Cherry Blossoms (film)

Cherry Blossoms German Kirschblten Hanami is a 2008 German drama film directed by Doris Drrie. This film, starring Elmar Wepper, Hannelore Elsner and Aya Irizuki, tells the story of Rudi terminally ill, he travels to Japan after the sudden death of his wife Trudi in order to make up for missed opportunities in life.

Rudi tries to make up for the loss of his wife. As her secret passions were Japan and the Japanese Butoh dance expression, Rudi travels to visit his son in Tokyo. As the situation gets too claustrophobic, his son wishes his father to go away. Then Rudi goes to a park full of cherry blossoms. He meets an eighteenyearold Japanese girl named Yu Aya Irizuki. She catches his eyes because she dances Butoh there every day. Yu lives in a tent and has lost her mother only a year ago, so she understands Rudis feelings. She helps him get by in the big city. Despite the language barrier they have to speak English and huge cultural differences, they soon get along very well. Since Trudi has always talked about how much she wanted to see the sacred Mount Fuji, Rudi persuades his new companion to travel there together with him. Mount Fuji is so shy that it constantly hides behind clouds, so they put up in a hotel room beside a lake and wait for better weather. Rudis health is deteriorating. One day, when he wakes up in the night restlessly and stands in front of the door, the mighty Mount Fuji greets him in the bright moonlight. Rudi lies down on the clothes of his wife, puts on makeup like a Japanese dancer, and begins to imitate the slow movements of Butoh at the lakeside. In his last vision, his dead wife appears to him and holds his hand. Then they unite to create a dance before the sublime backdrop of mountain and water. The next morning, when Yu sees Rudis empty bed, she looks for him and finally finds him dead on the shore of the lake. In his luggage, there is a parcel written For You, Yu. Inside the parcel, Rudi has left her his life savings.Two contrasting scenes precede the conclusion of the film On the one hand, in a solemn cremation ceremony, his son and Yu are balancing the remaining ashes of Rudis bones with chopsticks in a Japanese urn. On the other hand, the last scene but one is a table discussion by his children out of complete misunderstanding of their father

Source: Wikipedia