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VAROLUŞ SANCISI DUYMADAN YAŞAMAK: PERFECT DAYS FİLMİ ÜZERİNE BİR ÇÖZÜMLEME

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 380 - 397, 05.06.2025
https://doi.org/10.47107/inifedergi.1610806

Abstract

Koji Yakusho tarafından mütevazı bir mükemmellikle canlandırılan başkahraman Hirayama, aslında teselliyi karmaşık olmayan varoluşta buluyor. Tokyo'nun dış mahallelerindeki bir apartman dairesinde tek başına yaşıyor. İşten sonra bir hamamda yıkanıyor ve bir metro istasyonunun içindeki ucuz bir restoranda yemek yiyor. Kamyonetinde Patti Smith, Kinks, Sachiko Kanenobu ve Lou Reed'in kasetlerini dinliyor ve yatmadan önce William Faulkner ve Aya Koda'nın romanlarını okuyor. Gün doğumunda uyandığında, döngü tekrar ediyor. Film, Perfect Days, hem Budizm'e hem de Şintoizm'e yapılan ince göndermeler içermektedir. Hirayama bir keşiş gibi yaşıyor ve bir keşişin kişiliğine sahip. Yaşamın en yüksek sanat formu olan müziğe olan sevgisi filme olağandışı bir ruhanilik katıyor. Perfect Days zaman zaman neredeyse bir hagiografi gibi görünüyor, konusu basit olmaktan çok kozmik. Bu, tuvalet temizleyen bir adam hakkında bir film değil; varoluşun sırrını çözmüş gibi görünen bir kişinin kapsamlı portresini sunan film, dünya ağrısı duymadan minimal bir yaşamda iç huzurla dolu geçen günlerin çarpıcı bir anlatısını ortaya koymaktadır. Filmim yönteminde görsel ve işitsel işaretleri çözmek için göstergebilimsel analiz tercih edilmiştir. Bu çalışmada, zengin sembolik anlatısı nedeniyle Perfect Days filmi birincil veri kaynağı olarak belirlendiği amaçlı örnekleme tekniğinden yararlanılmıştır. Bulgular, Hirayama (henüz) bir buda değildir ve hayatı tamamen acıdan uzak değildir. Uzaklaştığı zengin kız kardeşiyle karşılaşması, bir garsona özlemle bakması gibi arkaplan hikayesi büyük ölçüde açıklanmamış olsa da Hirayama'nın bazen geçmişi tarafından rahatsız edildiğini düşündürmektedir. “Perfect Days”, karakterlerin günlük yaşamın sıradanlığı içinde varoluşsal sancılardan uzak içsel huzur dolu yaşamına güçlü göndermeler yapmaktadır. Film, insan ilişkileri ve içsel huzur temalarını ustalıkla harmanlayarak, izleyiciye anlam dolu anlatımıyla kendi içine doğru bir yolculuğa davet ediyor.

