It
has often been said that some novels should never be made into movies. Although
I have never read Snow Falling on Cedars, I can tell that this story would have
been better on paper.
Scott
Hicks follows his expert directing debut Shine with this beautiful looking but
overstuffed mess based on the book by David Guterson.
Ethan
Hawke is a young reporter covering a trial in a small fishing community. It doesn't
help matters that Hawke was once invoved with the wife (Youki Kudoh) of the man
on trial for murder. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn how the two met
and, eventually end their courtship.
There
is far too much going on in this story. At one moment it's about forbidden love
and another it's about racial predudice. Bookending the story is the trial that
offers yet another tedious subplot. This just isn't the type of story that translates
to the screen.
Hicks
directs with poetic style but doesn't get the dramatic depth needed by his actors.
Hawke spends most of the picture in brooding silence while Kudoh spends most of
the time crying and evoking a unconvincing look of fear.
This
is all a shame because Snow Falling on Cedars offers breathtaking cinematography
and a beautiful score by James Newton Howard. In the end, many of the themes flowing
throughout this story seemed to work much better in End of the Affair. Snow Falling
on Cedars looks good but feels hollow.
