Called everything from "essentially a liberal soap opera," by Time Magazine to "an exercise in atmosphere" by another source, "Snow Falling on Cedars" is getting a lot of attention, especially for the "lush and elegant cinematography," if not for the story.
The story starts out in a courtroom in a small town on the Pacific Northwest's Puget Sound, where a Japanese-American, Kabuo Miyomoto, played by Rick Yune, is on trial for his life in the killing of a local fisherman, a childhood friend. It is an adaptation of David Guterson's celebrated first novel.
As the trial unfolds, a series of flashbacks relates a deeper story. The flashbacks, are apparently, where the story loses its punch. Described, variously, as "an exercise in atmosphere," and "visually stunning," the scenes tend to cloud, literally and figuratively, the story.
Miyomoto and his wife, the comely Hatsue, played by Youki Kudoh, had been sent at the start of World War II to an internment camp where they had fallen in love. The story glosses over the camp experience, but does dwell on a romance between Hatsue and a reporter covering the trial, Ishmael Chambers, played by Ethan Hawke.
This romance had budded when both were young, long before the war, when their Japanese-American and Anglo community had lived peacefully. Chambers has never recovered from his deep infatuation with Hatsue, and this clouds, that word again, his judgment as he covers the trial, and the story becomes increasingly complex.
The movie is a must see for fans of the Pacific Northwest. It is directed by Scott Hicks, who directed the award-winning "Shine."
It is rated PG-13 for "disturbing war images, sensuality and brief strong language."
It starts Thursday, Jan. 6 at Sunny Isle.
