Snow Falling on Cedars

Rating:
Summary: Ponderous richness
Review: I enjoyed Snow falling on cedars and found it touching, well-made and an intriguing film. There's a richness not at first apparent but which upon reflection reveals itself first too the eye then to the mind and heart. The cast is excellent with everyone doing a great job at recreating a small tight- knit Island community in the north-west USA.

On the surface the movie is simple, there's a dead fisherman, Karl, whose childhood friend, Kazuo, another fisherman is put on trial for committing the formers murder. What so special about that, well nothing actually, the legal details are fairly run of the mill, what's interesting is the layers in the story. And this is why the acting is so important, each character has a thing or two to say about the murder event and in doing so a picture of island life builds up. A key observer and player is the island newspaper reporter, Ismael, superbly acted by Ethan Hawke. In many ways he is the one on trial because he finds out something that can turn the trial one way or the other, for he was once in love with the accused's wife. More than in love, they grew up together as childhood friends bridging the cultural divide of Japanese and American as kids can do better than any politician, and later they become dabblers in love as young adults. Yet Ismael lost an arm while fighting the Japanese Army on Tarawa, a key scene in the movie and an emotional moment speaking more of love's end than of war's violence. Ismael's life is part of the island history which itself is caught up in the dramatic events unfolding in the period as he grows from child of the Depression era to man of war time.

Now Ismael's father was the town newspaper owner, editor and reporter, a one-man show. He stands full square as the glue bonding the community, seeing the community of the island as a harmonious place for all Americans, weather German, Italian or Japanese-Americans as he puts it when the news of Pearl Harbour hits the small community. In many ways not unlike the way 9/11 hit many lives in the world in recent years with all too obvious results for communities. But what the film captures brilliantly is the entwining of lives and events going from childhood into adulthood. Reaching into a common history with events like Pearl Harbour allows the audience to share a little in the intimacy, sense of value and unhurried life of the Island .

The story told at a pace, best described as a stroll that occasionally becomes a trot and then a stoll again; the Island community, relatively harmonious is torn asunder by the wars events, the young men go off to war, the community of Japanese-Americans are shipped to camps like Mansanar for internment, people turn on each other like Ismael's father, life is upset, deals fall through, people are compromised and then years afterwards one mans death brings all that pain to the surface and reveals a Gordian knot of pain which the young man Ismael must unravel as best he can or face the guilt which surely follows from wronging anyone.

Told in beautiful pictures, with a kind of literary quality, a thousand words a frame so to speak, the structure of the movie runs between past and present, delving into memories and pains unhealed and unspoken, flowing along like wave after wave on a calm day of the sea breaking onto a beach. The trial is less about law than redemption, refinding one's true self, one's core of values upon which a good and decent life is made while at the same time seeing off those fears, doubts and uncertainties which carry other people into the realm of an ignorant and an unjust plain poor decision making way, better known as prejudice. The story demonstrates all to clearly that justice is not a finely packaged precision guided piece of ordnance but a human taking stock, adding up and coming to terms with the past in order to live a better life in the present with healing and feeling. I assure you the movie is all of this, love, humanity and craft forming a balm which says live the best way you can.

I recommend the soundtrack as well, it is in harmony with the movie and very much a stroll then a trot then a stroll. As for the book by David Guterson, it wasn't until I saw the movie and two or three times at that and pondered it a bit that I got some deeper meanings in it. At least see it for the wonderful photography.

Rating:
Summary: Highs and lows in this movie
Review: There are many wonderful things in this movie--the plot, the acting, and especially the photography. The movie centers around the trial of a young Japanese man who is accused of killing an American fisherman over a land dispute right after WWII. The accused was a war hero (on the American side) but lingering mistrust of the Japanese threatens the objectivity of the trial. The man's wife was the childhood friend and lover of a local newspaperman. Their romance was kept secret because it was forbidden by both families and by society. The newspaperman watches this trial with a moral dilemma because he is bitter about his breakup with the Japanese girl, yet he posseses information which might exonerate her husband. This story is told with the beautiful background of the Pacific Northwest. The performances were excellent, even the more minor characters such as the defense attorney at the trial. These positives are seriously marred by the frequent flashbacks which distract from the flow of the story and are confusing to the viewer. Sometimes it's hard to discern what is current action and what is history. This also tends to upset the emotional tone of the story. This movie is important in that it shows a younger generation how the Japanese were treated in this country during the war.

