The
story follows a guy cleaning toilets in Tokyo and it reveals a city
that appears so much more livable than I would've expected.
While
it isn't acknowledged in the script, I expect the role of a nature-worshipping religion like Shinto is significant for the pockets
of greenery and abundance of potted plants.
There's
also a healthy dose of wabi-sabi in the narrative arc, which reflects
the role of Japan's other religion of Zen Buddhism.
One
of my habits after watching a film is to look on Wikipedia for
background information and it was surprising to learn Perfect Days
developed from a program to promote public restrooms:
I think it shows how
much an artist can elevate a project, but it also helps that you have
someone of the calibre of Wim Wenders with a celebrated catalogue of
stories which are hinted at in small details like the character reading
Patricia Highsmith or the evocative dream sequences that might've been
taken from Until the End of the World (1991).
Another
surprise for me from the film was the Japanese version of 'The House of
the Rising Sun,' which led me to get a new perspective on its themes and learn how a song might be related to
a 17th-century folk melody inspired Bob Dylan to go electric.
