I go to film adaptations with trepidation - "The English Patient" was such a poor adaptation betraying the message in the novel that when I entered this cinema, I was not expecting much. I loved the novel and I had read it many times. What I saw was a well-made, thoughtful, innovative adaptation of a book that had many many themes and layers. If I had to praise just one thing in this film, I would say it had to be the lack of dialogue. The film relies on visual associations; objects are imbued with meaning - characters say more through the objects and settings they are near that with long speeches. Light is used symbolically - we are shown many scenes at night, characters are lit by lamps or by wildly swinging electric lights and lights are turned off or go out when we want to see more. Hicks is hinting at the murky nature of truth and memory - we get snatches of past lives, briefly glimpsed - the editing breaking up, in a jagged fashion, the non-linear narrative. This is a slow movie; the viewer will have to work, and work hard for the rewards that Hicks pays out if you stay with it. There are subtle, intelligent performances and, often, it what is not said that says so much. I loved what the story has to say - that, often, one has to let go of the past and move on; life is not perfect and there is often a subtle beauty in the imperfection within a human heart. The cinematography is exemplary and sublime - lots of cutaway shots to symbolic images (get out your Jungian glossary and enjoy) and a particularly poignant scene in which the Japanese are deported (the American shame is conveyed very effectively). The courtroom scenes are cut and layered (lots of Altman overlapping dialogue) and given less time than in the novel. All of this works beautifully to make a rewarding movie experience. I liked "Shine", I loved "Snow Falling on Cedars".
Review of Snow Falling on Cedars