Rating:
Summary: A black-and-white movie made in color ...
Review: Grim.

The title tells it all. The plot is already summed up quite tidily in other reviews. I would just add a few remarks.

English is not Kudoh Yuki's native language. In this movie she does one better than Meryl Streep by actually demonstrating mastery of an entire foreign language by speaking American English with an American accent. Of course, she was already good at it, but we have to remember that Hatsue, being born and bred on American shores, was a native speaker. I thought Kudoh was very convincing. Yes, acting is not all about utterances, and her facial expressions may have been formulaic to some point, but this movie is worth watching just for seeing Ms. Kudoh do her stuff.

And the movie had a profound message. Because of that and the fact that the story took place in a part of the world I was born in, I found the two hours generally satisfying.

Here and there I found the behavior of the characters mystifying - especially crowd behavior.

Why, for example, the silent march to the ferry dock? Forced evacuation of citizens based solely on race was truly a glaring violation of the Bill of Rights, but it was not mass genocide. The long walk scene was as drawn-out as it was grim. It featured a nagging bass in the soundtrack and dejected victims stunned to silence. Together they portrayed a stark black-and-white simplicity that I would question. I imagine that at least the children would still be children and think they were all taking part in some community outing. While the scene captured a certain psychological truth, it also was a bit too heavy-handed. We of the here-and-now know far too much and they knew way too little.

But the movie is definitely worth the time and money.

What I'd like to know, though, is why did they bother to shoot this in color?

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Story, Difficult to Follow
Review: As a reader of the excellent book by author David Guterson, I didn't quite know what to expect from a movie version. A book of this caliber and structure is not a book easily made into a movie. But through the collective efforts of the director Scott Hicks and great acting on the parts of Ethan Hawke, Max von-Sydow, and James Cromwell, the majestic beauty of the book comes alive on the silver screen. The only visible problem with the film would be the fact that some people simply won't get it. There are people who just enjoy watching a movie to be entertained, not to have to follow tough plot lines. These are the people that need to avoid a film such as Snow Falling on Cedars. The various plot lines and sub-plot lines revolve around the death of a fisherman, Carl Heine and the ensuing trial of the Japanese man, Kazuo Miyamoto, accused of killing him. The movie takes place during the trial, but flashbacks are heavily used during the testimony of the victim's mother, Etta Heine, as with all the other witnesses. Throughout the movie a different plot line emerges, one of more power and one of love. The plot line revolves around a local reporter named Ishmael Chambers and of his love for the accused man's wife, plus his inescable feelings of loss and regret. Circumstances tore them apart leaving Ishamel to wonder about what might have been. A beautiful story, but one that should only be watched by people that can appreciate the intricacy of the plot.

Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding Mystery Gorgeously Photographed!
Review: Although this movie unfortunately opened to mixed critical reviews, after seeing I have to conclude that it is a film that (in my estimation, at least) comes very close to cinematic perfection. Seldom does one see such a powerfully depicted drama that also features the level of artistic accomplishment in terms of cinematography, accomplished acting, and general story line. Taken from the best-selling novel of the same name, this spellbinding tale of love, mystery and intrigue is set in the Pacific Northwest in the time period right after the end of World War Two, and deals with the undercurrents of deep-seated racism against a group of ethnic Japanese who had made their home for decades on the island depicted in the movie, and who were in many ways the most terribly and unjustly mistreated group within the United States during the war.

The movie version of the story is extremely well-told, and Ethan Hawke shows he has the chops to be a major star in his brilliant portrayal of the central figure in the unraveling of the mystery. Likewise, Sam Shepard and the rest of the cast does a sterling job in presenting this drama in a magnificently photographed and choreographed depiction of life and death in the sleepy little harbor where it all unfolds. One of the other reviewers mentioned the way in which the director has used his ability to interweave various elements such as the photography and the acting to spin his tale masterfully, and I have to agree the sum total of this effort is certainly much greater than the parts; the net result is simply terrific. This is a movie that deals with a painful aspect of American history quite well without either looking for easy answers or contriving convenient solutions, but it does manage to let us know that the only way to end such prejudice and fateful discrimination is through individual effort and personal growth. Two thumbs way up in this aisle seat for "Snow Falling On Cedars".

