Kirschblueten-Hanami (Cherry Blossoms: Hanami)

2008, 127 minutes

Review by Susan Meehan

“Cherry Blossoms: Hanami” is a beautiful life-affirming and enhancing film inspired by Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Story.” The series of stunning shots of the Bavarian landscape, early on in the film, could have come straight from a German tourist board film.

Rudi (Elmar Wepper), according to his wife Trudi (Hannelore Elsner), has no sense of adventure and is a man of routine. He’s done the same job for 30-some years, commuted on the same train and maintained the same lunch routine, living within his comfort zone in a beautiful Bavarian town. Discovering she is terminally ill, and keeping this information secret, Trudi persuades him to embark with her on a trip to Berlin to visit their daughter and son.

Rudi and Trudi’s children have little time for their parents and wonder why they’re visiting them, in fact.  It is their partners who show the greater kindness and empathy, confirming the adage from “Tokyo Story” – “As long as life goes on, relationships between parents and children will bring boundless joy and endless grief.” In a poignant scene, Rudi admits that he doesn’t know his children anymore despite remembering them so well as kids.

The couple decide to continue their holiday in a Black Sea resort where Trudi unexpectedly dies in her sleep. A grief-stricken Rudi embarks on a visit to Tokyo to visit their other son, Karl (Maximillian Brueckner), in honour of Trudi who never got to see her cherished Mount Fuji and who loved butoh dancing.

Rudi’s escapades in Tokyo echo those of Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray in Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation.” Left largely to himself by workaholic Karl, Rudi begins to explore Tokyo alone, often encountering the seedier side of life in the way of snack bars and “soaplands.”

Finding an empathetic friend in Yu (Aya Irizuki), a teenage butoh dancer, Rudi is able to talk to her about Trudi. The blossoming of the friendship culminates in a trip to Mount Fuji to see the sometimes elusive mountain, beloved of Trudi.