This short documentary, a 2012 Oscar nominee, opens with dramatic amateur footage of the tsunami that devastated Japan in March 2011, plus heartrending interviews with survivors who lost loved ones and virtually everything they owned. Yet as the film follows the first few weeks of agonizing recovery in one of the hardest-hit areas, director Lucy Walker gracefully redirects focus to the cherry blossoms that not only herald the arrival of spring but serve as cogent symbols of the resilience of the Japanese people. Monday, July 16, at 10 p.m., HBO
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Political cartoons for January 29Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include 2nd amendment dibs, disturbing news, and AI-inflated bills
-
The Flower Bearers: ‘a visceral depiction of violence, loss and emotional destruction’The Week Recommends Rachel Eliza Griffiths’ ‘open wound of a memoir’ is also a powerful ‘love story’ and a ‘portrait of sisterhood’
-
Steal: ‘glossy’ Amazon Prime thriller starring Sophie TurnerThe Week Recommends The Game of Thrones alumna dazzles as a ‘disillusioned twentysomething’ whose life takes a dramatic turn during a financial heist
