It's supposed to feel insubstantial at the end. It's questioning whether the lifestyle he's chosen is enough to make up for his failure to have a relationship with a woman--a zenlike focus on chores, an exploration of the best works of art, developing himself mentally and emotionally. But the encounters he has are always encounters with women or girls in which he feels some kind of beginning of a connection but is unable to fulfill it. He thinks he has a comfortable relationship with the woman at the bar but then he has a moment of insight when he realises he doesn't really know her or understand her real life, he's not really a part of it. There's the woman he sits next to at the park even. His niece and his attempts to make a connection with her--notice how uncomfortable he is when he realises she needs privacy in his home. The perfect days, like the song says, may at the end of the day just keep him "hanging on" rather than enriching or truly fulfilling him.

You will understand the second half…when you’re as old as I am. Give it 30 years.

Along with Poor Things, this my favorite movie of 2023. In a world of giant Hollywood movies, this small scale story was delightful. Perfect Days is his view not ours, the finale proves it true for him. Maggie I think we disagree on the tone versus the craft. This was meditation and mindfulness on film. Thank you so much.

I loved this film! Up there with Poor Things as my favorite of 2023. Wenders’ best non-documentary film in a very long time.

Glad I accidentally stumbled across your channel. You are really interesting to listen to about your film analyses and are even getting me willing to view a few movies I hadn't considered watching before.

Paris, Texas is my all-time favorite movie. Perfect Days was one of the best movies I've seen in a long while - I cried my eyes out for nearly half the movie. I am a weirdo! I love the intentional ambiguous wispiness - it allowed me the opportunity to paint my own picture of the deeper/bigger picture and meaning of the story that is left off the screen. Is she referring to Yasujirô Ozu - if so, what movie would be a good movie recommend of his? or is it a film called Ozu? I would love to check that movie out - it sounds wonderful.

Best Wender's movie in this century

This was my favorite movie of the previous year, and it’s mostly been praised by critics, so it’s interesting hear this critical perspective. I suppose after encountering multiple movies that felt it necessary to insert needless backstory, I found the ambiguity in _Perfect Days_ refreshing. Might it be a “crutch,” as you suggest? Perhaps-but for me at least, the silence worked in its favor. Had we been served more of a traditional backstory, the artifice of film itself would have usurped the quiet, contemplative ethos I believe Wenders was building in his film.

Perfect movie for me. A man who left wealth behind, (chosen or not) and make a life of happiness while accepting and not judging people with issues who put themselves on him. He feels pain, but never judges. I guess age makes this relatable.

Cool take, and I get that the ambiguity might frustrate or come off a bit coy, though I personally liked the with-holding of specific backstory. It allows the gravity of his age to speak for itself. To me, in my 40s, it felt like a movie about getting old; old enough to reflect on a lifetime of choices and experiences. old enough that certain fears, habits, regrets, or desires have been with you for decades; old enough to know when to act and when to not give a fucc; old enough to know every moment you're alive, whether you're tired, content, lonely, merry, afraid, heartbroken, or bored shitless, is some sort of defiant, crazy miracle. Take care of what you must; do good where you can; take the pain with the joy; and enjoy the music. Zen spelled O-Z-U.

This movie is like a hug for the soul.

I'll be watching it Friday at the small theatre that's the closest to me :) The last time a Japanese movie played there, it was Drive My Car. It was presented the very same day you uploaded a review for that movie. 👍

Very curious about your verdict on 'Past Lives', Maggie. It too has an almost meditative quality to it, especially with the dreamy score by Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen. Wonderful debut of Celine Song.

Being a longtime fan of lead actor Koji Yakusho as well as Paris, Texas, I was very excited for this film, and my anticipation grew more seeing the critical acclaim surrounding it. My immediate thought upon finally seeing it (and this is a compliment) was Wenders imitating Hirokazu Koreeda imitating Wenders. I think though when comparing to Koreeda, I can understand your central criticism.....there is a little something missing in the pathos aspect of it all. Thank you for your review

i, personally, loved this movie and i actually love that the negative emotional spectrum of the story stays nearly unspoken and just bleeds into plot here and there, leaving a taste of its overall presence on a subconscious level. it really captures charachter's masterful efforts to compensate abscence of true live human contact with raw appreciation of the world itself, and it shows that no matter how good you got with appreciating beauty and simplicity all around you, there's still something missing - the final scene shows that inner conflict in bloom, perfectly, imo. my lifestyle matches main charachter's, like 80%, and it was the first movie ever that connected to me at such a high level of precision. it captured the message behind it masterfully, imo

Although some critics have pointed to Ozu as an infuence, I found myself thinking more of Jarmusch... esp. due to the primacy of both pop and niche culture, and the role it can play in animating our daily lives. Of course, Jarmusch has been no less impacted by Ozu than Wenders, so I guess it's Ozu as refracted through Jarmusch...

