Nominated for Best International Feature 
Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) lives a life of quiet solitude. His job, cleaning public toilets in Tokyo, is unglamorous but gives him time to listen to his favorite music, enjoy the beauty of nature, and have time for his chores and hobbies. Small interruptions to his routine occur, but it doesn't wreck his peace; it just gives him an opportunity to reflect and make new connections.
We should all be as lucky as Hirayama to find work-life balance. I really liked that he's never portrayed as lonely or sad living by himself. If he wants to be around people, he finds people but he's never shown to be lacking. He's also not hiding some deep, dark secret or punishing himself.
This film depicts the inherent dignity of work, no matter what kind of work. There's no real conflict, no tilting at windmills, and in the wrong hands, that would be boring as hell. But Wim Wenders is no rank amateur. It's also beautifully shot.
It will not be a film for everyone. In fact, it might not have been a film for me if I hadn't been in the right mood to watch it. It's leisurely paced and has a lot of repetition thanks to Hirayama's routine but if you let it reach you, it's very soothing. It was streaming on Apple+, I thought, but I just checked and it's not there. I watched it on LookMovie.to. If you go that route, be aware that it has non-English subtitles hard-coded so you'll have to pick your language to go over them.
No comments:
Post a Comment