While I wouldn’t call yesterday a perfect day for me personally, it did involve a Perfect Day. I was supposed to meet John at Peckhamplex again: We were going to watch Perfect Days, Vim Vender’s  new film. One way or another, though, our wires got crossed and I ended up going to the cinema alone. It was a shame because the film was his suggestion, having flagged up the trailer and Mark Kermode’s review for me.

Perfect Days is a very interesting, meditative piece of work. It focuses on three or four days in the life of a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. I wouldn’t say there was a plot or narrative in the usual sense. The film is more like a portrait of a lowly but likeable man’s life as he goes through his daily routine washing public toilets, listening to music and collecting old cassettes. It is thus a complete departure from what we usually expect a film to be, but that struck me as a refreshing change more than anything. After a while I felt myself getting into the rhythm of the film, starting to see what it was trying to say: this was film being used to hold a mirror up to humanity. It tells us that the lowliest of people can often be the most content; and that those of us who live the most lavish, elaborate lives aren’t necessarily the happiest. As I rolled home last night, I decided that Perfect Days definitely deserved a second viewing, preferably next time with John. Films like this are surely meant to be shared.