References

  • Barthes, R. (1972). Mythologies. Hill and Wang. https://doi.org/10.2307/468490
  • Boyd, J. W., & Nishimura, T. (2016). Shinto perspectives in Miyazaki's anime film 'Spirited Away.' Journal of Religion & Film, 20(3), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.32873/uno.dc.jrf.20.3.005
  • Croteau, M. (2022). Transcendence and Spirituality in Japanese Cinema: Framing Sacred Spaces. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429276057
  • De Silva, P. (2016). Buddhist environmental ethics. In J. Baird Callicott & J. McRae (Eds.), Environmental Philosophy in Asian Traditions of Thought (pp. 109–130). SUNY Press. https://doi.org/10.1353/book.48366
  • Gimbel, T. (2019). Shintō, Nature, and Ideology in Contemporary Japan: Making Sacred Forests, by Aike P. Rots. Journal of Religion in Japan, 8(1-3), 214–218.
  • Green, R. (2013). Buddhism Goes to the Movies: Introduction to Buddhist Thought and Practice. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203765692
  • Harvey, P. (2013). An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139050531
  • Harvey, P. (2013). An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139050531
  • Hino, S. (2005). Kami and nature: Explorations in Shinto spirituality. Tokyo University Press. Johnson, A. (2021). Visual semiotics and cinematic symbolism. Film and Philosophy Journal, 23(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/15421026.2021.1919273
  • Kasulis, T. P. (2004). Shinto: The Way Home. University of Hawai'i Press. https://doi.org/10.21313/hawaii/9780824827947.001.0001
  • Keown, D. (2013). Buddhism: A concise introduction. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780199663835.001.0001
  • Kristeva, J. (1980). Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art. Columbia University Press.
  • Leighton, T. D. (2012). Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression-An Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism. Wisdom Publications. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203765692
  • Metz, C. (1974). Film language: A semiotics of the cinema. University of Chicago Press.
  • Napier, S. J. (2006). Matter out of place: Carnival, containment, and cultural recovery in Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. Journal of Japanese Studies, 32(2), 287-310. https://doi.org/10.1353/jjs.2006.0056
  • Okuyama, Y. (2015). Japanese Mythology in Film: A Semiotic Approach. Lexington Books. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474228957
  • Ozu, Y. (Director). (1953). Tokyo Story [Film]. Shochiku.
  • Parkes, G. (2009). Japanese aesthetics and the philosophy of mindfulness. Philosophy East and West, 59(3), 295–316. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.0.0065
  • Peirce, C. S. (1955). Philosophical writings of Peirce. Dover Publications.
  • Peoples, D. (2013). Slavoj Žižek's Interpretation of 'Buddhism'. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Universities, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.22282/jiabu.v6i2.217859
  • Richie, D. (2005). A Hundred Years of Japanese Film. Kodansha International. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9362518
  • Rots, A. P. (2017). Shinto, Nature, and Ideology in Contemporary Japan: Making Sacred Forests. Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350043741
  • Saito, T. & Kim, W. (2018). Visual minimalism in Buddhist cinema. Asian Film Studies, 10(1), 30-46.
  • Saussure, F. D., Bally, C., Sechehaye, A., Riedlinger, A., & Harris, R. (2020). Course in general linguistics.
  • Smith, J. (2022). Cinema and existential philosophy: A comparative analysis. Journal of Film Studies, 15(2), 34–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400309.2022.2045678
  • Suzuki, D. T. (2007). Zen and Japanese Culture. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203647899
  • Tanahashi, K. (2016). The Heart Sutra: A Comprehensive Guide to the Classic of Mahayana Buddhism. Shambhala Publications. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781930485188
  • Teeuwen, M., & Breen, J. (2000). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. University of Hawaii Press.
  • Tutar, H., & Erdem, A. T. (2020). Örnekleriyle bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri ve SPSS uygulamaları. Seçkin Yayıncılık, 1.
  • Tutar, H., (2023) Sosyal Bilim Araştırmalarında Kullanılan Yöntem ve Teknikleri, Umuttepe Yayıncılık,
  • Wenders, W. (Director). (2023). Perfect Days [Film]. Master Mind Ltd.
  • Williams, L. (2006). Spirituality and Film: A Guide to Religious Themes and Imagery in Cinema. Routledge.
  • Yusa, M. (2017). Japanese Religious Traditions. Pearson. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315641108

LIVING WITHOUT THE PAIN OF EXISTENCE: AN ANALYIS OF THE MOVIE PERFECT DAYS

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 380 - 397, 05.06.2025
https://doi.org/10.47107/inifedergi.1610806

Abstract

The protagonist, Hirayama, played with modest perfection by Koji Yakusho, actually finds solace in an uncomplicated existence. He lives alone in an apartment on the outskirts of Tokyo. After work, he washes himself in a bathhouse and eats at a cheap restaurant inside a subway station. In his truck, he listens to tapes of Patti Smith, the Kinks, Sachiko Kanenobu, and Lou Reed, and before going to bed, he reads novels by William Faulkner and Aya Koda. When he wakes up at sunrise, the cycle repeats. The movie Perfect Days contains subtle references to both Buddhism and Shintoism. Hirayama lives like a monk and has the personality of a monk. His love of music, the highest art form of life, gives the movie an unusual spirituality. Perfect Days seems almost hagiographic at times; its plot is more cosmic than simple. This is not a film about a man who cleans toilets; it presents a comprehensive portrait of a person who seems to have solved the secret of existence, and presents a striking narrative of days spent in a minimal life filled with inner peace, without any worldly pain. In the Filmim method, semiotic analysis was preferred to decipher visual and auditory signs. In this study, the purposeful sampling technique was used, with the film Perfect Days selected as the primary data source due to its rich symbolic narrative. The findings indicate that Hirayama is not a Buddha (yet), and his life is not completely free of pain. Although the background story, such as his encounter with his estranged rich sister and his longing gaze at a waiter, is largely unexplained, it suggests that Hirayama is sometimes disturbed by his past. “Perfect Days” strongly references the characters’ lives of inner peace, free from existential pain in the mundanity of daily life. The film skillfully blends the themes of human relationships and inner peace and invites the audience to a journey into themselves with its meaningful narrative.

