Cherry Blossoms. A German couple leave home to visit their grown children (as in Ozu’s Tokyo Story) and discover more than they expected. The husband ends in Japan with his son and an enlightening dancer. The director Doris Dorrie blends cultures movingly and to rewarding purpose. (Reviewed 2/4/09)
Defiance. Basically the true story of two Polish Jewish brothers--not particularly noble characters--who during World War Two rescued 1200 Jews from the Germans. Edward Zwick, who directed, has wrapped the facts in cinematic embroidery, but he lets the central truth emerge victorious. (2/18/09)
Our City Dreams. A documentary about four women artists in New York, widely ranging in age, how they came to New York at different times, and how each was sparked by being there. The director Chiara Clemente shows herself to be another woman artist of consequence. (3/4/09)
Silent Light. Unique. A marital drama set in Mexico given an abstract purified air by the non-professional German-speaking Mennonites in the cast. The pace is slow, but the cast is so thoroughly committed and the look of the film so lovely that the final effect is almost a modern version of a medieval mystery play. (2/4/09)
--SK
By Stanley Kauffmann