Snow Falling on Cedars | | Cast : | Hawke, Cromwell, Jenkins, Ethan Hawke | | Director : | | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | January 01, 1999 | | DVD Released Date : | January 06, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 29, 2005 | | Summary | An absorbing story! | Content
 | After the emotional wounds inherited from the WW2, there's a painful fact. A dead man emerges from the sea and rescued by two fishermen. The initial investigation will be the sparkling nerve of this mature story, in which a warmth love story will fade due a crucial decision: imposing wills with racism backstage dictating behavior codes; a sad story about two farmers who will negotiate seven acres of a productive land will converge by those random aggressions in a trial.
The confrontation goes far beyond a simple scheme of guilty or not guilty: the unobstructed passions will rule the scene till ...
Ethan Hawk makes an impressive role, his best achievement to date, with brilliant supporting characters such max Von Sydow as the defense attorney and James Cromwell as the Judge. The rest of the cast is splendid too; the dialogues are polished and concise; there is not excess of any sort.
The travellings in the forest are top notch ( you may realize a slender but visibly warmth homage to Kurosawa's Rashomon ) and the flash backs are simply sumptuous. This brilliant work once more is supported by a Judgment as dramatic device, follows the traces of exceptional previous films such Anatomy of a murder, Judgment at Nuremberg, To kill a mockingbird or Paths of Glory.
This is a genuine artwork. The handle of camera is ravishing as well as the lighting, edition and cinematography
There was an antecedent in a almost forgotten film of the middle fifties: John Sturguess' Bad day at Black Rock , dealing with the Anti Japanese phobia in an isolated town in the map. Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan were in top form with this picture.
Scott Hicks made an admirable movie
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| Rating | | | Date | May 24, 2005 | | Summary | I Guess I Just Don't Get It | Content
| Okay, this movie is heavy on atmosphere, which everyone seems to notice and comment on. But as the movie's most salient characteristic, it isn't enough to carry it. I found the characters wooden and predictable, and the story even more predictable.
The backstory--which we're shown in flashbacks--is fairly standard: forbidden childhood love between a white guy and Japanese girl, which the girl abruptly declares is impossible and walks away from. Hawke's character is supposed to be bitter, but he doesn't seem particularly embittered--remorseful, yes, but not bitter.
And there is also the I-can't-fill-my-father's-shoes element. Yawn.
Or course, everyone does the right thing in the end and Hawke's character's bitterness is resolved with all the banality and predictability you'd expect. With all the talent in this movie, you wonder why everyone is so dull...dull, dull, dull. The only engaging character in the film is Max Von Sydow, who I guess can do no wrong. Has he ever? I don't think so.
Rent this one on dollar night. Definitely don't buy it.
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| Rating | | | Date | March 11, 2005 | | Summary | Being Hurt and Being Human | Content
| I read a review of this film a few years ago who's title was "Snow Falling Very Slowly on Cedars". It is somewhat appropriate, I guess, especially with today's instant gratification society coming to the forefront. With stellar action sequences in films like Star Wars and the like, films that build on characters and their lives tend to get less-than-gratifying reviews. Add to this that this film had quite a few historical references in it, and you've doomed it to be a "ploddingly slow film".
But nothing could be further from the truth...
The textures of this film are pretty darn impressive. There's a love story, a murder investigation, beautifully sculpted scenery (at sea and on land), war, concentration camps in America (disguised as "relocation camps"), prejudice, and a court battle, all rolled into this one simple film. And, quite amazingly, the film doesn't unravel. With all of these layers, the director (Scott Hicks, Shine), pulls off a stunning feat of visual candy and artistic sound.
The story is based on David Guterson's best selling novel by the same name, and Mr. Guterson was directly responsible for the script writing of the film (which is probably why the movie held together so well). It takes place in the 1950's where Kazuo, a Japanese-American, is on trial for the murder of Carl Heine, a white Norwegian fisherman. Coming off the heals of WW II, the trial is ready to ignite into a free-for-all of racial tensions. Americans still scorn all the Japanese for the destruction of Pearl Harbor (doesn't matter if you were a U.S. citizen at the time or not), and the Japanese-Americans remain bitter for being forced into "relocation/internment camps" in California and beyond (many Japanese-Americans lost everything they had during these "relocations"). But tempering the heat of the trial is a terrible blizzard raging around this small island in the San Juans (Washington State) where the story unfolds.
The film brushes us back and forth between the trial of Kazuo, WWII (during which Kazuo was a soldier fighting for the U.S.), a love story between an American boy, Ishmael (Ethan Hawke) and a VERY pretty Japanese girl named, Hatsue (Youki Kudoh), who will eventually forsake their young love and marry the very man who is on trial for murder, Kazuo.
Ishmael loses his right arm in the war and comes back doubly embittered at life. Not only did Hatsue leave him for one of her own, but a Japanese battle caused the loss of his limb. Now he's on the little island and covering the trial as a newspaper reporter, and his memories of the past intrude on the trials machinations. When he discovers some information that could clear Kazuo of the crime, can he let that information come out? Or will his battle-worn heart, soul, and body prevent it? Or perhaps his aching love of Hatsue will stop him (hoping that Kazuo is found guilty and sent away, thus allowing him to have a second chance at Hatsue)?
As you can see just from this simple review, the layers go deep, cutting, biting, and tearing into the flesh of the characters, all of whom are flawed, broken, and, quite possibly, reborn again as a full human being.
Notable amongst the cast is Ethan Hawke as Ishmael, Yoki Kudo as Hatsue, Max von Sydow as Nels (the curmudgeonly but affable defense attorney), James Cromwell as the sympathetic Judge Fielding, and Sam Shepard as Arthur Chambers (Ishmael's father and mentor).
A must see film for those interesting in characters, their flaws, their successes, and just being true to the human spirit. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 04, 2005 | | Summary | I love the scenery in this movie and the music | Content
| It has such a dramatic soundtrack. My favorite scene was when Young Ishmael and young Hatsue were picking strawberries in the field and then running through that forest. I was a great visual and the music there was so compelling!!! It makes me wish I had a young love when I was younger!!!
Very very romantic~ |
| Rating | | | Date | November 28, 2004 | | Summary | Lush And Moving. | Content
| "Snow Falling On Cedars" is a beautifully composed film about obsession, heartbreak and history. Director Scott Hicks delivers a film of enormous scope and beauty with memorable characters and a plot that is intricate and unweaves itself as the movie pushes forward. Those here who have bashed the movie apparently have no love for cinema or grandiose images. If you don't like art, don't see this film. Hicks excels here in the way the images don't interrupt the narrative, instead they flow with it. Cinematographer Robert Richardson paints here with lush colors, using the myst and snow to create emotion and lets the image bring out the moods of the characters, of the story. The editing can create a visceral experience enhanced by the epic, almost operatic score by James Newton Howard. Single images stick in the mind. The screenplay by Hicks and Ron Bass is eloquent and reaches out to the farthest reaches of classic romanticism, there are moments of pure emotion, sometimes brought about by images and sometimes just by words. "Snow Falling On Cedars" has the kind of classic storytelling missing in a lot of modern romances. It seems to me a lot of the critics here would probably prefer oversexed dribble instead of something with real heart. The performances are superb all around and the production design of the film is flawless. This is a lush tapestry of a love story, framed by wonderous cinematography. An underappreciated masterpiece, ignore the party poopers and check it out. |
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