Product: Snow Falling on Cedars (2000)
Rating: 2.0
A failure for the most part
I went into this movie with high hopes. Conceptually, the story is fantastic, and one that an immense amount could have been done with on film...but alas, it was more often than not an utter waste of time. I found myself wanting to turn it off several times throughout the movie (I reserve the word "film" for fine pieces of cinema.)Instead of a great film, what we are presented is a largely self-indulgently directed movie with a flimsy script. Instead of capturing the natural beauty of the islands of the Pacific northwest, we are instead "treated" to blurry shots and completely silly flashback sequences (the underwater sequence of Ethan Hawke during the war stands out in my mind as the worst.) Not only do you have these tackily shot scenes, but then you have scenes with tacky subject matter: a sequence of 13 year olds making out and having sex? It was a tasteless scene filled with suggestive imagery (a drop of water dripping off of a pointed leaf.)The only reason I gave this movie two stars and not one star is because it included some historical accuracy of the ugly fact that American citizens of Japanese heritage were locked in concentration camps in the United States during World War II. (One that was especially dubious since there were no German or Italian camps...the prejudice against the Japanese was clearly a racial issue.) Hopefully this movie at least helped enlighten folks on something typically left out of American history books.The other thing that merritted a star was defense lawyer's (Max von Sydow) closing monologue during the trial scene. After sitting through a dull movie, that monologue made watching the movie a worthwhile effort. I would like to have that bit of script on tape to listen to again and again.All in all, I would say avoid this movie, but if you want a great cinematic moment just skip to the defense lawywer's closing statements. When I watched, people actually clapped after the monologue!