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. Continue reading “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”