Perfect Days [new Wim Wenders film]

[Sebastian Cobb]

2 hours following a Japanese toilet cleaner who barely says anything and listens to tapes when he's driving. 10/10.

[Inspector Norse]

Saw this a couple of weeks ago. Nice film about a nice man who tries to be happy with his life regardless of his circumstances. Wouldn't quite 10/10 it but I did enjoy it. I tend to enjoy low-key cinematic wanders through urban Japan. The modernist public toilets are cool - apparently it started life as an ad for them!
Your man's taste in music is surprisingly conservative (Perfect Day, Feeling Good etc). Thought Wenders would chuck some more obscure oldies in there.

It's been called Wenders' best film in years but given that everything else he's done this century has got dreadful reviews (I haven't bothered watching any of it) I don't know whether you should pay any attention to that. Not as good as his 70s-80s classics but definitely worth seeing.

[dissolute ocelot]

Your man's taste in music is surprisingly conservative (Perfect Day, Feeling Good etc). Thought Wenders would chuck some more obscure oldies in there.

I think U2 broke his brain music-wise.

I'm sure I've heard other of his films in the past 35 years described as a return to form, but as someone who loves Alice, Kings, Paris, Wings, I'm too suspicious. His early films are such perfect accounts of alienation, dissociation, passivity, and hopelessness, maybe he just got a bit too cheerful.

[greenman]

I think U2 broke his brain music-wise.

I'm sure I've heard other of his films in the past 35 years described as a return to form, but as someone who loves Alice, Kings, Paris, Wings, I'm too suspicious. His early films are such perfect accounts of alienation, dissociation, passivity, and hopelessness, maybe he just got a bit too cheerful.

I wouldnt be THAT negative of his latter career, its IMHO good enough to be worth the effort to watch for the most part but perhaps you could argue the seeds for the decline were there in the mid 80's with Wings and Notes on Cities and Clothes. The former is pretty celeb tie in friendly with Faulk, Cave, etc involved yet it works so well and the latter being a documentary which still manages to get across a lot of the themes you mentioned really well.

What followed I think tended to become progressively more celeb friendly but less successful with it whilst the documentaries became progressively more standardised.

In some ways though I think you could argue a more general decline into lower effort/quality versions of your previous career is preferable to becoming a bland hack.

[Blinder Data]

this was a lovely slice of life film. made me wistful of a bachelor life out of my reaches now. reminded me of the Brian novel that came out last year.

I spotted the camera twice in reflections though - amateur hour wenders!

best final shot of someone's face in their car since long good Friday. can we think of any others?

was the main character's diet a hint towards his western interests? someone who knows more about Japan would be better informed but he seemed to eat a lot of sandwiches and cow's milk when I was expecting onigiri and such.

[Sebastian Cobb]

best final shot of someone's face in their car since long good Friday. can we think of any others?

[Wet Blanket]

I loved it, Ozu with bogs. It only strengthened my already strong admiration for Japan's contribution to innovation in shitters.

Only other Wenders film I've knowingly seen is Paris, Texas and didn't realise he was considered past it, but for me this might just shave The Holdovers for melancholy heartwarmer of the season.

[Sebastian Cobb]

was the main character's diet a hint towards his western interests? someone who knows more about Japan would be better informed but he seemed to eat a lot of sandwiches and cow's milk when I was expecting onigiri and such.

Good question, I never really picked up on that. But I did spend a short while wondering if the film was trying to be a bit anachronistic at first with the tapes and camera but newish van.

[Noodle Lizard]

I just saw it in the cinema and liked it a lot. It reminded me of other films (Jim Jarmusch's Paterson, most notably) but that's fine because I really like this sort of film.

I'm glad that someone somewhere is still willing to fund films whose pitch is "toilet cleaner with boring music taste".

[Armin Meiwes]

Nice film, v much enjoyed it, but it did feel like it was treading in some extremely familiar tropes.. the aesthete who isn't motivated by money and just wants to take his daily photo of the same things with his analogue (of course!) camera, also yeah the choice of music seemed kind of off because I guess the guy was meant to appear as someone who really treasures music and yet has never got further than a best of the 60s/70s album.

[Armin Meiwes]

That sounds like I'm slagging it off but it was genuinely a really nice film, and that's sometimes exactly what you want.

[C_Larence]

best final shot of someone's face in their car since long good Friday. can we think of any others?