(2008) 84% (%) 0) http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/movies/16cher.html * * * * "See my profile for the key to this code" * * * * SYNOPSIS: "Doris D�rrie ("How to Cook Your Life") directs this drama about an older married couple in love. Only Trudi knows that her husband Rudi is suffering from a terminal illness. She decides not to tell him and convinces him to visit their family in Berlin. Then, suddenly, Trudi dies. Rudi is devastated but vows to make up for her lost life. And so he embarks on his last journey -- to Tokyo -- in the midst of the cherry blossom festival, a celebration of beauty, impermanence, and new beginnings." CONSENSUS: "This mature and eloquent meditation on grief and loss sports measured performances and moments of humor." MOTIVATION FOR ME TO SEE: Currently I'm enjoying an introduction to modern Japanese film that isn't "samurai" (e.g., "Flight of the Red Balloon" (11 Apr 09), viewing films that have a very different sensibility from homegrown product. This came up as a new Dvd, so I'm requesting it. MY THOUGHTS: A German director is trying to make a film with Japanese sensibilities, but it doesn't feel Japanese. Too many things are shown and then stated to be shown, rather than just shown. However, the "cabbage roll" scene knocked me over. This is a meditation on how to grow old - and how to go to foreign lands and see things with new eyes. Some scenes seemed forced, and 123 minutes was too long to spend, I thought.[New Purchase by HCL]

posted Jul 15, 2009 at 6:24AM

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