Kirschblüten - Hanami (2008)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Doris Dörrie

Writer:

Doris Dörrie (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 March 2008 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

When Trudi learns that her husband Rudi is dangerously ill, she suggests visiting their children in Berlin without telling him the truth...

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Cherry Blossom | Dancing | Phone | Homeless

Awards:

6 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Elmar Wepper	...	Rudi Angermeier
Hannelore Elsner	...	Trudi Angermeier
Aya Irizuki	...	Yu
Maximilian Brückner	...	Karl Angermeier
Nadja Uhl	...	Franzi
Birgit Minichmayr	...	Karolin Angermeier
Felix Eitner	...	Klaus Angermeier
Floriane Daniel	...	Emma Angermeier
Celine Tanneberger	...	Celine Angermeier
Robert Döhlert	...	Robert Angermeier
Tadashi Endo	...	Butoh Dancer
Sarah Camp	...	Butcher
Gerhard Wittmann	...	Doctor #1
Veith von Fürstenberg	...	Doctor #2

Also Known As:

Cherry Blossoms (International: English title)
Cherry Blossoms - Hanami (Europe: English title) (festival title)

Runtime:

Argentina:127 min | Germany:127 min

Country:

Germany | France

Language:

German | English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | Argentina:16 | France:U | South Korea:18 | Netherlands:16 | USA:Unrated | Mexico:B15

Filming Locations:

Allgäu, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Olga Film GmbH

Rebirth Under the Cherry Trees

Doris Dörrie's "Cherry Blossoms" - opening "Berlin and Beyond" Thursday, in U.S. release on Friday - has two original titles, one in German: "Kirschblüten," which means cherry blossoms, and another in Japanese: "Hanami," which doesn't.

The Japanese equivalent to the English and German titles would be "sakura"; "hanami" is a national ceremony/celebration/holiday of WATCHING the blossoms open. Dating back to the 8th century, hanami is an event without parallel outside Japan.

The difference between the titles is a subtle, but meaningful message. Just as the blossoms in themselves are different from the veritable cult surrounding them in Japan, Dörrie's characters live in two different worlds, acting differently, first clashing (similarly to "Lost in Translation") and then - somewhat mysteriously - cohere. With this complex, effective, and moving story, Dörrie, who has spent more than three decades writing and directing "interesting and different" films of varying quality, has reached a pinnacle of her career. (She owes a debt of gratitude to Yasujiro Ozu, especially his "Tokyo Story.")

"Germans and Japanese," Dörrie has said, "are really very much alike — incredibly repressed and very irrational at the same time." This vague and rather ridiculous generalization actually seems to come to life in "Cherry Blossoms."

One of Germany's best-known TV stars, Elmar Wepper, appears in his first movie role, and he nails the character of Rudi Angermeier, a cartoonishly ordinary man on an extraordinary journey. Unknown to him, he is near the end of his life, as he slowly, believably emerges from a stolid German middle-class life of unvariable routine to traverse distance and radically different cultures, all the way to Mount Fuji, dancing butoh.

There are two remarkable co-stars along Rudi's adventure: his wife, Trudi, played by the glamorous actress Hannelore Elsner, appearing heroically unglamorous here to fit the role of a plain housefrau; and Aya Irizuki as Yu.

Yu is one of those rare cinematic creations, a character you may not understand, but one who will stay with you. This waif, runaway, street artist is as bizarre a representative of Japan as - going back to "Lost in Translation" again - Bill Murray's Premium Fantasy woman ("Rip my stockings!") and yet she also evokes Giulietta Masina's character in "La Strada," a couple of continents away.

Watching Rudi and Yu under the cherry blossoms, with the strangely elusive Mount Fuji in the background finally peeking out from behind the clouds, is among the more memorable scenes in contemporary cinema.