A Perfect Day
dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
by Kaj Palanca

A writer in his twenties is consumed by sudden fame. Unable to take the rush of turmoil brought about by this shift in what was before a silent life, he chooses to retreat to the country. Now a self-proclaimed recluse, he writes and writes and writes from the moment he wakes up until he has to go back to sleep: everything is now guided by routine, including his writing. One night, from within the woods in which he resides, a fire starts. Before he could manage to salvage all that he has written in his life as reclusive author, the fire has already reached his cabin and reduced his words to ashes. He then returns to the city where he once belonged, hopeless now and full of remorse. There, in the hustle and bustle of the city he hates, he is plagued by questions of faith, of reason, and of love. Just when the burden becomes all too familiar, he meets a girl. Encouraged by and dedicated to that of the recluse author Jerome David Salinger, this is a story that intends to explore a millennial writer’s distorted reason and purpose.