I spent yesterday adjusting the WiFi at our chalet, creating the Dehors Lavigne network for the external cameras and lights. I love faffing with technology, tinkering with settings, running little experiments and checking signal coverage. I suppose it's the equivalent of my dad pottering about in the garden shed for hours.
Last night Martine and I watched a movie, Perfect Days by Wim Wenders. It's one of the slowest movies I've ever seen, a toilet cleaner going about his daily routine in Tokyo. It's a bit like a short story by Clare Keegan or Raymond Carver in that on the surface nothing much happens but underneath there's all the complexity and bitter-sweetness of life. The movie references the short story The Terrapin by Patricia Highsmith, which is a shorthand way of explaining what's going on in the mind and life of the cleaner's niece i.e. huge parental issues. The cleaner spends his spare time photographing light filtering through trees, and this visual (in black and white) dominates his dreams too - at the end the Japanese word Komorebi is explained. I found an interview with the main actor of the film who gives his interpretation:
There's a fundamental principle at work behind Perfect Days, one which corresponds with its study of simplicity and lack of conflict and drama. "Komorebi" is a Japanese term that loosely refers to "sunlight filtered through trees," something which is certainly filmed frequently in Perfect Days. But the word means much more than that. It connotes a kind of contentment, a peaceful joy that is deeply connected with nature and humanity.
The same idea is also contained in a line in the film which Hirayama and his niece exchange and she repeats like a mantra: Next time is next time. Now is now.
