Toronto International Film Festival 2023: PERFECT DAYS & LES INDÉSIRABLES

In what would certainly be a contrasting double bill, Perfect Days and Les Indésirables, at least on the surface, are two vastly different films. While Perfect Days is minimalistic and quiet, almost to a fault, Les Indésirables is a bombastic cinematic experience that’s brimming with purposeful intensity. Both films are screening as part of the 2023 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)

Perfect Days might be an intentionally quiet film with minimal dialogue and a rather thin plot, but its emotional amplitude as a story is elevated by masterful performances both behind and in front of the camera. The legendary Wim Wenders creates one of his best films in years, while Koji Yakusho gives a career-best performance that has already been bolstered by some exceptionally impressive efforts.

Yakusho plays Hirayama, a wayward toilet cleaner in the busy streets of Tokyo. Living by himself, he follows a daily routine that bookends his sanitation work with visits to the local bathhouse and restaurants, while also reading and listening to classic American rock music on cassette tapes. When his niece (Arisa Nakano) makes a surprise visit, we learn that his life might not be as contained and simple as his routine might suggest.

The film is a thoughtful examination of the mundane nature of loneliness and uses Yakusho’s performance to amplify the solemn emotional notes of isolation. With only sparse use of dialogue, the narrative journey is anchored on the muted, yet capable shoulders of Yakusho. Right from the start, you’re simply transfixed with his gentle gazes and affirming acts of kindness, only to have some of those expectations unravel when details of his past become apparent. There’s much more to Hirayama than what his quiet demeanour might suggest, and Yakusho provides hints of such complexity, often without even saying a word.

The lack of dialogue and underling story also goes unnoticed for the most part, given the rich, albeit slow, layering of thematic ideays planted in Wenders and Takuma Takasaki’s screenplay. Much like Hirayama’s daily routines, the stillness of Perfect Days feels natural and intuitive, creating a canvas that captures a story like this in such a unique way.  This unique collaboration between Wenders and Yakusho has resulted in a film that is surprisingly expressive and thoughtfully crafted. With its lack of dialogue, it’s also perhaps a perfect example of how artistic expression is truly a universal language.

Les Indésirables (Ladj Ly)

Following his striking directorial feature debut with Les Misérables, Ladj Ly returns to the Paris suburbs with yet another indictment on inept politics that result in perpetual social inequalities. Directed with confidence and operatic intensity, Les Indésirables is a crushing narrative feat on the brutality of gentrification.

Without even a working elevator, occupants of a rundown apartment building are left moving a casket down flights of narrow stairs, in a collective effort that is indicative of their day-to-day struggles. This sequence at the start of the film is followed by the untimely death of the town’s mayor, whereby a local physician, Pierre, (Alexis Manenti) with only fleeting experiences in politics is appointed as interim mayor. Haby (Anty Diaw), an occupant of the apartment complex and leader of a local housing association, ends up clashing with Pierre on what ends up being a tumultuous reign with a series of reactionary decisions by the inexperienced politician.

With a gripping intensity that continues to boil until the film’s climax, Ly has proven himself to be a master at creating chaos in a manner that feels authentic, yet never exploitative. He generates chaotic energy by channeling the film’s intensity with its characters’ emotional pulse, and in doing so, creates sequences that pound to an infectious and resonant beat. The film really highlights the disdain between those who don’t seem to understand what the consequences of their actions are, and those who only seem to experience such consequences. This conflict seethes into every frame of the film, and serves as an undercurrent for the narrative’s intensely emotional core. Combined with cinematographer Julien Poupard’s use of high profile aerial drone work and handheld shots in narrow spaces, Les Indésirables is certainly a technical marvel deserving of praise.

The film can feel a bit too chaotic at times, particularly in its third act when the story is clearly driving towards some degree of thematic closure. Some added breathing room so that the characters could internalize their journey, before catapulting them into a climax that further intensifies the story, would have worked better. And while the film doesn’t necessarily provide a lot of answers to the socio-political problems it poses, Ly’s depiction of stalled progress and empty promises from a failed system is bound to ignite discourse. All in all, it’s hard to argue that Les Indésirables is an impressive piece of filmmaking.