Perfect Days, at the Panida, contemplates the simplicity of a well-lived life

By Reader Staff

It’s a well-worn concept that from small, intentional actions can come good — even great — things, which is the animating idea behind the 2023 film Perfect Days, which will screen Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave., in downtown Sandpoint).

Directed by Oscar-nominee Wim Wenders, the film centers on Hirayama (Kōji Yakusho), who spends his days cleaning public toilets in an affluent section of Tokyo. 

Despite his seemingly lowly station, middle-aged Hirayama is deeply content, filling his life with music, good books, and a dedication to his job and routine that might seem obsessive to some, but in his case creates a scaffold for real meaning.

He listens to his collection of cassette tapes in the work van, eats his lunch under the trees of a shine, tends his garden, photographs trees and generally keeps his mind on higher things as he devotes care and attention to even his most menial tasks.

Nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 2024 Academy Awards, Perfect Days was also a contender for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where Yakusho won the prize for Best Actor. 

The film has been hailed by critics and audiences alike as a gentle, meditative rumination that glories in the profundity to be found in undramatic routines, the solace of solitude and how human connections — however small — make up the fabric not just of one “perfect day,” but all the days that make up a life well lived.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with the screening at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.50 for adults, and $7.50 for seniors and students, available at the door or panida.org.