Perfect Days: the protagonist of Wim Wenders’s delicate drama lives his life with such quiet contentment it’s hard to not envy him. The middle-aged man cleans public toilets in Tokyo, and everything he does is a carefully constructed ritual, which are done with a quiet smile on his lips. He is not a man of many words, saving them for when they matter, but far from uncaring. It is a superb creation by YAKUSHO Kooji, and its tone fits the film perfectly. The rest of the cast is also effective: EMOTO Tokio, as his young and talkative co-worker, NAKANO Arisa, as his sweet niece, and ISHIKAWA Sayuri, as the mama of a bar he goes to weekly. The film, edited by Toni Froschhammer, is leisurely paced, allowing all the focus to the small things to remain. Cinematographer Franz Lustig captures the story in a tight, precise frame, but it is lit beautifully, and the images of Tokyo are weirdly soothing for such a busy metropolis. Also very precise are the music choices; the character (and Wenders) have excellent music taste, choosing the songs that play in cassete with great care; the selection is exquisite, and always the right song for the moment (particularly the song that plays over the emotional final shot of the film).