♥♥♥♥
+ Best Tokyo Movie of the Year
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| A man and a woman from different cultures, standing together in a Japanese garden make up this poster for Doris Dörrie's Cherry Blossoms |
When an aging married couple learn that the man, Rudi, is terminally ill with cancer, his wife hides the fact from him and arranges a visit to their two children in Germany. Her wish for them to travel to their son in Japan is wholly rejected by Rudi, - until the wife's sudden passing.
Cherry Blossoms is written and directed by Doris Dörrie (Der Erste Walzer (1978)).
The story develops with increasing emotional depth during Rudi's time in Japan, and Elmar Wepper (Der Fischer und Seine Frau (2005)) and Aya Irizuki (Cherry Blossoms and Demons/Kirschblüten & Dämonen (2019)) as Rudi and Yu excel. The film handles sorrow and death in a way, which can't but lead the audience to ponder over his or her own journey towards this end, - and the end for one's loved ones.
The poignant and at times amusing aspects of Rudi's journey are partially impaired by a few minor issues: The title is questionable as to its relevance for the story, and the credit sequence is poorly designed. The image quality throughout the film seems to come from digital technology and is a bit amateurish in craftsmanship and feel. These are minor side notes. The biggest drawback for Cherry Blossoms is that the central couple's three adult children are so uniformly horrible; narrow-minded, selfish and insensitive. - Why are they all like this? This feels a bit film school-like in its simplicity.
Related post:
2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: 12.8 mil. $
= Uncertain - but likely a big hit
[Cherry Blossoms premiered 11 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 127 minutes. Shooting took place from March - April 2007 in Germany, including in Berlin, and in Japan, including in Tokyo. The film opened #71 to a 3k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it peaked at #67 and in 8 theaters (different weeks), grossing 104k $ (0.8 % of the total gross). The 3 biggest markets were Germany with 10.1 mil. $ (78.9 %), Switzerland with 763k $ (6 %) and Austria with 457k $ (3.6 %). The film did not get a general release in Japan. If made on a likely 3 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a big hit. It was nominated for a European Film award and won 3/6 German Film award nominations, among other honors. Dörrie returned with Die Friseuse (2010). Wepper returned in 7 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in Dreiviertelmond (2011); Irizuki in Greetings from Fukushima/Grüsse aus Fukushima (2016). Cherry Blossoms is certified fresh at 79 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Cherry Blossoms?
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