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On the surface of it Wim Wenders latest film is about a man who cleans public loos, but of course that is not its real focus. The protagonist’s job is almost irrelevant, despite the movie detailing the work so precisely, but then it’s not because the need for such conveniences is what links us all, and that is what this is all truly concerned with; human connection.

Koji Yakusho’s Hirayama leads a simple life, going about his role day in and day out in modern day Tokyo, and this is a simple film. Like it’s lead character though, this does not mean is can’t strive for excellence in what it does. It takes a while, the routine of this man’s life repeating like a tedious toilet time loop (surely you don’t need to trim your moustache every day) but just at the point it might lose your attention you realise it has gripped you and the slight deviations Hirayama experiences hit you as if he was in actual fact a recluse hitman drawn back into his previous life when someone close to him gets rinsed, which is what the Hollywood version of this would be.

As it is, you do learn that Hirayama has a history that he is running away from but this is dealt with in the subtlest of ways just to explain why he is content with occasional acquaintances rather than close friends. This is a man who needs the company of others but seeks it in a way that requires no commitment or giving up of himself. Then when someone from his past does come back into his orbit we see that this is actually a sacrifice. Said person is sucked into his existence though rather than shaking him out of it.

Perfect Days is such a lovely and delicate movie, made with a painterly touch that steps slightly away from what you’d except of this director. There are some brief dream sequences that play a little like Wim Wenders parody but as you learn in the credits these are actually put together by his wife Donata Wenders. You need to stay for the credits too, not just because of pianist Patrick Watson’s beautiful instrumental version of the classic Lou Reed song that the film takes its name from, but for a post credits bonus that offers one final gift to the viewer in another way that defies something that has become a cinematic convention.

I’d also strongly recommend this for anyone planning a trip to the Japanese capital, it shows the city in a manner rarely seen on screen and it will also teach you how to use their sophisticated lavs.

Perfect Days is a near perfect movie. I just would have liked to have seen him wash his hands a bit more often.