thoughts on "Perfect Days" (2023)

Last weekend, I finally saw the movie Perfect Days. I'd known about its existence for a long time, but never got around to watching it. Whenever I mentioned it in a conversation though, I heard nothing but praise. I also consider myself to be a fan of slow, meditative Japanese movies where "nothing happens", like Megane or Kamome Shokudo. Needless to say, my expectations were pretty high. Overall, I liked the movie. However, contrary to my expectations, I also wasn't blown away by it. All in all, I loved the overall atmosphere, but found some of the individual details to be lacking. Below are some thoughts. The allure of "the simple life"I loved the scenes that show Hirayama before and after work, when he's reading books at home, watering plants, taking photos with an analog camera and only keeping a select few of them, going to the coin laundry, or the sento. There is something deeply appealing about a simple and quiet life like this. I found myself acutely aware of how much of my…