Indeed, the film may be a thoughtful meditation on the fragility of life, but it's also a celebration on the powerful, enduring strength of love.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 31, 2019

While the film's emotional poignancy is undeniable, its derivative nature gets in the way of becoming a complete work of its own.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 3, 2019

I am in favor of films remaining enigmatic or having an air of mystery about them, but Cherry Blossoms crosses the line into aimlessness.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 11, 2015

This may lack the understated pathos of Ozu's somber masterpiece, but it's still a moving meditation on aging and loss, and Wepper and Elsner are unforgettable.

| Jul 30, 2015

Is it all a bit precious and far-fetched? Sure, but so, the filmmaker is saying, is life.

| Jul 7, 2010

I can appreciate Dörrie's craft, and her sincerity, but the two-hour story of Rudi's evolution, which includes his unlikely friendship with a tiresome white-faced butoh performer (Aya Irizuki), meant nothing to me.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 23, 2009

A bare reading of the plot doesn't actually do justice to the subtle beauty of this exquisite little film.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Apr 22, 2009

The example set by Ozu's best works goes unheeded as the film becomes too cutesy and forced to be moving.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 9, 2009

It's a quiet, very beautiful film about the duality of love and death.

| Apr 9, 2009

Cherry Blossoms is not a complete train wreck, although at 127 minutes it's way too long for the ground that it covers.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Apr 3, 2009

A lyrical attempt to make sense of grief that appeals shamelessly to the heart rather than the head.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 3, 2009

Ozu's handling of the frosty schism between awkward parents and their ghastly offspring resulted in a heartbreaking piece of cinema. This lovely update is not quite in the same tragi-comic league, but it's authentic enough to prick tears.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 3, 2009

This is a sweet-natured piece, and though the final section in Tokyo itself is sentimental and over-extended, there are poignant, mordant insights.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 3, 2009

This bouquet of nicely observed private moments packs an unexpectedly profound emotional punch.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 3, 2009

An affectionate, gentle film, if marred by sentimentality.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 3, 2009

Well written, beautifully acted and emotionally powerful.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 3, 2009

Unpredictable and compelling, this draws parallels between Japanese and German cultures in interesting and moving ways.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 3, 2009

If she doesn't quite go the distance - resonance needs richer characterisation, origami finer scissors - Cherry Blossoms is still a touching, tangibly personal chamber movie.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 3, 2009

Sometimes a quiet whisper is more compelling than the loudest shout. Cherry Blossoms is a gentle, maudlin tale of love, loss, family ties and the fleeting nature of life.

| Apr 3, 2009

The bluntness of the script doesn't attain the ethereal quality it's striving for (Japanese cinema favours inscrutability, a cultural lesson that seems to have been lost in translation here), but it's still oddly absorbing.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 3, 2009