VIDEO: The trailer for Cherry Blossoms
In Doris Dörrie's emotionally loaded melodrama Kirschblüten — Hanami, an aging German couple, Trudi (Hannelore Eisner) and Rudi (Elmer Wrapper), grow tighter than ever as they perceive their alienation from their two elder children, Klaus (Felix Eitner) and Karo (Birgit Minichmayr). Their only hope is their youngest, Karl (Maximilian Brückner), who lives in Tokyo.
After Trudi dies in her sleep, Rudi goes to be with Karl, less because he wants to than because his wife had dreamed of visiting Japan: Mount Fuji, butoh dancing, cherry blossoms in spring. Some may find Rudi's journey moving, even transcendent.
I can appreciate Dörrie's craft, and her sincerity, but the two-hour story of Rudi's evolution, which includes his unlikely friendship with a tiresome white-faced butoh performer (Aya Irizuki), meant nothing to me.