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional
Review: Adapting this novel with its tricky, time-shifting narrative was always going to be a big task, but Scott Hicks pulls it off. He and co-writer Ron Bass move quickly into the courtroom and wisely use the trial to drive the plot, telling the backstory - the real story in this case - through a finely-woven complex of flashbacks. The difficulty is that this story is a rich, long and emotional tale which requires a fair degree of exposition for it to be satisfying. The screenplay is superbly economical in this regard, but there is no escaping the fact that the only way to cover so much ground in a film of tolerable length is to fly over it at 30,000 feet. The necessarily distant treatment this requires only occasionally dilutes the emotional force which would have come from a more thorough and leisurely telling. Hicks compensates with a powerfully emotive score - this works, but it doesn't always hit the mark. Rather than engendering emotion, James Newton Howard's music is often so insistently overpowering that it locks the audience out. But that's a minor flaw in an otherwise excellent production. Overall, this is an intelligent and considered adaptation - probably the best that could be made from a novel which would have been incredibly difficult to bring to the screen. It's solidly acted, immaculately lit, and offers some of the most achingly beautiful imagery to illuminate the screen in years. (The opening sequence is magnificent.) Most rewarding of all is the fact that Hicks takes some real stylistic risks with this film. They don't always pay off, but when they do it's magical.

Rating:
Summary: The rare thing of freeing yourself from an obsession
Review: Once upon a time, before the attack on Pearl Harbor to be specific, young Ishmael Chambers (Ethan Hawke), the son of editor (Sam Shepard) of the local newspaper in a small town in the Pacific Northwest fell in love with Hatsue (Youki Kudoh), the daughter of a Japanese American family. Put then Pearl Harbor happens and despite editorials reminding everybody what it means to be an American, all of the Japanese in the area have their property confiscated and are bussed off to the Manzanar concentration camp (that was the term used back them). The twist of fate in "Snow Falling on Cedars," the 1999 film based on the novel by David Guterson, is that in 1951 Ishmael is running his father's newspaper and finds himself covering a murder trial in which the accused is Kazuo Miyamoto (Rick Yune), the man Hatsue married in the camp.

"Snow Falling on Cedars" is a film that combines a love triangle with a murder trial, but the character who is really on the spot is Ishmael. The trial has to do with the death of a fisherman, whose corpse turns up in the nets of another boat. The deceased had just bought the property that Kazuo's family had been planning to buy but the war and prejudice combined to deny them the property. The prosecutor (James Rebhorn) sees clear motive and Kazuo provides the opportunity. Most importantly, Kazuo is Japanese, and even if he fought for the U.S. Army in the war that is not enough to outweigh his race with the locals, even if the judge (James Cromwell) is clearly disgusted by the implications and Kazuo's attorney is the local sage and voice of reason (Max Von Sydow). But for Ishmael the trial is more personal and you know he is thinking that if Kazuo is convicted that he might have another chance with Hatsue. Besides, the evidence looks compelling, at least until Hatsue takes the stand and defends her husband.

The over racism of the people of this small town both during and after the war is quite disturbing, even though director Scott Hicks does not overplay his hand. Hicks attempts some ambitious ways of telling this story, where he uses a variety of visual styles to convey the different perspectives and realities. The effect is somewhat reminiscent of Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon," intentionally so to my mind, since both films deal with how we each have our own perspectives on reality. The result is that we become convinced of Kazuo's innocence and wonder when Ishmael will not only come to the same conclusion but act upon it, for it is clear he is the pivotal figure in the tale.

The title of this film has a definite sense of the poetic, and Hicks does a nice job of capturing both the poetic and the sense of a real community that was divided long before the war started (when the Japanese Americans are relocated we see one side of the school bus is empty, because they always sat on one side of the bus). Ishmael had proposed to Hatsue and the way the war altered their lives is obvious, as is the great injustice of it all, so Ishmael can hardly be faulted for wanting things back the way they almost were.

