Snow Falling on Cedars

Snow Falling on Cedars
by Scott Hicks

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Movie Reviews of Snow Falling on Cedars

Movie Review: Touching and very empowering!
Summary: 5 Stars

The complexity of this movie is what pleases me the most, because every Hicks is able to take the novel's different stories and tie them all together to one another as the author intended. The movie opens when police find a fisherman caught in his own net on a crystal clear lake surrounded by ice-capped mountains all around. Upon reaching the docks, the police start asking questions about the man's whereabouts the night before. Moving ahead, a trial begins, and we learn that a Japanese fisherman, Kabuo Miyamoto, is on trial for the murder of the deceased, Carl Heine. Attending the trial is his wife, Hatsure Imada Miyamoto, and the local paper's owner and sole reporter, Ishmael Chambers, who has a past with the defendant's wife.

The trial takes place in the winter, as the snow is just beginning to fall in San Piedro Island, on the northwest shores of the United States. It is home to thousands of Japanese immigrants who had migrated to the country from their homeland before the United States' entrance into World War II. This furthers the story as we watch through flashbacks the herding of the Japanese residents to internment camps in the nearby state of Washington. And amidst all the turmoil of memories brought up by the trial, Ishmael and Hatsue are forced to remember the time they shared as children and teenagers, playing together on the beach and beginning a relationship that was considered inappropriate at the time by both their familes and friends.

Each of these plots all become interconnected through the trial of Kabuo Miyamoto, which can seem a bit draggy at times, but never fails in its knowledge of court proceedings and moments of tension. For the most part, the trial is very interesting, but it is the intense and passionate relationship that Ishmael and Hatsue relive in their memories that keeps the drama of this film moving. Their relationship is seen in so many different lights: we see it through the eyes of they themselves (Ishmael cares not for what others might think, while Hatsue is more reserved about her feelings towards the relationship), as well as quietly seeing it through the eyes of their parents, who each have some moment in the movie where they voice their opposing opinions about having relationships with their own ethnic group as opposed to a differing one. Their passionate journies together on the beach, picking strawberries and among the cedar trees will sweep you up and carry you away as you lose yourself into their romance.

While being a fictional piece, there is also a great deal of history residing in this film's plot. Like the book, the movie tells of the movement to rush Japanese residents of the United States to internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. While the movie does not capture all of the occurences and feeling that the book portrays when the Japanese are being investigated all over the island, upon further examination, you'll find that it's not really needed. The focus of the film at that time is the impending separation of Ishmael and Hatsue as she is about to go off to the camps and he is drafted soon after. They will see one another once before leaving, a quick glance, which is one of the most moving moments in motion picture history.

There is so much empowerment and moving epic storytelling in a like this, partly because there is so much to tell, and partly because the filmmakers choose to tell the story in a more-than-conventional way. Instead of taking a direct approach to focusing on just the characters themselves, director Hicks and director of photography Robert Richardson choose to add focus to the island setting itself, incorporating vast shots of the beauty of the snowy town to show the conditions the people live in, furthering the emotional factor of the story while also giving the viewer a sense that there is much isolation and loneliness in certain scenes where its impact is prudent to the plot. James Newton Howard has also set an entire new precedent in the art of music making, and his score for "Snow Falling on Cedars" is moving, brilliant, and adds nothing but visceral and enticing chords and haunting melodies that serve as the biggest aspect of striking the emotions of the audience.

I tried envisioning a better acting cast for this movie after seeing it, and will admit that I thought of a few people to play different roles, but soon realized that it would change the entire feeling of the story. Ethan Hawke is perfectly fit for the role of Ishmael. He is such a wonderful actor, and his ability to show emotions of sadness and despair with such authenticity make him a perfect casting choice for the role. Youki Kudoh, playing the character of Hatsue, is the total embodiment of innocence, virtue and mystery that is imperative for the role. Hatsue goes through so many different events and emotions in her lifetime, and Kudoh handles the role with a grace and feeling all her own. She makes the audience believe in her emotional and social struggle, while also playing out Hatsue's ever-changing feelings for Ishmael as if it were on off-screen romance as well. James Cromwell, James Rebhorn, and Max von Sydow play the three major roles of the courtroom characters, and they add their own spark of intensity to the trial proceedings right where each is needed. Rebhorn must also be commended for his ability to act like a complete jerk in court, while making the audience believe that his actions are solely in the name of defending the law. Sydow is, as always, a comic relief, his wit and humor jumping in to give us a laugh or two between the testimonies of various witnesses.

The book on which this film is based is truly inspired, opulent and hypnotic in every aspect of it conveyance of the story it so wonderfully tells. The movie captures that same opulence and inspiration, but goes deeper in emotional depth and involvement. Through Hicks' imagery and Howard's musical score, we are taken on a breathtaking journey into the heart of a small town where a love that once lay in the forest is brought back to life too late to be reconciled, but will remain in the hearts of characters and the audience forever.

Summary of Snow Falling on Cedars

The approach makes good aesthetic sense in that Guterson's story couches courtroom drama in dreamy textures, and Hicks is determined to reflect that even if it means turning an audience's idea of narrative on its head. He also gets a lot of help from the weather in the Pacific Northwest: the setting is one of Washington State's San Juan Islands, where rain embraces earth and sky in a singular, introverted personality. There, a Japanese American war hero (Rick Yune) stands accused of murdering a white fisherman in the years following World War II. His wife (Youki Kudoh) is the former childhood sweetheart and lover of a local newspaperman (Ethan Hawke) whose bitterness over the loss--as well as his helplessness during the internment of Japanese Americans, and the crusading legacy of his journalist father (Sam Shepard)--prevents him from coming to the defense of the accused man.

Layered emotions, layered sensations, layered clouds. This is historical fiction of a sort that works best as an experience of time's relativity: flowing, stopping, trickling. Ironically, the film's most commercial element, the trial, is the least interesting aspect, though old pro Max Von Sydow makes those scenes great fun as a wily defense counsel. --Tom Keogh