Tag: Wim Wenders

Perfect Days

Posted on by victorfraga

Days are barely different for 50-something-year-old Hirayama (Koji Yakusho). He wakes up in his nondescript little flat somewhere in suburban Tokyo, jumps on his van, pops a cassette in and listens to Western music on his way to work. His job consists of cleaning public toilets. Scrubbing the rim of the bowls and urinals, wiping the mirrors, polishing the faucets, mopping the floor, and little more than that. He carries out his duties undaunted, without a sense shame and a trace of hesitation. And without moaning. In fact, the unmarried, childless and friendless man barely talks.

Hirayama does not seek compassion. He’s perfectly happy in his own company. This is not a film about an eccentric, awkward or repulsive misfit worthy of our pity. Our protagonist does not live a dysfunctional existence. He is introverted however pleasant to be around, one of those avuncular figures with a shy and honest smile. And this is not poverty porn, either. Hirayama’s house – despite being very humble – is very clean and comfortable. Our protagonist sleeps comfortably surrounded by piles of the audio cassettes which he cherishes so much. The old tapes are now back in fashion and worth a fortune, his young and bubbly apprentice Takeshi tells him. But he has no interest in selling them. Our protagonist is not keen on money. He does not want to change anything in his simple and gentle little world.

This is a film dotted with small moments of intense redemption. Hirayama attends the local public shower, where he treats himself to a jacuzzi session with men around his age with whom he does not engage. He simply shuts his eyes and enjoys himself. He also frequents the local bar, apparently some sort of brothel. This is where he becomes most talkative, sharing a joke and perhaps even flirting with the bartender. Invaluable snippets of joy. We eventually learn that Hirayama has a family, and a fraught relationship with some of his closest relatives. Yet it is him that his niece Niko seeks after running away from home. A short reunion with an estranged sibling provides one of the most powerful scenes. We are given some insight as to what may have happened, but are left to put the final puzzle pieces together ourselves. This is not a film with sudden twists and shocking revelations, yet it’s bursting with emotion.

Music is an integral part of Perfect Days. It is in his car that Hirayama achieves his most intense state of being, allowing rock and jazz songs to fill his life with rhythm and tender exhilaration. A genuine catharsis. He shares these precious moments with anyone who jumps on the passenger seat (such as Takeshi, Takeshi’s girlfriend and Niko). Highlights include Patti Smith’s Redondo Beach, The Kinks’ Lazy on Sunny Afternoon, Nina Simone’s Feeling Good, Lou Reed’s Pale Blue Eyes and Perfect Day, and Van Morrison. Wim Wenders has an intimate connection with music, having directed a few music documentaries (such as Buena Vista Social Club in 1999, and Berlin Philharmonic in 2014), and populated many of his fiction films with exquisite songs.

With Perfect Days, the 77-year-old German director returns to what he mastered at the beginning of his career: quiet, reflexive and deeply humanistic dramas. He had long abandoned such films in favour of documentaries and more mainstream flicks. His latest features Every Thing Will Be Fine (2015) and Submergence (2017) are fairly formulaic and conventional blockbusters, and they both bombed. We should roll the red carpet for our good and ol’ Wim Wenders. This is a much welcome return to the roots!

Perfect Days premiered in the Official Competition of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, when this piece was originally written. Wim Wenders won the Best Director prize, while Koji Yashuko won Best Actor. The film shows in September in San Sebastian, the BFI London Film Festival in October, and the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. In cinemas on Friday, February 23rd.

Pope Francis – A Man of His Word

Posted on by victorfraga

Pope Francis remains as avuncular and charismatic as ever. He’s also the only pope in history who comes from the Americas. And from the Southern Hemisphere. And who was a Jesuit. And who decided to adopt Saint Francis of Assissi’s name, the patron of animals, merchants and ecology, credited with revolutionising the Catholic Church by placing care for the poor at its very heart. It takes a singular filmmaker such as the Wim Wenders to make a documentary about such a singular pope. But it’s also an easy and safe choice for the German director, given thePope’s popularity. It’s hardly surprising he didn’t make a film about Pope Francis’s predecessor, his fellow countryman Ratzinger (aka God’s Rottweiler).

