Perfect Days
It’s intriguing to think that Japan’s selection and official nominee for the Best International Feature Oscar this year is directed by a German filmmaker – the legendary Wim Wenders (“Wings of Desire,” “Paris, Texas”). “Perfect Days,” which borrows its moniker from the classic Lou Reed tune, depicts the quiet, quotidian routine of Hirayama (Koji Yakusho), a public servant who cleans toilets, listening to Van Morrison, Patti Smith and the Velvet Underground on cassette tape and taking pictures of that fading afternoon light coming through the trees (the Japanese term for it is “komorebi,” as we learn) with an old-school camera. The film echoes the somber, dark tonality of Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Story” (1953) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” (2021) – fine company, for sure – where something troubling is being held back but always at the fore. Hirayama is clearly struggling with or escaping a trauma, but he’s not a broken soul, or at least not outwardly to us or those he encounters during his daily journey through Tokyo’s upscale Shibuya district. He’s accompanied by his rambunctious younger co-worker Takashi (Tokio Emoto), who rattles away while Hirayama simply reacts with a brimming smile or furrowed brow. He’s a taciturn but expressive sort. The toilets that Hirayama tends are no ordinary loos, but part of the Tokyo Toilet project, 17 public facilities designed by artists and architects that are essentially pieces of structural art one for relieving yourself in. One, a de facto piece of interactive performance art, is an all-glass facility that’s translucent to the world – you can see the potty and the sink from nearly every vantage point in the park, but once you trigger the “occupied” lever, it magically turns opaque red. About the worse Hirayama and Takashi encounter is some vomit. The are dutiful and prideful in their job, though one has to wonder if Fenway and Foxboro might change that demeanor. Much of the film is a slow, somber burn as we become ingrained in Hirayama’s routine. Later there are several subtle disruptions – frayings in the routine – that start to reveal Hirayama’s past and journey to the present (“Now is now,” he often whimsically says).
The toilet project was the genesis for the film. Wenders, who clearly has a thing for art – his previous work was the 3D documentary “Anselm,” about the titular German artist – was approached to craft a film around the flushables and concocted the narrative with Yakusho in mind. Yakusho, whose long, impressive career includes such diverse staples as the 1985 noodle-shop Western “Tampopo,” the dance floor hit “Shall We Dance?” (1996) and Takashi Miike’s samurai adventure “13 Assassins” (2010), deservingly won the Best Actor at Cannes and should have been on the current Academy nominations slate as well. No matter, the collaboration yields a quiet symphony of subtle movements that will reap great rewards for the patient and observant.
Cabrini’ (2024)
Alejandro Monteverde’s biopic enshrining the first sainted U.S. person chronicles the travails of the titular sister Francesca Cabrini (Cristiana Dell’Anna), who, after immigrating to America in the early1900s, suffers a degree of shock when she discovers that the “land of opportunity” narrative isn’t just a false myth but something far worse: a never-ending nightmare of poverty and peril. Witnessing the plight of her community – poor living conditions, disease and worse – she undertakes betterment for her immigrated ilk, most specifically the impoverished orphans, of which there is no shortage. Relegated initially to the rat-infested cesspool known as the Five Points, which as portrayed feels right out of “Gangs of New York” (2002), Cabrini squares off with then-NYC mayor Gould (John Lithgow) and other chauvinistic xenophobes happy to make a buck off the backs of immigrants getting half pay and working in unsafe, hazardous conditions. Monteverde clearly has a niche; he also made “Sound of Freedom,” the story of an anti-child trafficking vigilante that did surprisingly well at the box office last year but triggered controversy over its conservative Christian values and lead actor Jim Caviezel’s QAnon conspiracy theories. Dell’Anna, who starred in the “Gomorrah” TV series, impresses, imbuing Cabrini with a palpably rigid resolve and caring demeanor. Much of what’s shown on screen feels like a deep Wikipedia dive, but it does bring forward some of the shameful missteps in our past (exploiting desperate immigrants) and shines a light on those who persevere to right those wrongs. Cabrini’s legacy has seen hospitals and community centers erected around the globe. You can argue the whole propaganda angle, but doesn’t every film have one?