PERFECT DAYS
Added 2024-03-18 17:48:37 +0000 UTCWho has seen it? I found myself really enjoying it, and feeling quite moved by the simplicity of it. Even if I struggled a lot with the second half of it. What do you guys think? I'm going to work on getting a review out for it soon. Hopefully tomorrow.
Comments
I felt the pain was coming from the isolated self-sufficient path he has chosen and its obvious downside being a lack of human connection that comes with it. There is a wandering homeless (possible drug-addicted) person he keeps watching throughout the movie. I think Hirayama sees this person as someone who is completely lost in their own world and removed from the society. Hirayama partly identifies with him, but doesn't want to drift off so far and become him. When he interacts with his niece, when he shares his music with Aya, or when he plays the tic-tac-toe game he gets little touches of human connection and genuinely enjoys them. I think the idea of his rigid routine being his comfort-zone/armor from the past trauma is also explored a bit (mostly in the second half). There are a few times in the film where his routine is broken by someone "not doing what their supposed to" and he becomes frustrated or smokes/drinks (I don't believe he has ordered alcohol at any point in the movie besides that). I can't remember specifically what else I liked about the movie but it was my favorite of last year and I couldn't stop thinking about it after I watched it. To me, it was more interested in exploring a way of life than being a character study of a person. I admired and was slightly frustrated by the fact that there was not even a single moment where Hirayama does something active to open up his character. If someone were to ask me to guess where his life will be in 15 years, I would literally have no idea because I don't know how he makes decisions and what drives him lol.
New Energy
2024-03-19 03:53:55 +0000 UTC100%
Deepfocuslens
2024-03-18 23:48:38 +0000 UTCLoved it... feels like an Ozu type homage from Wenders imo... but in modern japan...
Sutil
2024-03-18 23:35:30 +0000 UTCThe sister shows the disconnect between the life he wants to live, and the life expected of him.
Deepfocuslens
2024-03-18 23:19:35 +0000 UTCI absolutely loved Yakusho’s performance, and I was very happy to see that Wenders hasn’t lost his touch after all these years. I don’t think it’s in the same league as Paris Texas or The American Friend, but it was one of the more emotionally resonant movies of 2023 for me. For the second half, I liked that we got to see two different disruptions to his rhythm, but the storyline with his niece didn’t add enough to his character for me, especially compared to the conflicts with his coworker. On the other hand, cutting one and doubling down on either conflict could hurt the tone of the film, so I’m conflicted.
Jared Angcanan
2024-03-18 20:57:12 +0000 UTCAnd as someone who is now a manager in a corporate job that is slowly killing me with 11-hour days every day, I too often yearn for a simpler work life. That definitely resonated
Jim Barnes
2024-03-18 19:16:21 +0000 UTCYou’re right, we don’t get a sense that he thinks the job is beneath him. But clearly his sister does, with the implication that he must have previously had some “more prestigious” profession. I would have been happy for him to just be a blue collar guy who is an autodidact, instead of a seemingly formally educated man who later chose a manual labor job
Jim Barnes
2024-03-18 19:13:07 +0000 UTCBut I think that's part of why the film resonated with me in the first half. I worked a corporate job for years. Left it to live a life I wanted. I've worked in restaurants, cleaned toilets, puke off the floor in clubs. And I've found myself in those moments, feeling liberated rather than burdened. It's a unique feeling, but one that also has its drawbacks too. But I think the film really captured that beautiful feeling in ways that few ever do.
Deepfocuslens
2024-03-18 18:35:31 +0000 UTCI feel that misses the point to say he's punishing himself in that job. I don't think the character sees his job as a punishment at all. Nothing in his behavior gives me any indication of that. There's a liberation to simple jobs, and hard work that is lost on most people. I think his job is a mix of wanting to be free of these constraints whether social or familial, but also using that as a mask so that he doesnt have to integrate into society in the ways that could likely benefit him.
Deepfocuslens
2024-03-18 18:33:12 +0000 UTCSame feelings as you. First half was great, and still enjoyed the movie overall, but the backstory introduced in the second half hurt the theme of the movie. Did not like the implication that he was choosing to be a janitor, maybe even punishing himself, instead of doing work he was more qualified for. I loved the movie when it was demonstrating a way to live a simple, mostly fulfilled life: take pride in your work, but have outside interests that broaden your life. Never stop reading, never stop learning
Jim Barnes
2024-03-18 18:24:26 +0000 UTCIt’s next on my watchlist, followed by Past Lives.
Shane Palamara
2024-03-18 18:24:10 +0000 UTCLove it. I’ll be curious to hear what didn’t work for you in the second half.
Stephen
2024-03-18 18:19:29 +0000 UTCThere were a couple sections in the second half that felt undercooked. But I've heard the comparisons to Jarmusch multiple times, and now having seen it, I'd have to agree.
Deepfocuslens
2024-03-18 17:53:33 +0000 UTCBasically the same thoughts as you. Felt very Jim Jarmusch-esque? But I was really engrossed by the movie's repetition. I think there was one moment [spoilers: when his sister, I believe, confronts him and there's clearly some childhood baggage that led him to embrace this lifestyle] that felt a little undercooked, but it's pretty good overall.
vince2k
2024-03-18 17:50:32 +0000 UTC
