"Kirschblüten & Dämonen", which means "Cherry blossoms & demons", is a German theatrical movie from 2019, so it is still relatively new and fresh, but nonetheless it was already on German television tonight. It runs for almost two hours and the writer and director is Doris Dörrie, now in her mid60s and she is one of the most defining female filmmakers from my country over the last decades. She has been active for a long time really. And I have seen quite a bit from her. Some stuff I liked, other stuff not at all. The first word in the title (maybe the second too, but not as much) implies already that there is a massive connection to Japan in this film. Not surprising at all either when it comes to Dörrie. She is known for making films set in foreign countries, even if this one here is not constantly set there, but mostly set in Germany. Still the Asian/Japanese impact is there from beginning to end already through the female protagonist. Thinking of it, Dörrie made films about countries like Thailand and Morocco in the past if I remember correctly. Not 100% sure. And several films about Japan. Actually, the one she made before this one here, was also set there. But also equally bland. Means a lot coming from me because I like Japan and because I liked black-and-white films (the previous one as that, not this one here), but Rosalie Thomass is just unwatchable most of the time. Anyway, back to this one here. It is closely connected to one of Dörrie's most famous works and that is of course "Hanami" from approximately a decade ago. That film is alright, but also a bit overrated perhaps with the awards recognition it deserved. The thing it had, however, was a pretty good lead performance by Wepper back then and this is exactly what this film is missing because, even if the material is not helping him at all, Golo Euler here proves to me that he is not lead actor material. He is in this film from beginning to end for way over 100 minutes and I never really cared about what is going to happen to his character. Let alone, most of the others. The good news is they got some supporting cast member sback from the first film and for a movie from ten years ago, this should not be taken for granted. But it shows already how Dörrie is still very respected and acknowledged here in my country and also how the previous for was for almost everybody back then among the most defining films from their careers they have ever been in. Aya Irizuki is in here too, she played the young Asian girl in the first film and returns here and was also in the Thomass movie. her three-film career consists entirely of collaborations with Dörrie. But what in theory may seem like a great thing, namely that Dörrie even got Wepper and Elsner back here, is actually one of the biggest disappointments because the ways in which they included the couple by depicting these dead characters (as dead as Elsner really is now sadly) as spirits that only exist in the protagonist's mind was to me quite a waste and they could have done so much more with that. Also it makes no sense. If if you manage to accept this supernatural elements, then the question with the twist near the end is why the also deceased Asian woman is not depicted like that where we do not see this wild, almost amateurish camery style to depict the spirits, but we see her as if she was really still alive. They also messed up this pseudo romantic suicide idea of going into the sea. Another actress who deserves a mention here is Birgit Minichmayr. I kinda like her, sometimes a bit undecided, but I think she has talent. In this film here, she was also wasted.
So overall I was not too happy at all with the outcome here quality-wise. You could easyly see that Dörrie was truly ambitious to created depth and touching moments and still she came painfully short. With this film being almost as much of a disappointment as her previous work, I'd say it's maybe time to retire. She is so, so far away from the quallity she reached in the 90s with this Wööhler/Ochsenknecht film elaborating on Asian culture. Anyway, back to this one here. There is a lot to mention that I did not like and/or found cringeworthy. The translation when he was talking to the elderly lady was weird. By the way, is she the one from "Shoplifters"? She is also dead now I think. Pity. The emotional moment at the very end showing us how he wants to life also felt more for the sake of it than only slightly touching. The scene with the panda head, i.e. the prologue of you want to call it that, felt downright stupid. Like he says he wants to give his daughter a better party than her mom does? It makes no sense. Where is the party? A panda head does not equal fun. This was the moment where you could really think that the protagonist had a severe mental disability, but it's not the case. Truth is he is just lonely, and alcoholic and still has not managed to deal accurately with his parents' death. A mix of dark comedy and actually severe drama with the male genital references and how the girl does not care about him not getting it up and later on him having frostbites and losing said genital. I don't know what to say about that. It felt so shocking for the sake of it and added virtually nothing for the story. Not even one bit. For me at least. Other dramatic confrontations with supporting characters like his daughter's mother, Daniel's character, Minichmayr's character etc. the same. They achieved nothing really they were going for. If you have seen the first film, it's not surprising that this is a film in which not exaggeratedly much happens because the tone is fairly similar. But the