Kirschblüten - Hanami (2008)

After Rudi's wife Trudi suddenly dies, he travels to Japan to fulfill her dream of being a Butoh dancer.

Director:

Doris Dörrie

Writer:

Doris Dörrie (screenplay)

Stars:

Elmar Wepper, Hannelore Elsner, Aya Irizuki

8 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Credited 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
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Hess	...	Pfarrer

Storyline

When Trudi learns that her husband Rudi is dangerously ill, she suggests visiting their children in Berlin without telling him the truth. As Franzi and Karl don't care much about their parents, Trudi and Rudi go to the Baltic Sea, where Trudi suddenly dies. Rudi is thrown out of gear, even more when he learns that his wife wanted to live a totally different life in Japan...

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Plot Keywords:

asiatic | plant in title | loss of wife | cherry blossom | japan | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany] Official site [France]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German English Japanese

Release Date:

6 March 2008 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Las flores del cerezo

Filming Locations:

Allgäu, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,322, 18 January 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$103,797, 21 June 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Olga Film, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), ARD Degeto Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Karolin Angermeier: Your cue, mama.
Klaus Angermeier: Go on, mama.
Karolin Angermeier: Mama, please, 'The Mayfly'. Come one, mama. For us.
Trudi Angermeier: 'Stop! What you're doing is murder!'
Klaus Angermeier: 'Such cruelty is not a must... '
Trudi Angermeier: 'The Mayfly has but one short day... '
Karolin Angermeier: 'One single day of pain, one single day of lust... '
[chuckles]
Rudi Angermeier: 'Oh, let it hover there, until it meets it's end. It's heavens last forever. It's life one day to make amends.' Right, mama?

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Connections

Version of Tokyo Story (1953)

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Soundtracks

Stadtrundfahrt
by Claus Bantzer

User Reviews

a superb film

I think it was for me a sublime movie experience. I tells about many things: lack of communication between generations, the passing of life and the necessity to cherish it while it lasts, the cultural differences and similarities between Germany and Japan. It also describes how we often do not know well even those closest to us. In the beginning the old couple seems so boring, one-sided and uninvolving, boy does it change as the film unravels. The film is very well written, directed and acted. Also one of the best, wholest descriptions of the current life in Japan I ever saw on celluloide. I loved the character of the young girl in Japan, her wonderful, delicate dignity in the face of the horrors of her lonely life. The man entered her life by coincidence and changed it for the better, maybe saving her from getting crazy or raped, or even killed.