Perfect Days

A few simple, tranquil days in the life and routine of a Japanese toilet cleaner (Koji Yakusho).

I’ve seen a bit of pushback against this; that it’s a pastiche of ‘slow cinema’ or even Asian cinema itself, perhaps the work of an old director over-stepping his bounds and wandering into cliché. While these aren’t entirely unfair critiques, Perfect Days still won me over with its easy charm and dissection of life’s simple pleasures.

Yes it’s kind of selling a fable, a facsimile of life presented as some sort of rose-tinted reality but to a certain extent every film does this? It’s possible to entertain this idea and still be entertained and moved by the film itself.

The great lead performance, meditative pace and keen attention to detail really spoke to me. It’s a film driven by vibes and maybe it caught me on a good day but I did indeed, vibe.