Written by David Guterson, Ron Bass, and Scott Hicks
Directed by Scott Hicks

Movies such as Snow Falling on Cedars are more important than ever in the current climate. Whenever blind patriotism rears its ugly head, I think of the darker times in our country’s history. One of those occurred during the Second World War. While we were fighting Germany and would later decry the horrors of their concentration camps, we had our own version of that with Japanese-Americans primarily on the West Coast and in Hawaii. Although we didn’t summarily execute those in the camps, they were stripped of their property and rights, much like the current administration is doing to people by shipping them off to a gulag in El Salvador without demonstrating cause.

Snow Falling on Cedars is set in a small town on an island off of the state of Washington, just after the Second World War. Racial tensions between the white residents and the Japanese-American residents are explored when a local fisherman is found dead in the water. Suspicions turn toward the town’s Japanese population, specifically Kazou Miyamoto (portrayed by Rick Yune).

Ethan Hawke is Ishmael Chambers. He’s a reporter covering Kazou’s trial. He has long been in love with Kazou’s wife, Hatsue (portrayed by Youki Kudoh). In fact, they were childhood sweethearts.

At the trial, a deal involving Kazou’s family and Carl’s (the murdered man) is brought into the open. It seems that Carl’s mother defrauded Kazou’s family out of land while Kazou was off fighting in the war and his family was interred in the Japanese prison camps. This creates a motive, but even there, more is going on than meets the eye.

But the main thrust of the film is getting across the impact of the prejudice against the Japanese and their forced internment during World War II. Watching Hatsue’s family be subjected to “unreasonable search and seizure” is frightening for any of us. When we allow the government to arbitrarily arrest people and take their property with no demand that they prove a basis for these suspicions, we have surrendered some of the liberty our founding fathers fought for. This is shown when Hatsue’s father is arrested when dynamite is found in his shed. He uses it to clear stumps on his property, but that doesn’t matter. In addition, it’s fairly clear even before the dynamite is found that anything of value the family owns is being seized and they will never see it again.

Half of the town’s population – all Japanese – is eventually sent to the internment camp.

That isn’t what ends up dividing Hatsue and Ishmael in their clandestine romance. The prejudice on both sides is what eventually breaks them apart, and Hatsue marries someone Japanese. Ishmael’s mother seems to be aware of the feelings between her son and the young woman, but stands back rather than argue one way or the other. His father had already taken a stand against the internment of the Japanese-Americans, and Ishmael is now publishing the family newspaper and has the power of the pen and press. Will he allow Kazou to go to jail so he can possibly have Hatsue once again? Or would it be an act of revenge for the Dear John letter she sent him?

I really enjoyed Snow Falling on Cedars. It’s a film with a message, but it didn’t hit me over the head with it. The beauty of the film itself serves to distract from that central theme, as does the love story. However, the story is there to be told as these families who are struggling themselves are suddenly separated and shipped off with nothing in their hands than what they can carry.

The acting is terrific. Particularly great are the two actors who portray Ishmael and Hatsue when they are younger. Reeve Carney and Anne Suzuki are terrific and have very little dialogue between them, but their actions and the way they look at each other speak volumes about the attachment between the two of them. It seems the bond between them is deep, and were it forty years later, there would be no question of their having a future together.

Ethan Hawke is excellent as Ishmael when he is older. It’s quite evident that he has conflicting feelings about the situation. He’s still feeling burned by her letter. However, the spark is still there as well. It’s quite evident when they have a scene together during the trial and he’s beginning to put the pieces together of what happens. Hawke has Ishmael being a bit on the brooding side, but he also has taken on some of his late father’s influence about what’s right and wrong.

The cast has a variety of big-name stars in supporting roles, such as Sam Shepard as Ishmael’s father, Max Von Sydow as an aging lawyer who makes an impassioned speech about bigotry at the end of the court case, and James Cromwell as the sitting judge who allows his own prejudices to influence the trial.

Snow Falling on Cedars jumps around between the present day of the trial and the history building up to that day. The romance is shown in those flashbacks in many of the most beautiful cinematic moments. I can understand how it would be difficult for some to follow. It’s a film that requires you to pay attention to many of the subtle nuances as well as to decipher where in the story you are.

There are the usual extras on the DVD. Some of the commentary by Director Scott Hicks focuses a bit too much on the technical aspects. I mean, I know they are going back and forward in time for parts of the story – I don’t need all of that information. It’s not one of the better commentaries I’ve listened to. The other extras are fine.

I recommend Snow Falling on Cedars quite highly. It’s an intelligent film that will appeal to all except those the most blinded by patriotism who can’t handle being confronted with less-than-perfect moments in our country’s history. It’s also a testimony about what is currently happening and how history will not look kindly upon those who are cheering it on. It’s a beautiful picture as well, filmed quite well with some breathtakingly beautiful moments. I’m not a huge fan of love stories, but I would see it again in a heartbeat.


BONUS MATERIALS:

” Feature Commentary with Director Scott Hicks
” Spotlight On Location
” Deleted Scenes
” Manzanar
” Production Notes
” Cast and Filmmaker Biographies