Stoics a few times while watching Perfect Days. The main character – Hirayama maintained his integrity, despite his challenges. He was so kind to people around him who didn’t deserve his kindness in any way. And even though some people around him thought that being a toilet cleaner was beneath him, he dedicated himself to doing a good job.

The film was set in 2023, but Hirayama was not connected to the internet. He does not have a smartphone or even a computer. I think this may have been one of the points of the film. It seemed to explore the idea that being disconnected from the internet allows us to be more mindful, and live more in our senses.

The relationships that threaded their way through the film were very touching, and Hirayama evolved over the course of the story to become more self-aware of the things that were holding him back from really connecting with people around him.

It was not a fast-paced movie and a real clock watcher, but unlike the unkind woman who I overheard saying after the film finished ‘If I had to see him wake up one more time, I was going to scream’, I did not find Hirayama’s life boring. It was just quiet. So different to the dopamine hits and constant stimulation of our modern life.

I did watch the clock a bit though, and even found a Japanese restaurant to eat in nearby while I watched the film. It felt right to go and eat Japanese after being immersed in Tokyo for 2 and a bit hours, and that meal was an incredibly rich sensory experience. Like Wings of Desire, Perfect Days encouraged me to slow down and use my senses to really experience life after I saw it.

Great film, I thought! It makes me think about what does constitute a life of meaning and value.