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Though Snow Falling on Cedars is beautiful to look at, critics say the story becomes dull and tedious to sit through.
All Critics (91) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (55) | DVD (5)
Snow Falling on Cedars makes its most powerful impression in totally silent stretches. Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3/4
Snow Falling on Cedars makes its most powerful impression in totally silent stretches.
Susan Stark
It's second to none in its ability to specify a world and immerse us in it. Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/4
It's second to none in its ability to specify a world and immerse us in it.
Jay Carr
Reveals itself with the complexity of a novel, holding its themes up to the light so that first one and then another aspect can be seen. Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/4
Reveals itself with the complexity of a novel, holding its themes up to the light so that first one and then another aspect can be seen.
Roger Ebert
Snow Falling on Cedars is a motion picture of great thematic and visual richness. Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…
Snow Falling on Cedars is a motion picture of great thematic and visual richness.
James Berardinelli
Prettily photographed yet morbidly gloomy. Jan 1, 2000
Prettily photographed yet morbidly gloomy.
Jami Bernard
A visual and emotional feast. Jan 1, 2000
A visual and emotional feast.
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
Shot either in extreme, eye-swelling close-ups or in excessively composed, arty landscapes, I now know more about the blood vessels in these actors' noses than I care to. Jul 5, 2011 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…
Shot either in extreme, eye-swelling close-ups or in excessively composed, arty landscapes, I now know more about the blood vessels in these actors' noses than I care to.
Burl Burlingame
Good movie for adults and older teens. Dec 28, 2010 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
Good movie for adults and older teens.
Nell Minow
... it powerfully re-creates the history, captures the essence of Guterson's characters, and carries us through hypnotized by breathtaking cinematography. Dec 6, 2004 | Rating: B+
... it powerfully re-creates the history, captures the essence of Guterson's characters, and carries us through hypnotized by breathtaking cinematography.
Jeffrey Overstreet
...the movie is, for the most part, just unreasonably dull. Nov 12, 2002 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…
...the movie is, for the most part, just unreasonably dull.
David Nusair
Badly hobbled by an over-emphasis upon cinematic technique that obliterates the emotional undertow of the story. Aug 21, 2002 | Full Review…
Badly hobbled by an over-emphasis upon cinematic technique that obliterates the emotional undertow of the story.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Hicks and cinematographer Robert Richardson give this interdicted love affair an emotional immediacy with the sheer brute force of their images. Mar 23, 2001 | Rating: B- | Full Review…
Hicks and cinematographer Robert Richardson give this interdicted love affair an emotional immediacy with the sheer brute force of their images.
Chuck Rudolph
Beautiful performances, cinematography, editing, and score. BUT I must say watching this film again with a total paranoid cynic who doesn't think films should get wrapped up in the awesomeness of their own beauty has harshed my mellow a bit. The montages and flashback/forward editing ARE slightly self-indulgent and they take time away from the most iconic (3 second) shot of the movie - that of the Japanese internment camp prisoners walking on the docks under a blissfully ignorant American flag. If you're gonna make a statement, damn well make it right!
Super Reviewer
This is the first movie I've ever seen that addressed the issue of the Japanese internment during WWII (aside from the fleeting reference in Midway) -- It shows how Childhood friendship pays off in adulthood -- I loved it!
When an american-japanese fisherman is accused of murdering an childhood friend in the shadow of WWII, Ethan Hawke finds himself trapped in a crisis of conscience when he comes across possible evidence of his innocence. This is a beautifully crafted, very literary period drama in which the courtroom scenes are intercut with flashbacks from the lives of the various protagonists to produce a rich tapestry of motives, prejudices and conflicts of interest that affect their actions. It's beautifully shot in gorgeous snow-laden countryside, with a sensitive and pivotal performance by Youki Kudoh, while Max Von Sydow dominates the courtroom scenes in his inimitable style. It reminded me a little of a chilly English Patient. Except it's good.
Gorgeous cinematography. I enjoyed this.
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