Product Details

• Actors: Hannelore Elsner, Elmar Wepper, Floriane Daniel, Felix Eitner, Birgit Minichmayr
• Directors: Doris Dorrie
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English, German, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Strand Releasing
• DVD Release Date: June 16, 2009
• Run Time: 124 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001Y44EBW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,960 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Cherry Blossoms" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Strand Releasing Release Date: 06/16/2009 Run time: 124 minutes Rating: Ur

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful, Richly Textured Film, May 24, 2009

By 

Norman E. Babbitt (Portland, Or) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cherry Blossoms (DVD)

"Cherry Blossoms," directed by Doris Dorrie, is quite simply, the most exquisitely beautiful and wise film I have ever experienced. It surprised me, going in directions I had not forseen, with a freshness and fierceness of love that is as provocative as it is deeply moving. You traverse with the main character, a man who has lived a safely routine, dull life and live with him a transformative, spiritual journey that is beyond the usual cliches, so often played in Hollywood movies. It is simultaneously raw and subtle in it's vision of the true wonder of life and the possibility of really opening to the depths of being. I don't want to give away any of the plot and I would emphasize not even reading the back jacket of the DVD package, nor any reviews that give away any of the plot. I, unfortunately, was not so lucky and the spoilers that are written alter one's experience of it. Better not to know anything of the plot. Yet even if one does read the plot beforehand, it is still an amazing, soul touching experience. This film was life altering for me and helped me in my own inner work and feeling about life, itself. "Cherry Blossoms" has been a blessing, and I have deep gratitude toward the director, who has obviously tapped into life's deepest, nurturing wells and underground springs.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a work of art, November 22, 2009

By 

Roland E. Zwick (Valencia, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cherry Blossoms (DVD)

When her husband is diagnosed with a terminal illness, a German woman named Trudi decides it's time the both of them paid a long overdue visit to their adult children - two of whom live in Berlin and one in Japan. The catch is that the husband, Rudi, doesn't even know he's sick and neither do the kids. Thus, Trudi must live with this horrible secret while putting on a brave face for those around her. But then a different, wholly unforeseen tragedy strikes the family and the movie heads off into an entirely new and utterly unanticipated direction from where we thought it was going.

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 and breathtaking 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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Subtle Beauty of An Exquisite Film, August 2, 2009

By 

prisrob "pris," (New England USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Cherry Blossoms (DVD)

'Cherry Blossoms' is a quiet film that sneaks into your heart and is so unpredictable in interesting ways. This film shows us the cultural differences between Japanese and German lives. This is a story of Trudi and Rudi, a Bavarian couple, and their grown children who have grown apart and find little time for their parents.

Trudi is called into their physician's office to be told that Rudi has a terminal disease, and she is asked if Rudi should be told. She does not respond, but we know her decision is 'no'. She is advised he has some time and a trip of their lifetime might be a good choice. Right away my hackles rose, how unethical- but as the film moves on I forgot this ethical lapse and fell into the story. Trudi talks hard working Rudi into visiting their two children in Berlin. Even though she would much prefer to visit their son, Karl in Japan. Trudi has had a life long yearning to study the Japanese dance, Butoh and to visit Mt. Fuji. But,l she has devoted her life to her husband and her children. Karl, it seems was her favorite and the other children lived with this knowledge. Off they go to Berlin instead, to find their children immersed in their own lives with no time for them. It is the lover of one of the children who makes the most time for them, and begins to understand Trudi as a woman not only a mother. Complications arise and soon Rudi finds that the woman he called his wife was also someone who had other interests. He visits Karl in Tokyo and once again it is someone outside the family who spends time with Rudi and understands the grief that has enveloped him. A young girl develops a friendship with him, and it is she who has studied Butho dancing and shows Rudi his expressive, artistic side.

The German filmmaker, Doris Dörrie has made a marvelous emotionally full film about this German couple. Trudi played by Hannelore Eisner and Rudi, played by Elmer Wrapper, grow on us. We can feel their bonds and the family issues; their children with busy lives without time for them. The title of the film, Cherry Blossoms, takes it name from the Tokyo blooms, that bloom for just a short time. We find that Rudi transforms and that the life he led with his wife, Trudi was indeed a special one, and in the end it is those we love that make our lives what they are.

A lovely film about love, life and death. The Japanese dance Butoh brings a special expression into this film that will resonate for a long time. The film is a travelogue in part and we get to visit the exquisite countries of Germany and Japan.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 08-02-09

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