The Japanese word “sakura” refers to the blooming of Japan’s cherry blossoms in the spring, but it literally translates to “beautiful, but not showy.”
The documentary short “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” is steeped in artistic beauty, but it feels just right in capturing the mood between tragedy and hopeful optimism for the future.
Lucy Walker’s Oscar nominated short documents the tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The opening sequence is a cell phone video of the destruction in near real time. It all happens so quickly, but as we see it unfurl, it seems to be gradually happening as though time has slowed to a sickening crawl. It’s a powerful sensation.
Walker gets first hand accounts from numerous survivors, all of whom struggle to describe the immediacy of the tsunami as a giant black wave instantly washed away everything they knew.
But this is not an ordinary account of tragedy and nature. It doesn’t even identify any of the victims. Walker merely unifies them under the knowledge that life and nature goes on.
Her tool for this hopeful message of rebirth is the cherry blossom, a symbol for the samurai that represents Japanese heritage and culture. With its short life span as it blooms each year, it suggests a rapid mortality, but one that can thrive again. Alone, the blossom is inconsequential, but together, it’s a thing of insurmountable beauty, and Japan identifies with that as a unified nation, not one of individuals.
Aaron Phillips’s cinematography is radiant and soothing. They’re some of the most gorgeous visuals of the year, and they’re all caressed by a lovely score by Moby. Regardless of its length, this is one of the most wonderful documentaries of the year.
4 stars
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” is airing throughout the month of July on HBO and is available on HBO Go.