Product: Snow Falling on Cedars (2000)
Rating: 5.0
Lush And Moving.
"Snow Falling On Cedars" is a beautifully composed film about obsession, heartbreak and history. Director Scott Hicks delivers a film of enormous scope and beauty with memorable characters and a plot that is intricate and unweaves itself as the movie pushes forward. Those here who have bashed the movie apparently have no love for cinema or grandiose images. If you don't like art, don't see this film. Hicks excels here in the way the images don't interrupt the narrative, instead they flow with it. Cinematographer Robert Richardson paints here with lush colors, using the myst and snow to create emotion and lets the image bring out the moods of the characters, of the story. The editing can create a visceral experience enhanced by the epic, almost operatic score by James Newton Howard. Single images stick in the mind. The screenplay by Hicks and Ron Bass is eloquent and reaches out to the farthest reaches of classic romanticism, there are moments of pure emotion, sometimes brought about by images and sometimes just by words. "Snow Falling On Cedars" has the kind of classic storytelling missing in a lot of modern romances. It seems to me a lot of the critics here would probably prefer oversexed dribble instead of something with real heart. The performances are superb all around and the production design of the film is flawless. This is a lush tapestry of a love story, framed by wonderous cinematography. An underappreciated masterpiece, ignore the party poopers and check it out.