Cherry Blossoms - Hanami

A story of selfless love that is also a poetic journey into the meaning of life itself. Trudi is the only one who knows that her husband is terminally ill with cancer. When his doctor suggests that the couple undertake one last trip together, Trudi persuades her husband to accompany her to visit her children and grandchildren in Berlin. However, the members of their family are far too wrapped up in their own lives to be able to take care of the couple. After a theatre trip to see a Butoh dance performance, Trudi and Rudi decide to go and stay at a hotel on the Baltic coast. And then, out of the blue, Trudi dies. Rudi is completely at a loss. He has no idea what to do with his life, until he decides to go to Japan to visit their youngest son, Karl.

Doris Dörrie: "′Kirschblüten - Hanami′ is inspired by Ozu′s 1953 film, ′Tokyo Monogatari′, which, in turn, was a reworked version of Leo McCarey′s American film "Make Way for Tomorrow" (1937). In this way, a story that originated in the West went East, and is now travelling back again from East to West. Inspired by the initial constellation in Ozu′s film, I developed the story of a widower father who travels from Germany to Ozu′s native land where he finds somebody – a young Butho dancer named Yu – who is able to accept him in spite of the fact that they don′t even have a language in common."

Source: 58. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)