Skip to main content

Perfect Days

5 May 2024

In the Playhouse

Cinema

Japan, Germany | 2023 | Japanese | Drama

Nominated for Academy Award - Best International Feature Film, Perfect Days sees Hirayama utterly content with his simple life as a cleaner of toilets in Tokyo. A series of unexpected encounters gradually reveal more of his past. Kōji Yakusho won the Best Actor award at Cannes for his charming performance in this latest film from master filmmaker Wim Wenders. 

Wim Wenders’ gentle Japanese character study is his best narrative film in decades

Variety

A beautiful tale woven by master German filmmaker Wim Wenders and acclaimed Japanese actor Kōji Yakusho. A work of fiction with the feel of a documentary. A film that only Wenders, who has perfected the art of both, could have brought to the screen and hailed at the Cannes Film Festival as his greatest masterpiece in recent years,

Hirayama (Kōji Yakusho) works as a public toilet cleaner in Shibuya, Tokyo. His is a calm, quiet existence. Every day, he wakes up at the same time, gets ready the same way, and works the same way. Though his life may seem monotonous, no two days are ever the same, and he steps into each new day with a serene optimism.

Hirayama’s way of life exudes a gentle beauty. He loves trees and gazing at komorebi, the shimmering of light and shadows that is created by leaves swaying in the wind. But unexpected events create ripples in his life that reach back into his past.

Presented by Sydney Opera House

Trailer

Cast and credits

CREDITS

Director Wim Wenders

Screenplay Wim Wenders and Takuma Takasaki

Cinematography Franz Lustig

CAST

Koji Yakusho as Hirayama

Tokio Emoto as Takashi

Arisa Nakano as Niko

Other information

You may also like

Gallipoli with spoken introduction by Mark Lee

3 May 2025

In one of the most loved Australian films of all time, Archy (Mark Lee) and Frank (Mel Gibson) face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.

  • Cinema

Wicked: Sing-Along Version

2 May 2025

Sing-along to one of the most beloved and enduring musicals, Wicked, which makes its journey to the big screen in this spectacular cinematic event starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda.

  • Cinema
  • Musical Theatre

Howl’s Moving Castle

3 May 2025

Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's cherished story of a teenage girl who finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome, but mysterious, wizard named Howl.

  • Cinema

Checking availability