References

  • Barthes, R. (1972). Mythologies. Hill and Wang. https://doi.org/10.2307/468490
  • Boyd, J. W., & Nishimura, T. (2016). Shinto perspectives in Miyazaki's anime film 'Spirited Away.' Journal of Religion & Film, 20(3), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.32873/uno.dc.jrf.20.3.005
  • Croteau, M. (2022). Transcendence and Spirituality in Japanese Cinema: Framing Sacred Spaces. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429276057
  • De Silva, P. (2016). Buddhist environmental ethics. In J. Baird Callicott & J. McRae (Eds.), Environmental Philosophy in Asian Traditions of Thought (pp. 109–130). SUNY Press. https://doi.org/10.1353/book.48366
  • Gimbel, T. (2019). Shintō, Nature, and Ideology in Contemporary Japan: Making Sacred Forests, by Aike P. Rots. Journal of Religion in Japan, 8(1-3), 214–218.
  • Green, R. (2013). Buddhism Goes to the Movies: Introduction to Buddhist Thought and Practice. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203765692
  • Harvey, P. (2013). An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139050531
  • Harvey, P. (2013). An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, History and Practices (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139050531
  • Hino, S. (2005). Kami and nature: Explorations in Shinto spirituality. Tokyo University Press. Johnson, A. (2021). Visual semiotics and cinematic symbolism. Film and Philosophy Journal, 23(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/15421026.2021.1919273
  • Kasulis, T. P. (2004). Shinto: The Way Home. University of Hawai'i Press. https://doi.org/10.21313/hawaii/9780824827947.001.0001
  • Keown, D. (2013). Buddhism: A concise introduction. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780199663835.001.0001
  • Kristeva, J. (1980). Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art. Columbia University Press.
  • Leighton, T. D. (2012). Faces of Compassion: Classic Bodhisattva Archetypes and Their Modern Expression-An Introduction to Mahayana Buddhism. Wisdom Publications. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203765692
  • Metz, C. (1974). Film language: A semiotics of the cinema. University of Chicago Press.
  • Napier, S. J. (2006). Matter out of place: Carnival, containment, and cultural recovery in Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. Journal of Japanese Studies, 32(2), 287-310. https://doi.org/10.1353/jjs.2006.0056
  • Okuyama, Y. (2015). Japanese Mythology in Film: A Semiotic Approach. Lexington Books. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781474228957
  • Ozu, Y. (Director). (1953). Tokyo Story [Film]. Shochiku.
  • Parkes, G. (2009). Japanese aesthetics and the philosophy of mindfulness. Philosophy East and West, 59(3), 295–316. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.0.0065
  • Peirce, C. S. (1955). Philosophical writings of Peirce. Dover Publications.
  • Peoples, D. (2013). Slavoj Žižek's Interpretation of 'Buddhism'. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Universities, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.22282/jiabu.v6i2.217859
  • Richie, D. (2005). A Hundred Years of Japanese Film. Kodansha International. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.9362518
  • Rots, A. P. (2017). Shinto, Nature, and Ideology in Contemporary Japan: Making Sacred Forests. Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350043741
  • Saito, T. & Kim, W. (2018). Visual minimalism in Buddhist cinema. Asian Film Studies, 10(1), 30-46.
  • Saussure, F. D., Bally, C., Sechehaye, A., Riedlinger, A., & Harris, R. (2020). Course in general linguistics.
  • Smith, J. (2022). Cinema and existential philosophy: A comparative analysis. Journal of Film Studies, 15(2), 34–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400309.2022.2045678
  • Suzuki, D. T. (2007). Zen and Japanese Culture. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203647899
  • Tanahashi, K. (2016). The Heart Sutra: A Comprehensive Guide to the Classic of Mahayana Buddhism. Shambhala Publications. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781930485188
  • Teeuwen, M., & Breen, J. (2000). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. University of Hawaii Press.
  • Tutar, H., & Erdem, A. T. (2020). Örnekleriyle bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri ve SPSS uygulamaları. Seçkin Yayıncılık, 1.
  • Tutar, H., (2023) Sosyal Bilim Araştırmalarında Kullanılan Yöntem ve Teknikleri, Umuttepe Yayıncılık,
  • Wenders, W. (Director). (2023). Perfect Days [Film]. Master Mind Ltd.
  • Williams, L. (2006). Spirituality and Film: A Guide to Religious Themes and Imagery in Cinema. Routledge.
  • Yusa, M. (2017). Japanese Religious Traditions. Pearson. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315641108
There are 33 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Radio-Television
Journal Section ARAŞTIRMA MAKALESİ
Authors

Hasan Tutar 0000-0001-8383-1464

Havva Öztürk 0009-0004-6522-0992

Publication Date June 5, 2025
Submission Date December 31, 2024
Acceptance Date April 16, 2025
Published in Issue Year 2025 Volume: 10 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Tutar, H., & Öztürk, H. (2025). LIVING WITHOUT THE PAIN OF EXISTENCE: AN ANALYIS OF THE MOVIE PERFECT DAYS. İnönü Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Elektronik Dergisi (İNİF E-Dergi), 10(1), 380-397. https://doi.org/10.47107/inifedergi.1610806