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Cherry Blossoms
Metascore
62 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
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  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    90
    A stunning reminder of the omnipresence of mortality.
  2. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    83
    Throughout the film there are small, rapturous moments.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Deborah Young
    80
    Doerrie goes beyond the "Lost in Translation" jokes about East-West culture clashes to communicate something meaningful and deep about Japanese art and thought.
  4. Empire
    Reviewed by: David Parkinson
    80
    Unpredictable and compelling, this draws parallels between Japanese and German cultures in interesting and moving ways.
  5. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    75
    Both austere and garish, simultaneously dry and sentimental, tightly repressed and extravagantly expressive, bourgeois and bohemian. It's a seesaw, but Dorrie finds the balance.
  6. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Curiel
    75
    The movie is an ideal blend of character study, deceptively simple plot twists, inspired acting, and travelogue.
  7. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Adam Markovitz
    75
    There's a grace to it all, and moments of oddball poetry.
  8. Variety
    Reviewed by: Eddie Cockrell
    70
    A successful novelist whose films bear the expansive plotting and telling character detail of the page, Doerrie never seems in any particular hurry to tell her tales, preferring the journey to the destination.
  9. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    70
    Thanks to an accomplished cast, anchored by Elsner and Wepper, and observant filmmakers, very little in Cherry Blossoms is lost in translation.
  10. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    67
    There's something a little shallow about contrasting ungrateful German kids with their respectful Japanese counterparts and presuming the cultural differences are so cut-and-dried.
  11. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    63
    It's a strained but heartfelt work of muted sentimentality, obvious in its symbolism but grounded in a sense of life's preciousness and brevity. Depending on your mood and indulgence, you may weep or you may be left out in the cold.
  12. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    60
    Refusing to be rushed, Doris Dörrie blends individual experiences with universal emotions to create a quietly moving study of self-discovery.
  13. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    50
    At more than two hours, Cherry Blossoms could do with some pruning. And do husband and wife have to have rhyming names?
  14. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    50
    The best I can say for Cherry Blossoms is that it's made with love; the worst, that it's been a big hit in Germany. Yearning for Ozu, Dörrie stops off at cute, and parks.
  15. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    50
    While Ms. Dörrie's film is exquisitely shot, its themes and metaphors are obvious rather than subtle, and its emotional rhythms -- rueful laughter punctuating the pathos -- would not be out of place in a television drama.
  16. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: David Denby
    50
    The movie's conceits are just barely endurable, but the sharpness of Dörrie's eye--for Tokyo's electric night, for Fuji's iconographic landscapes, for cherry blossoms--sustains emotion even when story logic fails.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.9 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 11 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. KenjiC
    9
    A German director Doris Dorrie’s third film in her trilogy on Japan, Cherry Blossoms, is an exquisite, absorbing and deeply moving meditation on life, death, loss, loneliness and grief. Talking about old parents with alienated and indifferent descendants, the first half of the film may remind the audience of Yasujiro Ozu’s film made in 1953, Tokyo Monogatari. The six hugging-or-massage (by family members and strangers) scenes and the father’s harmonious relationships with his daughter’s girlfriend and a Japanese girl successfully highlight the poor relationship between the father and his children. The second half in which the main character embarks on a reflective journey in search of traces of the deceased love captures the mood of Lost in Translation and Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles. The cultural shock experienced also makes the film distinguishable from Under the Sand. Cherry blossoms and Mount Fuji symbolize the fleeting and unpredictable nature of life. The film delivers a message that we should treasure the people around us, pursue our dreams and enjoy life to the full so that we will have no regrets. Besides, it is also about the main character’s inability to communicate with not only the dead, but also the living family members. Butoh, a Japanese dance, helps people to feel and establish connections with others. What’s more, the audience can pay attention to the symbolic meaning of the drawings at the beginning of the film and the photos at the end. The cinematographer and the composer also succeed in evoking different tones from several shooting locations in Germany and Japan. The suburbs contrast sharply with the hustle and bustle of city life. Apart from the haunting visual images and the Japanese music playing upon the audience’s heartstrings, the characters are so lifelike and well-acted that the audience will care about what happens to them. On the whole, although Cherry Blossoms is a bit too long, without emotional bludgeoning or syrupy manipulation, it is a sincerely made little road movie producing emotional resonance and reflective ripples in a whisper.… Full Review »
  2. ChrisK.
    9
    The film shows not only the dynamics of husband and wife, but also of parents and children. Love can be taken for granted, and time shows no mercy on those who wait for happiness and intimacy. I was not totally engrossed in the movie, but I did find it emotionally satisfying.… Full Review »
  3. JuliaA.
    9
    Portrayal of wanderlust in affection and admiration.
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