Product: Snow Falling on Cedars (2000)
Rating: 5.0
An Emotionally Draining Movie
I just saw one fantastic movie.Snow Falling on CedarsThe story is about a forbidden romance set against the isolation of the Washington forests, a murder trial, and racial prejudice. It is 'Romeo and Juliet' mixed with a bit of 'Othello'That alone is nothing special, but what truly makes this movie unique is the fashion of telling. Like Willaim Faulker's 'As I Lay Dying' the author uses a stream of consciousness technique wherein the plot jumps rapidly from one event to another... like the recollection of memories.Most of the story takes place in the distant past rather than the immediate present, requiring the viewer to piece together the various past events to understand the motivations of the present. The result is a flow of images and sounds and emotions that draw you into the characters' minds and make you a part of the drama.Excellent.I note that a number of other reviewers have commented that this movie is near perfect but flawed, because it ends with a conventional happy ending. I have to wonder: What happy ending is that?The man can not hold the woman in his arms.Nor the woman hold the man.It's an unrequited love. The man sees his lifelong friend and lover every day, but he can never have her... and he has no other prospects... he is a lonely, lonely person. *This* is a happy ending? I call it a tragedy. Were I in Ishmael's shoes, I would likely kill myself in order to end the pain. The ultimate in classic tragedy.Obviously, this movie had a profound effect on me. I believe that is the ultimate goal for all authors of books, plays, and movies: To effect the reader emotionally and mentally. Catharsis. On that count, I give 'Snow Falling on Cedars' a 10 out of 10.