Kirschblüten - Hanami

The core works -- a man mourns, his place in the world lost, and through a new friendship has his eyes opened and finds catharsis. But Dorrie covers it in flashy artifice and lofty weirdness. Rudi becomes bizarre, wearing his wife's clothing under his own to "show her" Japan. No one would do this, not even Rudi as we're shown him. It's a symbol plastered onto a character, plain as day. It's unnatural. And that's it -- a human drama drowned in artsy artifice. Insufferable.

A visually striking movie. It starts pretty strong and loses some steam as the self-discovery journey in Japan progresses. The manic pixie dream girl sidekick didn't quite work for me.

And suddnely, after two years of certain though not absoulte death - resurrection, the resurrection of the dead.

Good movie. Had some scenes that were pure gold, but some where a little bit too cheesy for my liking. Also it took me a while to get over the low budget feeling.

Life is shit and then you die. Sometimes there's beauty in between.

A movie to think about the dreams of our loved ones, how to respect it and to give the real importance when life is running short.

"The film's soggy visuals end by reducing the plight of the grief-struck central figure to the stuff of overly prettified kitsch." - Andrew Schenker

Doris Dorrie's Cherry Blossoms translates a foreigner-in-Japan experience much better than Sofia Coppola could.

It's not flawless, but it's wonderfully poetic and there are moments that are so beautiful. I love the cinematography, too.

I think an intermission in the middle would help with the tonal shift, but both halves of the film work very well and there's some nice mirroring that comes through as it progresses. Beautiful images and moving performances helped a lot and the Tokyo Story references were nice.