Direction: Doris Dörrie, Germany 2016, 104 min., FSK 12, starring Rosalie Thomass, Kaori Momoi, Nami Kamata, Moshe Cohen et al.
In Doris Dörrie's black-and-white film, the young Marie and the old geisha Satomi meet against the backdrop of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
Marie is a young German girl who sets out to learn to fear. Fleeing from her shattered dreams and the loss of the love of her life, she travels to Fukushima. As a clown, she wants to bring a little joy to the survivors of the 2011 disaster, who are still living in emergency shelters years later. A task for which Marie, she soon realises, is not at all suitable.
But before she runs away again, Marie decides to stay with stubborn old Satomi (Kaori Momoi) of all people, the last geisha in Fukushima, who wants to move back into her destroyed house in the exclusion zone on her own. Two women who couldn't be more different, but who are both - each in their own way - trapped in the past and must learn to free themselves from their feelings of guilt and the burden of their memories.
The story, which is staged with great sensitivity and is as light as it is poetic, blends in perfectly with the spooky original locations. With harmonious images and wonderful leading actresses, the lovingly crafted film tells a universally valid story about life and saying goodbye. Both, we learn, have to be practised, just like serving tea. (filmdienst)
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Further details on the programme at filmclub-muenster.de