After Rudi's wife Trudi suddenly dies, he travels to Japan to fulfill her dream of being a Butoh dancer.After Rudi's wife Trudi suddenly dies, he travels to Japan to fulfill her dream of being a Butoh dancer.After Rudi's wife Trudi suddenly dies, he travels to Japan to fulfill her dream of being a Butoh dancer.
- Awards
- 8 wins & 8 nominations total
- Yu
- (voice)
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Featured reviews
In fact, I did laugh throughout the course of this wonderful, delicate film (that has the most selfish progeny since "King Lear"). In the opening scene a wife tells a physician, "My husband doesn't really care much for adventure," and, boy, does he have treatand a trialin store for him. But so does the audience.
The film's heart is about grief and how we can never really prepare for it. "I'd like my ashes scattered upon the sea," a spouse says to his partner. Fearfully, she says, "Why do you say that now?" And why indeed since we can never plan our end and its circumstances? It takes a young, marginally sane street performer, to tell us exactly what the Great Mystery is all about.
And the use of stunning images from nature, as well as the contorted gestures of Butoh theater and the equally contorted emotions from a family unaware of who the others are that this film brims over with so many rewards that it can be enjoyed over and over again.
The family dynamics are almost farcical which keep the weight of the subject matter from spilling over into despair. And while the central character's own despair is the subject of the film, it's thrilling to watch him find his way out of it.
Exceptional performances, shimmering cinematography, a truly great film.
A German movie set largely in Japan, "Cherry Blossoms" is a beautiful and heartbreaking film about living for the moment and of not putting off till tomorrow what you can do today. It's also marvelously perceptive about the dynamics of parent/child relationships, especially when, as is true in this case, the parents are viewed by their self-absorbed offspring more as burdens to be endured than blessings to be cherished. The irony is that Rudi and Trudi have more in common with - and indeed are treated better by - many of the strangers and casual acquaintances they come in contact with than they are by their own children.
But the movie is also an examination of marriage and of how partners can become so entwined with one another as a couple that they lose their identities as individuals, missing out on the dreams and goals they had for their lives when they were still young and unattached. This is certainly the case for Trudi, who has harbored a lifelong desire to take up Japanese dancing, a desire that Rudi, in his selfish indifference, has pretty much squelched in her for the duration of their marriage. Such a realization of lost opportunities can lead to regrets, recriminations and despair at the end of the road, yet in the case of Rudi and Trudi, one learns that lesson a little too late - and the other just in the nick of time.
Elmer Wepper and Hannelore Elsner are magnificent as the aged couple, superbly capturing the deep-seated but often unspoken love that each spouse has for the other. A fine supporting cast, led by Maximilian Bruckner as one of their sons and Aya Irizuki as a young street artist who befriends Rudi in his time of greatest need, adds to the movie's richness. Another crucial element in the emotional force of the movie is the richly elegiac score by Claus Bantzer.
The glory of this exquisitely realized and profoundly moving film is its willingness to grapple with some truly major issues - of life and death, of sorrow and loss, of filial and marital relationships - without getting heavy-handed and preachy about it in the process. Every moment in this film feels real and unforced, yet the movie itself has the minutely worked-out grace and precision of Japanese performance art (which we see quite a bit of throughout the course of the film). In fact, near the end, there is a fantasy dance sequence that is, quite frankly, one of the most utterly spellbinding scenes I've come across in ages.
Masterfully directed by Doris Dorrie, "Cherry Blossoms" is a lyrical and unforgettable work that takes its place among the truly outstanding films of recent times.
To watch sheer Love gathering momentum before and after they ... nothing less than apotheosis of overwhelming feeling, an epitome of emotion that was so unattainably beautiful; death's but a trifle after this.
I'd rate it one star ... for every time I cried (or could have, ought to and didn't), yet the scale doesn't reach that high.
Yet I did experience a sublime journey throughout the course of this beautiful film. What really moved me is the second half of the movie- its delicate description on 'mourning', on how a man copes with the mourning with all kinds of valuable memories of the dead. Beyond doubt the filmmaker did a great work on conveying the feeling of loss. The character'Yu' is impressive enough I still thought of her face that night after watching the movie. She is not the kind of girl with a beautiful face. We the audiences know nearly nothing about the character, but she really hit my heart in a deep way. She is lonely and sad, easily grabs the heart of audiences.Thanks to the soundtrack also. The film is soft, slow, sad, but at the same time it taught me a lesson. To treasure every single person besides me, and to pursue what really matters to me, as can life be ever predicted.
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?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Cherry Blossoms and Demons (2019)
- SoundtracksJapan
by Nanwei Chin Su
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Las flores del cerezo
- Filming locations
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $104,589
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,322
- Jan 18, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $12,861,658
- Runtime
- 2h 7m(127 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1