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Kirschblüten – Hanami – Cherry Blossoms Fairy Tale
By Werner Sedlag | August 12, 2008
From white sausage idyll to cherry blossoms, from Bavarian grumbler to Butoh dancer, a broad wondrous curve is drawn taut, and somethings are indeed astonishing in Doris Dörrie’s Kirschblüten – Hanami (Cherry Blossoms) (Germany, 2007). The story of an elderly couple in the Bavarian province, it opens when she finds out from doctors how hopelessly sick he is and talks him into a lengthy excursion.
First, to the children in Berlin – a disappointment. Then, on to the Baltic Sea. Here, not he, but she, dies. Now, however, he becomes aware that she has sacrificed the dream of her life for his sake: Japan, Fuji, Hanami – cherry blossoms, Butoh dance. So he makes up for lost time in her place. After wandering around for a while, he encounters an unexpected romance and ends his life one evening in sight of the holy mountain. In an apparition the wife appears once more.
Some inconsistencies in the plot can be forgiven. For example, the lack of knowledge about his own ill condition. And her sudden death on the journey – a deus ex machina. All the same, her death is necessary in order to move the story along. Also, the reason for the unfriendliness of the grown children is questionable. Given that a description of the status quo of our society is desired, thus it conceivably serves as a contrast to the manner in which the elderly in Asia are cared for. A lesbian couple in the metropole should not be left out either – regardless, it’s laid on a bit too heavy.
To be praised in Kirschblüten (Hanami in Japanese) is Doris Dörrie’s hand with her actors, especially as the story requires some difficult tight-rope walking between cultures, to say nothing of the dangers that lurk when dealing with exalted feelings. The surprise in the film is Elmar Wepper as Rudi, at least for the cineaste familiar with the German film and TV scene. In the best Fassbinder-like style an actor is effectively plucked out to show us what he can do, but nothing much beyond that. Hannelore Elsner, in the role of the wife Trudi, delivers a sound performance. Not to be overlooked, however, is the presence of Nadja Uhl as Franzi, the daughter’s friend in Berlin. The same goes for the Japanese actress Aya Irizuki as the young Butoh dance instructor and discrete friend of our hero – laconic, mysterious, with a touch of comedy.
The camera (Hanno Lentz) handles the theme with a deft hand: tightly shot scenes, rigorous image tracking in the big cities, easygoing and freehanded in the parks and countryside. The cramped bureau- and housing towers of Tokyo appear bleak when compared to the short-lived beauty of the cherry blossoms. Lovely images of life in a Japanese country inn contrast with something shocking for our eyes: the Japanese death ritual. Memorable, too, is the music in the Japanese half of the film: a refined composition of sight and sound.
– Werner Sedlag
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