There is an irony in the fact that though the desire for the good life is a universal one, no two people agree on what that life looks like. There are many variants of the good life as there are human beings.
Contentment can be a risky theme for a filmmaker to take on, particularly if it is centered on activities that might be considered by others as mundane. Viewers watching characters employed in seemingly tedious tasks may fail to recognize that some people experience joy in the ordinary. However, Wender’s directorial eye is so astute that viewers can hardly fail to see.
Hirayama (a perfectly subdued Yakusho) is a service worker who cleans toilets throughout the Shibuya district of Tokyo. There is nothing glamorous about the work beyond the fact that the restrooms themselves seem to be works of art. Each one unique, the facilities become chic characters in themselves, even if only to serve as a contrast to Hirayama’s humdrum existence. Hirayama takes great pride in his work, despite the distractions of Takashi (Emoto), his younger, less enthusiastic coworker.
Very early each morning, Hirayama greets the day as if it’s something profoundly special, as if he weren’t about to take on the monotony of his line of work. Maybe he finds a counterbalance in his off time by reading the works of William Faulkner or Patricia Highsmith or meticulously tending to his collection of bonsai trees. His collection of 1970ish rock cassette tapes may also help. As the Lou Reed song that inspires the title suggests, such a perfect day just keeps him hanging on.
When his niece Niko (Nakano) shows up unexpectedly, it’s revealed that perhaps Hirayama is hiding behind his routine to keep himself from reliving events from his past. Yet the ease with which he accepts her presence there clearly demonstrates that he is not necessarily renouncing all his past experiences.
It’s no wonder that Yakusho won the best actor award at Cannes, for he was perfectly cast as a person who seems as common as any of the trees he photographs in his favorite park. But just as each tree is distinct from the next, Hirayama is the only one of his kind.
Disinterested views of the streets and shops of Tokyo might serve as an invitation to would be travelers, but the ordinary locations, just like Hirayama’s repetitive actions, encourage a look beyond the surface to the humanity that inhabits them. From the restaurant where he eats to the bridge where he rides his bike, places are viewed as connections to worlds shared by all. Hirayama seems to know this, and accepts that many people might not.
Although just what a perfect day is anybody’s take, this film makes it feel like one.