Ultimately, I appreciate the great irony that the true American in the story is Nels Gudmundsson, the lawyer played by Max Von Sydow. His character immigrated to the United States and when he defends Kazuo there is a constant current of rage and anger in every thing he says and does in court because the people of this town are rejecting all of the values and principles that made him come to this country. When he tells Ishmael "It takes a rare thing, a turning point, to free oneself from any obsession, be it prejudice or hate, or, even love," we know that we have heard the moral of the story and that Ishmael will finally be moved to action.

My only problem with "Snow Falling on Cedars" is, I think, clearly my own problem. My outrage over the treatment of the Japanese was such that the love of Ishmael and Hatsue, and even the trial of Kazou seem so trivial in comparison. Even a verdict of innocence is the proverbial example of too little too late. Then ago, part of the point here is that neither these characters nor the country deserve to be left off the hook for what it did to its own citizens.

Rating:
Summary: Why are the critics so clueless????
Review: Hi, I just finished watching SFOC and I thought it was amazing. Why do the critics fawn all over horrible movies and blast good ones? I guess we'll never know. Yes SFOC was slow-paced, but SOOOO beautiful and intriguing...I felt myself wishing I'd seen it on the big screen, but still it's a terrific movie and I will recommend it to everyone I know. See it!

Rating:
Summary: Haunted by the past / poetic film - overwhelming photography
Review: 'Snow Falling on cedars' -adapted from David Guterson's novel- is about a murder trial, about racism and about a love that couldn't last.

I like the story as it is being told by director Scott Hicks. He seems to work like a musician, as a composer with a magic hand for telling a multilayered story in a perfect pace, just like the way themes develop and grow in good symphonic classical music. Scott Hicks also seems to have the hand and eyes of a painter and the imagination of a poet. Proof of this is the overwhelmingly beautiful photography of the film and the way the imagery blends perfectly with the beautiful music of James Newton Howard.

'Snow falling on cedars' is set on an American island in the straits north of Puget Sound, in Washington, with a large Japanese-American community. Everyone on this island is either a fisherman or a berry farmer.

At the core of 'Snow falling on cedars' lies a dramatic love story. It focuses on the most painful loss for a human soul to endure. Imagine yourself living in a small community where you are confronted every day with someone who once dearly loved you, but, due to extreme circumstances -in this case World War II- had to leave you and eventually married someone else... and you've never stopped loving that person. Whereas a deceased beloved person becomes a closed book, containing memories of the past, a living beloved one you see every day, but you can't reach anymore, causes probably a deeper trauma of loss. A trauma that can rip a man's heart and soul apart. We see this happen in 'Snow falling on cedars'.

The story gives us a deep and subtle look into the human heart of main character Ishmael Chambers (played very well by Ethan Hawke), a journalist who has never overcome a passionate love relationship in his teenage years with the Japanese girl Hatsue Imada (played very well by Youki Kudoh), who -according to her tradition- has married a Japanese guy. Hatsue's husband, fisherman Kazuo Miyamoto, stands on trial for the murder of fisherman Carl Heine. Kazuo's case looks bad and it's 1951, six years after the end of World War II, and nine years after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour. Japanese-Americans were moved to internment camps during the war. In 1951 many Americans still frown upon their Japanese 'fellow americans' as a not trustworthy 'former enemy'. So ethnicity and racial convictions -although not outspoken- could play a role in the verdict of the jury.

Ishmael unravels the case and his findings will be crucial for the fate of Kazuo Miyamoto. While the trial is going on, we learn at the same time in many flashbacks about Ishmael's past love affair with Hatsue.

Don't miss this great movie and watch how main character Ismael Chambers finds the strength to show how gentle and generous the heart of a man can be. For all those with a sensitive mind and heart 'Snow falling on cedars' will be a feast for the senses, and of course nothing less can be expected from a true masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Worth seeing, not buying
Review: It is encouraging that in a growing number of ways, Americans are looking back and doing some self-criticism on issues like social and racial discrimination. The plot blends romance, history and mystery but in the end it is human nature and love that prevails. The movie keeps the viewer's interest throughout, but is not a keeper DVD.
Plus: Very good cinematography and use of camera; good acting; strong references to the historical tension of Jap-American relationships.
Cons: Constantly dark scenes, which may be atmospheric, but tiring; A bit slow at times.