Life affirmation and (un)learning contemporary rhythms: formative experiences in the film Perfect days

Abstract

This article discusses aspects of (un)learning contemporary rhythms and their implications for subjective formation, taking the intersection of cinema and education as a horizon. The theoretical framework seeks to articulate Nietzsche’s tragic thought and Pierre Sansot’s urban anthropology through a hermeneutic-based methodology. Its objective is to study Wim Wenders’ cinematic work Perfect Days (2023) to understand how cinema can contribute to reorganizing contemporary imaginaries and promoting an ecology of attention, challenging the norms of productivity and high performance. Reflections on the film explore the metaphorical resonance of Komorebi – a Japanese term describing the sunlight filtering through the trees – which poetically expresses an unquestionable affirmation of life. As a mode of (un)learning, the study investigates resistance procedures and equivalences, although eternally precarious, between the present and the moment. The main results indicate that the film, through its contemplative and poetic narrative, invites reflection on cadence and the wise use of time as alternatives to the accelerated dynamics of contemporary urban life. It concludes that the film, by proposing new ways of attending to and relating to time, contributes to debates on cinema as a participant in the formation of subjectivities, the intensification of life through aesthetic experience, and the appreciation of the present moment.