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Amazon.co.uk Review
Australian director Scott Hicks's Snow Falling on Cedars is far removed from the character-driven, pure storytelling of his previous movie, Shine, and a comparative plunge into moody atmospherics. Action insinuates itself through the director's determined eye for watercolour composition and free-floating perspective, like random shoots of new growth in an overwhelming rain forest. It's impossible to be complacent as a viewer because Hicks's meditative style paradoxically forces one to locate and make the story happen internally. The approach makes good aesthetic sense in that the story, based on David Guterson's bestselling novel, 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.
The director 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 (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) 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 defence 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 defence counsel. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
I loved this book and was apprehensive about the film. Most films don't live up to their books but this one does. The scenery captures the mood and the filming is just right. The casting was superb and each actor adds to the love and sadness of the film. I don't buy many pre-recorded videos but I've ordered this one. Read the book and watch the film in any order.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I bought this film some months ago solely on the grounds that it had a picture of a Japanese girl on the cover - and it was cheap. (I have an interest in Chinese & Japanese culture) For the want of anything better to do, I got around to watching it last night, and I was engrossed from beginning to end. It is not full of star actors yet the cast is excellent. The cinematography is outstanding and the crew was blessed with spectacular weather and location shots - it still needs expert direction and camera work to exploit these factors - and this film has them both. The plot is a slowly unravelling drama centred on a small coastal community of American and Japanese at the time of Pearl Harbour; it show just a glimpse of the appalling treatment of Japanese Americans at the hands of the US Government and `ordinary' American citizens. Two central roles are played by Ethan Hawke and Yuoki Kudoh - their young selves being played by Reeve Carney and the excellent Anne Suzuki - you can easily see why he was so utterly captivated by her. Much of the film takes place in a courtroom as the drama unfolds. It reminded me of To Kill a Mockingbird - there the `victim' is of a different colour; in this film, the innocent on trial, largely because of prejudice, is of a different race. It is all impeccably handled. I'm not going to give anything away about the plot which is actually quite ordinary; what brings this film to life are the locations, cinematography and first-class acting. I just don't know why it isn't better known. Do yourself a favour and buy this film; this is how story-telling should be done.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I know this is subjective but for me Snow falling on Cedars is movie perfection.
The first few opening scenes set the mood for more or less the whole film.
A sort of claustrophobic intensity envelopes the whole story - from the hissing and clattering of the courtroom heating system to the snow that closes in the entire community.
Every character is perfectly drawn almost to the point of understatement - the actors seem to be the people - each performance is beautifully portrayed.
The themes explored are ones that to a greater or lesser degree affect most of us throughout our lives - loss, integrity, loyalty, prejudice, acceptance - all summed up in Max Von Sydow's closing courtroom summation.
Although the film is in colour, with a few notable and powerful exceptions, the overall impression is of a greyness or at best colours that are "washed"out. This is not a failing but greatly enhances the general ambience.
At times the film adopts an almost dream like quality as if the events are flowing through Ishmael's mind in a seemingly random fashion.
It is a film that can be watched many times as various nuances and subtleties become more apparent once you are familiar with the flow of the story.
I did read the book long before I saw the film and for me this is one of those very rare occasions when the adaptation to movie enhances the novel.
If you enjoy films with deep meaning, that celebrate the human spirit and provide hope that doing the right thing, however difficult it may be, can ultimately bring redemption then Snow Falling on Cedars is a gentle masterpiece!
The first few opening scenes set the mood for more or less the whole film.
A sort of claustrophobic intensity envelopes the whole story - from the hissing and clattering of the courtroom heating system to the snow that closes in the entire community.
Every character is perfectly drawn almost to the point of understatement - the actors seem to be the people - each performance is beautifully portrayed.
The themes explored are ones that to a greater or lesser degree affect most of us throughout our lives - loss, integrity, loyalty, prejudice, acceptance - all summed up in Max Von Sydow's closing courtroom summation.
Although the film is in colour, with a few notable and powerful exceptions, the overall impression is of a greyness or at best colours that are "washed"out. This is not a failing but greatly enhances the general ambience.
At times the film adopts an almost dream like quality as if the events are flowing through Ishmael's mind in a seemingly random fashion.
It is a film that can be watched many times as various nuances and subtleties become more apparent once you are familiar with the flow of the story.
I did read the book long before I saw the film and for me this is one of those very rare occasions when the adaptation to movie enhances the novel.
If you enjoy films with deep meaning, that celebrate the human spirit and provide hope that doing the right thing, however difficult it may be, can ultimately bring redemption then Snow Falling on Cedars is a gentle masterpiece!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Prejudice is blind
This is a love story between an American boy and American/Japanese girl. Shows the life of Japanese American community during the 40s and the 50s and how they were treated during... Read more
Published 3 months ago by A.M.R.A.M
Beautiful film
Absolutely beautiful film with wonderful cinematography, great storyline and exceptional acting, particularly by Max Von Sydow. One to watch again and again. Read more
Published 3 months ago by jrsln
A fittingly beautiful name.
The film is set in post war America exploring love and loss, prejudice, truth, justice, forgiveness and integrity. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Dh Jayaraja
Very good!
I bought this DVD as I had already read the book and wanted to see what the film was like. Normally when novels are made into films the outcome isn't that great but with this one... Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2008 by Jennifer
A gem of a film
I bought this film some months ago solely on the grounds that it had a picture of a Japanese girl on the cover - and it was cheap. Read more
Published on 17 Jun 2007 by Mr. K. J. Mckenna
Brilliant spectacle, but fragmented
I watched this video with some friends, some of whom had read the novel. We all agreed that the film was highly fragmented and difficult to follow. Read more
Published on 5 Jun 2003 by Quantium
Excellent and enthralling
I read the book for my a levels and decided to watch the dvd. Although the book is better, the film still gives the feeling of close community as it does in the book. Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2000
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