This humanist tale from contemporary Tokyo asks how we can live our lives regardless of all the difficulties we must face. Hirayama accepts a job cleaning public toilets with a surprising sense of humility. Although his life might strike us as arduous, boring, and sometimes even demeaning, his routine gives each day much-needed structure, and he takes joy from simple moments of contemplation in the park, reading a book, or listening to music. He radiates a sense of peace and happiness, but is it all just a defense mechanism? Kōji Yakusho’s portrayal of the taciturn toilet cleaner brought him a much-earned Best Actor award at Cannes.
Martin Horyna
124 min / Color, DCP
Director Wim Wenders
/ Screenplay Takuma Takasaki, Wim Wenders
/ Dir. of Photography Franz Lustig
/ Music Frank Kruse, Matthias Lempert
/ Editor Toni Froschhammer
/ Art Director Towako Kuwashima
/ Producer Wim Wenders, Takuma Takasaki, Koji Yanai
/ Production Master Mind, Wenders Images
/ Coproduction Kōji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Aoi Yamada, Yumi Asō
/ Cast Kōji Yakusho
/ Sales The Match Factory
/ Distributor Aerofilms
Wim Wenders (1945, Düsseldorf, Germany). Selected filmography: Kings of the Road (Im Lauf der Zeit, 1976), The American Friend (Der amerikanische Freund, 1977), The State of Things (Der Stand der Dinge, 1982), Paris Texas (1984), Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin, 1987), Faraway, So Close! (In weiter Ferne, so nah!, 1993), Don't Come Knocking (2005), Palermo Shooting (2008), Perfect Days (2023).
The Match Factory
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Germany
Phone: +49 221 539 7090
E-mail: [email protected]
Aerofilms
Milady Horákové 383/79, 170 00, Praha 7
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 224 947 566
E-mail: [email protected]
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