09 20 Oct '24
Beda6c5b 4054 4e69 8a2b c402e841f3ee

Wim Wenders

Perfect Days

123' - 2023 - Drama - Dialogue: English, Japanese
Director: Wim Wenders With: Kôji Yakusho, Aoi Yamada, Min Tanaka
Simplicity rules and moves in Wim Wenders' surprising gem Perfect Days, a film about a Japanese cleaner in harmony with routine. Cannes lauded actor Kôji Yakusho for his mesmerising performance.
Named after the famous Lou Reed song, Perfect Days gives an insight into the daily life and work of a man called Hirayama. He seems perfectly happy with his seemingly simple existence in Tokyo. The arrive of his niece Niko may teach us a little more about the closeted man. Lead actor Kôji Yakusho conquered Cannes with his serene performance and was given the prize for best actor in the official competition. For director Wim Wenders - also present at FFG with the 3D portrait Anselm - this tender character study marked a return to Japan almost forty years after the documentary Tokyo-Ga about master filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu. The spirit of Ozu shines through in the film's bittersweet, wholesome and quiet beauty that captures small gestures and pleasures with great empathy and clarity. Just as Hirayama catches the sunlight on camera through the foliage of trees.
“Distinguished screen veteran Kôji Yakusho plays a middle-aged Tokyo man who has pared down his life to a routine of service and small pleasures in this delicate character study. [...] Wenders returns to the Japanese capital to make his best narrative feature in years.” - The Hollywood Reporter

Image gallery

D4d2e744 253d 42a3 92ee b955f5b1362e
77a14bd2 fb5e 4720 b31c 15c6a4d4233c
Beda6c5b 4054 4e69 8a2b c402e841f3ee

Credits

Director

Wim Wenders

With

Kôji Yakusho, Aoi Yamada, Min Tanaka

Scenario

Wim Wenders, Takuma Takasaki

Director of Photography

Franz Lustig

Editor

Toni Froschhammer

Producer

Takuma Takasaki, Wim Wenders, Koji Yanai

Music Supervisor

Milena Fessmann

Production studios

Master Mind

Distributor

Paradiso Filmed Entertainment NV

More information

Dialogue

English, Japanese

Countries of production

Germany, Japan

Year

2023

Filmography

Wim Wenders

Same Player Shoots Again (short, 1968), Silver City Revisited (short, 1969), Alabama (2000 Light Years) (short, 1969), Summer in the City (1970), Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter (1972), Der scharlachrote Buchstabe (1973), Alice in den Städten (1974), Falsche Bewegung (1975), Im Lauf der Zeit (1976), Der Amerikanische Freund (1977), Lightning Over Water (1980), Hammett (1982), Reverse Angle: Ein Brief aus New York (1982), Der Stand der Dinge (1982), Paris, Texas (1984), Tokyo-Ga (1985), Wings of Desire (1987), Yamamoto - Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten (1989), Bis ans Ende der Welt (1991), Arisha, der Bär und der steinerne Ring (1992), In weiter Ferne, so nah! (1993), Lisbon Story (1994), Die Gebrüder Skladanowsky (1995), Lumière and Company (1995), The End of Violence (1997), Willie Nelson at the Teatro (1998), Buena Vista Social Club (1999), The Million Dollar Hotel (2000), Ode to Cologne: A Rock 'N' Roll Film (2002), Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002), Other Side of the Road (2003), Land of Plenty (2004), Don't Come Knocking (2005), Invisibles (2007), Palermo Shooting (2008), 8 (2008) Il volo (short, 2008), Pina (2011), Mundo Invisível (2012), Kathedralen der Kultur (2014), The Salt of the Earth (2014), Alles wird gut (2015), Les beaux jours d'Aranjuez (2016), Submergence (2017), Pope Francis: A Man of His Word (2018), Two or Three Things I Know About Edward Hopper (2020), A future together (2021), Présence (short, 2022), Anselm (2023), Perfect Days (2023)

Stay up to date, subscribe to our newsletter

Do you want to stay up to date with festival news, our year-round activities, the films and the filmmakers?