artistry isn't there one but. This movie is even more messed up than the protagonist's life. And as I mentioned earlier, the worst is that it all felt so scripted and void of authenticity, already for example how Yu randomly shows up there (at least we are supposed to believe she does). The small moments of creativity that were supposed to add a bit of charm, like the telephones in the water at the end and a dozen other examples, felt really out of place. The only question for me here is if this is a weak or terrible movie and eventually I have to go for the latter because there is absolutely nothing memorable in a positive way about the outcome here and you have to dig really deep. Maybe the music is alright, but for each solid minor component I can come up with there is at least half a dozen negative aspects like the clothes the protagonist wears in the end for example too. Again, for the sake of visual impact and making this particular scene more meaningful, but seemed just nonsense to be honest. And don't even get me started about the evil right-wing character and this tattoo motive on a young man's head. Dörrie sure cashhing in there comfortably with the mainstream opinion factory. Also with the randomly black office worker in charge of the schedule when the male protagonist is allowed to see his daughter. Or Yu's absolutely not tasteful dancing sequence. With her I also felt that she was just reciting lines and not really saying something that was indeed her idea. I think it is more the script to blame than the actress, but still. A bit maybe the actress too, which is disappointing because I think i kinda liked her in the original film starring Wepper. Massive thumbs-down for this film and I think it would have been better if this never had been mate. Watch something else instead.
So overall I was not too happy at all with the outcome here quality-wise. You could easyly see that Dörrie was truly ambitious to created depth and touching moments and still she came painfully short. With this film being almost as much of a disappointment as her previous work, I'd say it's maybe time to retire. She is so, so far away from the quallity she reached in the 90s with this Wööhler/Ochsenknecht film elaborating on Asian culture. Anyway, back to this one here. There is a lot to mention that I did not like and/or found cringeworthy. The translation when he was talking to the elderly lady was weird. By the way, is she the one from "Shoplifters"? She is also dead now I think. Pity. The emotional moment at the very end showing us how he wants to life also felt more for the sake of it than only slightly touching. The scene with the panda head, i.e. the prologue of you want to call it that, felt downright stupid. Like he says he wants to give his daughter a better party than her mom does? It makes no sense. Where is the party? A panda head does not equal fun. This was the moment where you could really think that the protagonist had a severe mental disability, but it's not the case. Truth is he is just lonely, and alcoholic and still has not managed to deal accurately with his parents' death. A mix of dark comedy and actually severe drama with the male genital references and how the girl does not care about him not getting it up and later on him having frostbites and losing said genital. I don't know what to say about that. It felt so shocking for the sake of it and added virtually nothing for the story. Not even one bit. For me at least. Other dramatic confrontations with supporting characters like his daughter's mother, Daniel's character, Minichmayr's character etc. the same. They achieved nothing really they were going for. If you have seen the first film, it's not surprising that this is a film in which not exaggeratedly much happens because the tone is fairly similar. But the artistry isn't there one but. This movie is even more messed up than the protagonist's life. And as I mentioned earlier, the worst is that it all felt so scripted and void of authenticity, already for example how Yu randomly shows up there (at least we are supposed to believe she does). The small moments of creativity that were supposed to add a bit of charm, like the telephones in the water at the end and a dozen other examples, felt really out of place. The only question for me here is if this is a weak or terrible movie and eventually I have to go for the latter because there is absolutely nothing memorable in a positive way about the outcome here and you have to dig really deep. Maybe the music is alright, but for each solid minor component I can come up with there is at least half a dozen negative aspects like the clothes the protagonist wears in the end for example too. Again, for the sake of visual impact and making this particular scene more meaningful, but seemed just nonsense to be honest. And don't even get me started about the evil right-wing character and this tattoo motive on a young man's head. Dörrie sure cashhing in there comfortably with the mainstream opinion factory. Also with the randomly black office worker in charge of the schedule when the male protagonist is allowed to see his daughter. Or Yu's absolutely not tasteful dancing sequence. With her I also felt that she was just reciting lines and not really saying something that was indeed her idea. I think it is more the script to blame than the actress, but still. A bit maybe the actress too, which is disappointing because I think i kinda liked her in the original film starring Wepper. Massive thumbs-down for this film and I think it would have been better if this never had been mate. Watch something else instead.
