What a beautiful movie! At the beginning I was especially surprised by the good script, just to see the main characters talk just like real people talk and not like movie characters talk. Yes, an unannounced visit by the parents can result in sometimes boring sometimes funny table conversations and here it's all so authentic somehow.
As the story unfolds the movie more and more reminded me of "About Schmidt "and "Lost in Translation". There's a little culture clash Rudi experiences in Japan, but that's not the main focus of the movie and yes, there are similarities to "About Schmidt" as it is sometimes funny and mostly touching to see Rudi deal with the death of his wife and the fact that his life is so different now. However compared to "About Schmidt" this movie goes a lot deeper, has more poetry and more philosophy.
The speed of the story is rather slow as too much speed would have destroyed the poetry inside the movie. The cinematography is astounding, but does not waste beautiful images for cheap emotions. Watching the movie was a great experience, so real, yet magic and so touching! I only gave it 9*/10* as I hardly ever give 10*
=== WARNING: Some Spoilers ahead ===
I particularly enjoyed watching the relationship between Rudi and Yu, such a terrific friendship between a man and a woman of so different ages and cultural backgrounds. Many other movies would have made a love story out of this friendship between a middle-class German senior citizen and a poor 18-year old Japanese girl living in a tent in a public park. Other movies would have depicted a kiss at least. Not here: I definitely liked watching this intense and deep friendship evolve. A rare thing to see in a movie these days. Don't get me wrong, I also like love stories and enjoyed Harry and Sally, but seeing how Rudi deals with the death of his wife and Yu with the death of her mother is great - it brings the two together on a very personal level, where consolation means a lot and where sexual love would have destroyed a lot, so I'm glad that Doris Dörrie resisted the temptation to make them a couple.
As the story unfolds the movie more and more reminded me of "About Schmidt "and "Lost in Translation". There's a little culture clash Rudi experiences in Japan, but that's not the main focus of the movie and yes, there are similarities to "About Schmidt" as it is sometimes funny and mostly touching to see Rudi deal with the death of his wife and the fact that his life is so different now. However compared to "About Schmidt" this movie goes a lot deeper, has more poetry and more philosophy.
The speed of the story is rather slow as too much speed would have destroyed the poetry inside the movie. The cinematography is astounding, but does not waste beautiful images for cheap emotions. Watching the movie was a great experience, so real, yet magic and so touching! I only gave it 9*/10* as I hardly ever give 10*
=== WARNING: Some Spoilers ahead ===
I particularly enjoyed watching the relationship between Rudi and Yu, such a terrific friendship between a man and a woman of so different ages and cultural backgrounds. Many other movies would have made a love story out of this friendship between a middle-class German senior citizen and a poor 18-year old Japanese girl living in a tent in a public park. Other movies would have depicted a kiss at least. Not here: I definitely liked watching this intense and deep friendship evolve. A rare thing to see in a movie these days. Don't get me wrong, I also like love stories and enjoyed Harry and Sally, but seeing how Rudi deals with the death of his wife and Yu with the death of her mother is great - it brings the two together on a very personal level, where consolation means a lot and where sexual love would have destroyed a lot, so I'm glad that Doris Dörrie resisted the temptation to make them a couple.