Interesting to hear your perspective. I wasn’t thinking any of that at first but listening to this I agree with what you’re saying. Although, I liked the lack of information and “blank slate” approach to the character it left a lot of mystery and a lot for me to infer myself about this character

Look forward to seeing this. Character study, as well as the Japanese locales. Thanks.

I loved this movie. How much Koji Yakusho can convey about his character's inner life just with his face is amazing.

Your comments got me thinking. Maybe the character is not fully aware of where the pain and emotion in the final scene is coming from either. We as viewers might also only be shown the parts of himself that the character is willing to see or show - so the half-told character might really also be half-told or half-revealed to himself.

Thanks for the perspective

it's interesting that you felt the movie didn't lean into the sadness enough because my take away is that the title is ironic and that there is a deep undercurrent of sadness in this movie. I am also someone estranged from their family and incredibly lonely, and the scene where we learn about his falling out with his family really resonated me. I got the sense that he was weeping after hugging his sister because that's the first time he's had any physical affection in years, perhaps decades. I think the movie revealed just enough about his backstory for me to empathize with him.

I really enjoyed this film. I understand the critisms you have especially in the second half. I will say we do not get a great sense of this character and his grief but that said it was so fun and beautiful.

One of the best scenes, the toilet cleaner finds a kid crying in the toilet and takes him to his mum. Mum immediately washes her sons hands and doesn't thank the cleaner.

Great review.

Not having seen the film yet, I can imagine where you are coming from with this. Wenders is the king of the flawed masterpiece. His dedication to the meditative quality has always been for me that which overcomes the schmalz, which took up more space as the millennium neared. So I look forward to seeing what I imagine will be my favorite of his from this century. I would love it if you reviewed "Alice in Cities", but I'm not a patron so I won't hold my breath.

Koji Yakusho is awesome. I did enjoy this movie, but it wasn't quite perfect. I actually liked the second half more than the first.

From my point of view something really awful happened to the main character, which had driven him to this routine of those perfect days. It might be his wife or child that died. He clearly hangs out in the past, expressed with his music tapes. He is totally encapsulated from his environment, and only a few moments manage it to reach him. It’s a bit like the Leonard Cohen song with the rhyme: there’s a crack in everything, that’s where the lights gets in. There are two key scenes in this movie. The first one with his sister, there is a hint that maybe she played a role in the tragic event. She seems to be very discomfort in the meeting with him. The hug he gives her in the end seems a little bit like forgiveness and a relief for her. And then sure the last scene, which hunts me ever since. One of the most intense scenes I ever saw. It’s like it’s explaining the whole movie in a few expressions. Like a healing that begins, a wound that closes, and the embracing of the beauty in his life which surrounds him.

I haven't seen the film yet, but it sounds very much like Wenders is a fan of Murakami and wanted to invoke the sensibility of his novels? If so, count me in!

The ultimate melancholic experience is the experience of a loss of desire In my opinion a power balance between positive and negative emotion is not necessary be displayed here. And it's not Wenders's directing or artistic choice. It's the character himself that reserves any information about his past and tries to avoid negative feelings as much as possible. He's trapped into a reality or a cuckoon if you have it to remove any extremes. I would argue that the little everyday simple things he enjoys after a certain point are forced and don't carry the weight of appreciation, but rather a big amount of denial and desperation to avoid any pain. Life has proved again and again that the libido (life energy) can't be suppressed without a huge amount of repercussion. I would expect a certain emotional breakdown after some point, considering the bleeding of emotions that comes over him here and there.

I loved this film. Coincidentally the last film I saw at the cinema the previous week was ‘Tokyo Story’. Although I agree it was an influence in tone and the general sense of calm it portrays, they are really quite different in technical style and content - the older film is basically all static shots from floor level and plenty of dialogue, which wasn’t the case at all here

I loved this film. My favourite in 2024 ATM. Watched twice.

Sounds super impressionistic, I’m sold

I think you are more or less spot on on this one. It's a really good film, with beautiful and meaningful little moments but something is definitely missing for me as well. Maybe it has to do with our main character's past or what drives him. Wonderful acting performance and a mighty fine direction by Wenders, though. And of course, fantastic music, which doesn't hurt:) Take care, and keep up with the great reviews!

I’m not as familiar with Wim Wenders’ works as I should be (although I really enjoyed Paris, Texas and Until the End of the World) but this is definitely a film I’ll add to my watch-list. 👍

Hello. I am very curious for you to review the Danish Bastarden/The Promised land film. Loved it

I am a huge fan of Jim Jarmusch and the movie Paterson especially has really struck a chord within me. I feel like I kept comparing Perfect Days to it because of its contemplative, poetic, repetitive quality. Maybe that comparison kind of ruined Perfect Days for me, although I did enjoy it, it never hit quite as hard as Paterson. It felt much emptier and less meaningful so I agree with your criticism and am now left wondering if you’ve seen Paterson and if so, what did you think about it ?

