Snow Falling on Cedars, directed by Scott Hicks, is a movie about love, memory, and letting go. This movie
is set in 1950 on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Although presumed to be a love story, Snow Falling on Cedars
is a movie about a murder trial, during which many memories are brought to thought.
Ishmael Chambers, played by Ethan Hawke, is a reporter and is observing a murder trial. The man on trial is
Kazuo Miyamoto, played by Rick Yune. His wife, Hatsue Miyamoto, played by Youki Kudoh, has a past with
Ishmael. During this trial, many memories are remembered by Ishmael. Kazuo is accused of killing his childhood
friend on a boat. The island on which all these characters reside is half white and half Japanese.
The story is mostly flashbacks during the trial, flashbacks of Ishmael and Hatsues’ past, the past of the
characters on the witness stand, and the flashback of the defendant. Ishmael and Hatsues’ relationship starts when
they are children. Starting out as friends, the friendship soon turns into an unforbidden love which is not accepted by
any person on the island. The relationship is kept a secret, the two meeting in the forest and proving their love where
no one will ever find out. Years later, the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurs, and every Japanese American is forced
to leave their home and move into a concentration camp of sorts. Ishmael and Hatsue keep in touch with letter, but
Hatsue soon realizes the affair can not go on any longer. She is forced to break off the relationship via mail. Ishmael
is heartbroken. During the movie, Ishmael tells Hatsue, “If I could just hold you once, I would never have to talk to
you again.” Hatsue then tells Ishmael he must get on with his life, the way she has.
As the trial resumes, many incidences come up that bear essentialism. One witness explains the murder
victim treating Kazuo “just like any
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