"Snow Falling on Cedars" is so emotionally intense, it's too hard to put to words really, . I loved it. It actually makes you feel for the character. I know that a lot of people thought it was boring, but that's simply because the audience mentality nowadays is that of a sixteen year old.
I saw this movie in the theatre with my sister, I didn't know too much about it, but I figured why not. I was in for something that I didn't really expect. I figured it was a chic flick, and would some happy cheecky love story. But it was the exact opposite, which is why I liked it so much. Too many times I see a conflict in a movie and in the end it's resolved and everyone is happy. This movie conveys a story of love, and obsession.
Ismael(Ethan Hawke) meets Hatsue Miyomoto(Youki Kudoh)when the are children(shown through flashbacks). The movie starts with a sequence of events that perfectly set up the current situation, where a Japanese fisherman is accused of murdering a white fisherman. Which brings prejudice to the judicial slate. Ismael watches the trial from the balchoney and remembers what he and Hatsue once had. A forbidden romance which ends due to the movement of Japanese-Americans in WWII. He asks that she run away with him, and get married. But she decides to leave with her family. After which Ismael is sent to war, and get's his last letter from Hastue. This was one of the most moving points in the film, as you feel how much hurt Ismael feels.
Ismael must face his inner conflict, and try to let go. He asks if he could only hold her one lst time so he can put this behind him, but Hatsue refuses. At this point I felt Ismaels ever growing torment. His struggle to put the past behind him but it is just something he can't do, and the conflict continues. He finds new evidence that could prove Hatsue's husband innocent. It is at this point where he finally lets go and helps by proving that her husband is innocent. Than, after the trial, Hatsue holds Ismael one last time...
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