Review: ‘Cherry Blossoms’

It’s extremely rare that a film is so good that it actually brings me to tears and ‘Cherry Blossoms’ came darn close. It’s not so much that the new film from writer/director Doris DÃ ¶rrie is sad, in fact the film ends up being quite the spirit lifter, but the story is told with so much heart that it’s impossible not to empathize with the characters.

‘Cherry Blossoms’ tells the story of Rudi Angermeier (Elmar Wepper), an aging man whose life consists of going to work in an office and coming home to his loving wife Trudi (Hannelore Elsner), day in and day out, without any sense of adventure in their marriage. During a doctors visit, Trudi learns that Rudi is terminally ill, but chooses not to let Rudi know. Instead, she convinces him to go with her on a trip to Berlin to visit their children. Their kids don’t have any time for them and, feeling they’re a burden on their kids, the couple travel to the Baltic to spend time on the beach.

During their stay, Trudi suddenly and unexpectedly dies in her sleep. Devastated by his loss of her, Rudi begins to truly discover his wife and her dreams for life only as he mourns her death. As the guilt of keeping Trudi from pursuing her dream of being a Butoh dancer weigh heavily on his heart, Rudi travels to stay with his son in Japan where he hopes to find closure. While exploring the busy streets of Tokyo, Rudi meets meets Yu (Aya Irizuki), a young Butoh dancer who he befriends and helps him to reconnect with his late wife.

‘Cherry Blossoms’ is a magnificent piece of storytelling. Visually, the film achieves an uncommon marriage between realism and fantasy. The movie often feels like a documentary without narration, but at the same time successfully delivers an element of subtle fantasy through it’s use of vividly colored locations and wonderful framing. So many of the shots and scenes in ‘Cherry Blossoms’ could have easily appeared in a photo spread for the National Geographic. The cinema verite style in which DÃ ¶rrie used perfectly captures the intimate nature of Rudi’s relationship first with his wife Trudi, then again his relationship with the youthful and wise Yu.

Shots of simple tranquility often move the story along in a constructive way without slowing the pace of this 127-minute masterpiece. At appropriate moments, a shot of kites flying, or hawks soaring or nature in it’s splendor treat the eye and emphasize the proper mood of the story. The acting in the film is superb, with the most accomplished moments occurring without spoken dialogue. Elmar Wepper gives a first-class performance of a man who goes through an immensely taxing emotional and psychological transformation. Hannelore Elsner delivers one of the most endearing performances I’ve seen in many years and even the young Aya Irizuki creates a character that is at once enigmatic and familiar.

‘Cherry Blossoms’ is already at the top of my “best films list” this year and may prove difficult for other films to overcome. I am already planning on re-watching the film as soon as possible in an attempt to absorb even more of it’s charm and bitter-sweet reflection on life and love. I highly recommend this movie, in fact I can’t recommend it enough! Anyone who calls themselves a fan of Akira Kurosawa films absolutely must see this movie. It invokes a similar sense of of storytelling as Kurosawa such as films like ‘Ikiru’, ‘Dreams’ and ‘Rhapsody in August’. ‘Cherry Blossoms’ is a feel good movie with a powerful story and a different kind of happy ending that we rarely see out of Hollywood.

‘Cherry Blossoms’ opens today in St. Louis at the Tivoli Theatre.

[Overall: 5 stars out of 5]