Snow Falling On Cedars

A difficult film to follow and I think others thought the same as the disc stopped from time to time so other views had backtracked to find out what was happening.

Beautiful photgraphy, but I agree that it was too arty and slow moving . A sharper adaptation of the book would have been more enjoyable. The racial tension came from the fact of the bombing at Pearl Harbour - there had been no Declaration of War beforehand so the Americans were caught undefended - therefore suffered great loss of life and ships.

This could have been a great film, but there was too much focus on the cinematography and not enough on the relationships of the characters. It should have been a tear-jerker... but it just wasn't.

Snow falling on cedars, a film that has everything, never thought that was possible. The thinkings man's movie, it makes you ponder, feel and even cry. I know that not all movies are there to make some powerful point or other, but this one does. It has all the issues and themes that explores human strife, prejudice, genuine love, greed, and true justice. I've seen this film 4 or 5 times and it gets better with each viewing, timeless and haunting with a story that draws you in. I think that any movie that makes one feel as this does and appeals to your every sense of what love should be, can't be very far off the mark, even though in this case that love was between 2 children who were parted by the injustice of war. I found myself feeling deeply involved with the character played by Ethan Hawke. His role was so believable and poignant, to the degree it brought a tear to my eye. The film, in my opinion, was stolen by the actress, Youki Kudoh who played Hatsue who was just perfect for the part with her wide beautiful eyes and expressive yearning face. To top off the whole film I have to mention the film score by James Newton Howard, it bordered on classical with full choirs and harmonised sympathetically with the mood of this great film. I have this marked in my top 10 of all time, just so great and fulfilling in all ways. I recommend it totally for all.

A wonderfully mysterious opening with carefully crafted camera work. The complex story unfolds, juxtaposing courtroom drama with flashbacks. This film has everything, history, romance, drama, mystery. It is one of the few films I would recommend watching twice to enjoy the subtlties and brilliant camerwork.A blessed relief from American special effects!

This movie has everything; historical drama, murder mystery, courtroom drama, forbidden love. All this and World War 2.

What really sets this film apart is its outstanding cinematography. You could stop this movie at almost any point and print the image to hang on your wall. Simply spectacular.

One of the best movies I've ever seen.