It's a portrait of a damaged man, and Art can dress the wound but it can't heal it. Why was his sister so cold and aloof, she made him feel small, even her daughter hated her. What kept the movie interesting was the actual toilets! I bet now there will be tourist tours of them. 😉

Yes, half a portrait of a man. The main characters backstory not entirely clear except we find a man of reduced means, (perhaps deliberate?). Indeed we do find something like a "wounded soldier" in something like a "Buddhist temple" who discovers he is "there to heal his life" - Yes that's it!... you gave an insight into the main characters narrative that works for me, at least that's what I felt. Perfect comment.

Thanks

You not feeling a bit of sadness along with the joy may have to do with the fact that you're too young. Sorry to be presumptive. But this feeling is very common when you're older. When you've seen death and love intimately. Also, does it really matter that there's something in his past that is the reason behind his dropped-out lifestyle. Fact remains that despite the pain in his past, he is able to enjoy simple things. More than a character sketch, it is a state of mind sketch, I feel. PS: Great analysis, though.

Best movie I have seen in years!

You should review "Fallen Leaves", the best foreign movie of 2023 in my opinion. Unfortunetely not even Oscar nominated.

Cool. Learn Zen meditation now. That avoids any type of emotion. Because that's what Zen is. I did get what you said. Thank you for sharing. Play Zen music. You browse anonymously, you got your zoom group, extend it. I don't see it. Nobody does, except the computer which in itself is Neutral!! Happy?

100% agree

My one big issue with this movie is he never had to clean up anything terrible in these bathrooms. Maybe Japanese people are ten time more behaved than Americans, but I feel like that’s gotta be an important part of the life he’s chosen that deserves to be shown.

The boy and the heron 😢

It sounds like Patterson

_Perfect Days_ is far from perfect… it's too damn short!

You are a picture of Heaven ❤

I've always found Wenders' visuals more powerful than his dialogue and characters. The latter often feel empty and banal to me. Also he asks too much of the music. A cool shot plus a top tune.doesn't equal depth.

I know what I need to know. Okay?

No, I'm not serving you. Practicalities please. If I need spiritual stuff, I do Empi. :))

Yes. Yet there's two things you must do.

Have you ever reviewed The Crow (1994). I just watched it yesterday and it was so terrible! And people say it is a timeless masterpiece!!! WTF?

I wish it had the nerve to follow through on the first 20 minutes or so. Where nothing really happens. Drudgery with a good soundtrack. Noticing things. When the niece showed up it felt like throwing in the towel with a conventional plot device. But it was done well. And overall I liked the movie. But a half hour shorter and no frills might have been better.

HEY, BIG WENDERS!

There exists something you don't understand, okay? "Musashi" protein. Please change your perspective as we speak. Kendo has to do with training of mind. The only way to learn Kendo is to train properly in Kendo. :)))) Can't wait to chat. You seem 2b my age, or younger. I do not mind. I need to know the situation asap. We must speak "poetry" in my room, of course, and go through a few artistic films. In any case. Waste no second cause it's getting heavy in here as we speak.

Do you want me still around, my friend? I'm half Jewish. Deal?

Yeah, okay. You seem like you're about to be posing a practical problem, my friend.

You are pretty.

I totally agree. The idea of simplicity is fine in the beggining but it gets boring and meaningless as it continues. Nothing happens, it is repetitive. Everybody is talking like it has a deep hidden meaning they understand. It is like forbidden to talk bad about a Wenders movie. Anyway, finally I find someone who is honest about it.

If a film has to be compared to Tokyo Story, then 99.99% of films are abject failures.

Second

4th!

First.

Boring and repetitious and then cry/wonder Freedom comes with a price, financial stressors

Been in a girl's toilet twice in my life, cool? What is the practical problem?? You wanna laser out your marks? ;;)

She knows a little bit about nothing at all. Pure Mathematicians never understand what they do... She said Matroids is Cryptography. Hah. I kind of like her. How does she look like now? :))

I personally hated this movie with a passion, but it's always nice to see other perspectives and what good things people find in art

Done in five. Do you have "sugar daddy" issues? Sorry that may sound rude. Just thought I'd ask.

Perfect Days was one of the worst films in last year's Cannes competition, and it was a really bad year at Cannes. It's a film devoid of any substance. Just look at the music choices.

Too repetitive, too slow. Must have been hundreds of insert shots of toilets/toilet cleaning. To mute a character with a muted story in muted locations felt stale. It was much more interesting towards the end, but by that time, too late for me.

Hey what a smile ❤ ur

Your review reminds me of the husband in the movie Her, who wants Amy adams to hire actors to act out her mothers dreams