Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Scott Hicks

Writers (WGA):

David Guterson (novel)
Ronald Bass (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 January 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

First loves last. Forever.

Plot:

A Japanese-American fisherman may have killed his neighbor Carl at sea. In the 1950's, race figures in the trial. So does reporter Ishmael.

Plot Keywords:

Fisherman | Japanese American | Trial | Reporter | 1950s

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Ethan Hawke	...	Ishmael Chambers
Youki Kudoh	...	Hatsue Miyamoto
Reeve Carney	...	Young Ishmael Chambers
Anne Suzuki	...	Young Hatsue Imada
Rick Yune	...	Kazuo Miyamoto
Max von Sydow	...	Nels Gudmundsson (as Max Von Sydow)
James Rebhorn	...	Alvin Hooks
James Cromwell	...	Judge Fielding
Richard Jenkins	...	Sheriff Art Moran
Arija Bareikis	...	Susan Marie Heine
Eric Thal	...	Carl Heine Jr.
Celia Weston	...	Etta Heine
Daniel von Bargen	...	Carl Heine Sr. (as Daniel Von Bargen)
Akira Takayama	...	Hisao Imada
Ako	...	Fujiko Imada

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for disturbing images, sensuality and brief strong language.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:S | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Australia:M | Iceland:12 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Denmark:11 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (936516) | Norway:11 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Cathlamet, Washington, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Ishmael never once pronounces the love-of-his-life's name correctly. He always calls her "Hat-sue" not by her real Japanese name "Ha-Tsu-E".

Goofs:

Continuity: While Ishmael Chambers is checking the coast guard records, a pen disappears from his mouth between shots.

Quotes:

Nels Gudmundsson: It takes a rare thing, a turning point, to free oneself from any obsession. Be it prejudice or hate, or, even love.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 72nd Annual Academy Awards (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I Used to Love You (But It's All Over Now)

Stunningly shot, adventurously edited, but unsatisfying adaptation of fine novel..

While the original novel was a beautifully written, compelling courtroom drama as well as a thoughtful reflection on the disgraceful racist treatment of Japanese Americans before, during, and after WWII, the film version of Snow Falling on Cedars falls flat dramatically and thematically. To be sure, the film ambitiously strives to capture David Guterson's poetic prose through some breathtaking cinematography along with some much less impressive heavy-editing and extreme close-up composition. The overall impression, unfortunately, recalls a musical `etude' – as though the director, Scott Hicks, and cinematographer, Robert Richardson, were most interested in presenting an exhaustive study in low-light visuals (even the trial takes place during brownouts and power outages) and in extreme narrative fragmentation (think: Faulknerian flashbacks represented via Eisenstein or MTV montage).

Narrative coherence definitely takes a back seat to visual and auditory exercise. Indeed the film was stylistically heavy-handed in just about every element of filmmaking, from its intrusively moody `Asian' soundtrack to its post-modern pastiche of images from such superior movies as To Kill A Mockingbird and Casablanca. I found myself literally getting dizzy at several of the many junctures in the film in which the whirl of technique is overwhelming – and, understand, I have a high tolerance, even a taste, for extremely formalistic filmmaking. This was too much, and simply the wrong generic/story materials for such an artistic assault. Characterization was lost. Emotion was lost. And, most damagingly, the important thematic point was lost.