Wenders’ perfect days, Rebel Moon part 1, surprising Miyazaki, Jannacci story and 7 other films at the cinema or in streaming

2024-01-06 10:08:49

PERFECT DAYS. Nelle sale

Wim Wenders’ perfect days are those dedicated to kindness, respect for Nature, harmony with oneself and with others, personal care, purity of conscience, the definition of values ​​and ideals. A utopia, you will tell me, in this swamp of stress. Instead, perhaps, possible. Just look at the dignified, quiet but not inert existence of Hirayama, a cleaner of public toilets in Tokyo who lives on small gestures repeated like a daily liturgy: what he does, he does well. Hirayama lives in an apartment of a few square meters on the outskirts of the city, cycles around the neighbourhood, reads many books, is a good photographer, only owns things that give him joy or are strictly necessary and is passionate about the speeches and faces of the people he meets , to natural cycles, to changing seasons, to trees and plants.
Every day, Hirayama wakes up at dawn, drinks a coffee, takes the van and begins his tour listening to the music of old audio cassettes that are his treasure: from Lou Reed to the Rolling Stones, from Patti Smith to Nina Simone and Van Morrison . Hirayama a magnificent simplifier. His recipe: get to the essentials and enjoy it fully, without disturbances. When he gets home, he goes to the public toilet, goes to the laundromat, buys films, stops in bars for frugal meals or to drink a glass of his beloved Soju.
Hirayama has a past of luxury behind him, which he has ended. He has learned the discipline of body and mind, he tries to contribute to the public good. Concept that underlies the story behind the film written by Wenders with Takuma Takasaki. Today Hirayama is far from what remains of his family, in particular from his sister who he hasn’t seen for a long time. His choice to live in secret is disconcerting and shameful. In order not to cause embarrassment (and not give up the freedom he had achieved), he kept himself apart. The arrival of his niece Niko, fleeing from the adult world, upsets his habits but strengthens his beliefs.
A true treatise on civic sense and good manners, Perfect Days is the expression of a Wim Wenders back in great shape at the beautiful age of 78, as demonstrated by the reception received in Cannes, where the film won the Palme d’Or for the interpretation of Koji Yakusho, a super star in Japan. Tokyo is his favorite city, where in 1985 he set Tokyo-Ga, a representation of contemporary emotional chaos. The common good is an important theme. After the reflections related to the pandemic, we returned to normality, to daily selfishness. In Tokyo I realized that the citizens, during the longest lockdown of all, showed a lot of respect for their city and the green areas, while in Berlin the park near which I live has become a landfill. Hirayama is not a saint. He lives with honesty and simplicity, correct, at peace with himself, tends towards beauty and for this reason, if one can say, a happy man. The ritual to which he surrendered is not boring and he is not invisible.
He has a gesture of solidarity and attention for everyone: colleagues, neighbors, bartenders, passers-by, homeless people. Wenders shot his film in 17 days, without knowing the language of his actors, using the shoulder camera, taking advantage of natural lights, with an antique format. Wanting to clarify its value, Perfect Days is an example of a beautiful utopian cinema that we like to see told and which perhaps is not so difficult to imitate.

PERFECT DAYS di Wim Wenders
(Japan, 2023, duration 124′, Lucky Red)
con Koji Yakusho, Min Tanaka, Toio Emoto, Aoi Yamada, Arisa Nakano
Rating: **** out of 5 In theaters

January 6, 2024 | 09:08

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