FILM Snow Falling on Cedars Directed by Scott Hicks Starring Ethan Hawke, Youki Kudoh, Max von Sydow Universal Pictures
A man sits in the balcony of a courtroom, quietly observing a murder trial. Now and then he jots down a quick note in a spiral pad. He peers down at the Japanese-American defendant and then gazes at the defendant's pretty young wife - his look carrying something more than ordinary interest. This man, Ishmael Chambers (Ethan Hawke), is the sole reporter, photographer and editor of the San Piedro Island newspaper. And he has information in his trouser pocket that could set the defendant free.
It is all too easy to make Snow Falling On Cedars sound like a traditional murder mystery. It is nothing of the kind. If the mystery were the primary element in the film, the emphasis would lie on the information in Ishmael's pocket: what is it, how does it prove the defendant's innocence, etc. But these questions are dispensed with well before the film's midpoint. Instead, the trial of Kazuo Miyamoto (Rick Yune) is used to introduce us to the world of San Piedro Island and the chain of misunderstanding that has led to the alleged murder.
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