Snow Falling on Cedars Review

This story of racial prejudice on San Piedro Island on the north west coast of America during World War 2 and in the years following is set against a murder trial that takes place in 1951... a fisherman has died and Japanese American Kazuo Miyamoto ( Rick Yune) is accused of murder. His trial takes us on a 20 year voyage back into the history of Kazuo and his wife Hatsue (Youki Kudoh) whose lives connect with Ishmael (Ethan Hawke) the local newspaperman. This is a story of honour and betrayal, of first love and the meaning of love, of the land and its connection to people... It`s a most beautiful-looking film, cinematographer Robert Richardson survived working with Oliver Stone on 11 films to create something eerily wonderful here... This is cold country, beautiful country and the dramas that take place within it have been faithfully recreated by director Scott Hicks, who worked with Oscar-winning Ron Bass on the screenplay. Hicks has had to distill a lengthy novel into a little over 2 and a half hours. To achieve this he creates glimpses of moments from a variety of eras to give movie-goers not just the plot but the essence of this gripping and very moving tale. Hicks has been daring stylistically, on occasions mis-synching image and sound. His cast which also includes Max von Sydow and Sam Shepard is so solid throughout, Youki Kudoh so luminous as Hatsue. One thing is for sure, Scott Hicks reaffirms his filmmaking abilities with Snow Falling on Cedars...David`s comments:Classical filmmaking - extremely beautiful images, a sincere adaptation of the book (which explores a shameful period of America`s past), fine performances, especially Yuki Kudoh. Scott Hicks proves Shine was no flash in the pan. Hard to find fault with this, except occasional over-emphasis in the direction and the music score.