The movie opens in Assissi, as a voice-over narrates the history of the Saint. It then blends footage from various public events, ranging from Brazil to the Philippines, with an extensive and exclusive interview with the Pope. He faces the camera and preaches with his usual flare, charisma and magnetism. It’s impossible not to be moved by Francis talking about love, tolerance and solidarity. There is also dramatic footage of carefully picked events, such as refugee boat capsizing in the Mediterranean, corpses landing on the beach and a refugee child drawing people drowning at sea.

The audacity of Pope Francis’s rhetoric and attitude is what makes this documentary so riveting. He challenges the arms trade and xenophobia while addressing the American Congress, clearly bringing tears to the eyes of even the most hardened Republicans. He says that we should embrace immigrants “regardless of their big numbers”. He reminds us that we are all foreigners, in one way or another. He argues that building walls is not the way forward. He explains that the “globalisation of indifference” is a major danger to mankind’s existence. The environment is also high on his agenda, as he consistently warns the world against the dangers of a throw-away society. He’s a hard line pacifist. He emphatically shuns proselytism. He preaches about integration and tolerance of atheists. He visits the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Audiences learn that Saint Francis of Assissi was a champion of religious tolerance, and strongly opposed the crusades. All spot-on and urgent messages for our increasingly reactionary world.

Pope Francis’s relatively demure lifestyle is also a central topic. He opts to live in a small household in the Vatican, and travels in the least extravagant cars available (an American commentator compares his vehicle to Mr Bean’s). Whether this is just propaganda or not, at least Pope Francis is getting the right message across.

The current head of the Catholic Church is indeed a very liberal religious leader. But his progressiveness also has limits. While quickly touching on controversial topics such as the “gay lobby” and paedophile priests, Pope Francis – A Man of His Word doesn’t investigate these issues in too much detail. Critics would argue that Pope Francis has conveniently turned a blind eye on sex abuse allegations (not such “a man of his word” after all?). Transsexual and transgender people are not very happy about Pope Francis either, whom the holy man describes as victims of “manipulation”. Wim Wenders’s film conveniently avoids these incendiary issues. All in all, Pope Francis – A Man of His Word feels a little like a Vatican-sponsored piece, if a very progressive one.

The soundtrack includes spectacular songs delivered by Mercedes Sosa and Patti Smith (the subversive American rocker is an outspoken fan of the Catholic Church). The instrumental parts, on the other hand, are a little sloppy and might get a little on your nerves.

Pope Francis – A Man of His Word premiered in Cannes in May 2018, when this piece was originally written. Wim Wenders and his team received a passionate standing ovation. Many people in the audience (including myself, a militant atheist) were crying as the lights went on after the film credits. The iconic Pope and the emblematic filmmaker make an explosive tear-jerking duo. The film is out in UK cinemas on Friday, August 10th. On Netflix in January.

Submergence

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The influential German filmmaker has a celebrated filmography, including the emblematic Paris, Texas (1984) and the award-winning documentary Buena Vista Social Club (1999). In line with his usual deeply humane exploration style, his latest film, Submergence, appears to follow the thematic elements of love for which Wenders is recognised.

Starring James McAvoy and Alicia Vikander in the lead role, the film focuses on two lovers, Danielle and James, who are forced apart by fate. They meet by chance in a remote hotel in France as they both prepare for a perilous mission. Despite their initial hesitation, they inevitably fall in love. When they have to separate, we find out that James works for the British Secret Service. He’s involved in a mission in Somalia to track down a source for suicide bombers infiltrating Europe, where he is taken hostage by Jihadist fighters. Danielle is a bio-mathematician working on a deep sea diving project to support her theory about the origin of life on our planet.

As alluded towards in the title, the aesthetics of the film adheres to the deep water imagery, with wide shots capturing the scope and scale of the on-set locations.Based on the novel by J.M. Ledgard, of the same name, the central essence appears to rely heavily upon the chemistry of the two actors. Comparable to Vikander’s work with her now husband, Michael Fassbinder, in The Light Between Oceans (Derek Cianfrance, 2016), the actress is continually cast as going toe to toe with notable male stars, further emphasised in Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2015).

From its early trailer, Wenders’s new film does not seem as if it will hit the heights of his earlier work. Still, one must revel in the fact the filmmaker is still working productively in contemporary film. Submergence is out in cinemas worldwide on Friday, May 18th. Stay tuned for our dirty review of the film.