I didn’t spend all yesterday evening playing with problems on Ninglun’s Personal Papers. I did find time to watch this:
It really is a glorious film! The summary from IMDB:
Carl, a fisherman in the waters off Washington state, has been found dead, drowned in his own nets, but with a serious head wound. Was he murdered? Post-war anti-Japanese sentiments are still running high, and a murder suspect is found in the local Japanese-American community in the form of Kabuo [sic], another fisherman, who had a grudge against Carl’s family. Ishmael, the small town’s newspaperman, may have the information that would acquit Kabuo, but can he ever put his jilted love for Hatsue (Kabuo’s wife) aside?
Scott Hicks’s shooting script is online. I was impressed with Max von Sydow’s final court room speech:
And now. he begins to pace, limping slightly, eyes down.
NELS What Mr. Hooks asks you to believe is that no proof is needed. Against a man who bombed Pearl Harbor. Look at his face, the prosecutor said. Presuming that you will see an enemy there. He is counting on you to remember this war. And to see Kazuo Miyamoto as somehow connected with it.
He stops. Looks at them.
NELS And indeed he is. Let us recall that First Lieutenant Kazuo Miyamoto is a much decorated hero of the United States Army. The feeling wells in the old man. It bleeds through the very quietness of his voice. He leans his elbows on their rail, as if confiding in them. NELS Now Kazuo Miyamoto did one thing wrong. He wasn’t certain he could trust us. He was afraid that he would be made a victim of prejudice. As Mr. Hooks is urging you to do.
Silence.
NELS And there’s reason in his uncertainty. Why? We sent him. And his wife. And thousands of Americans to concentration camps. They lost homes, belongings, everything. Can we now be unforgiving of his mistrust?
Looking in their eyes. As if waiting for an answer. They shift their weight, fidget beneath his gaze.
NELS Now our learned prosecutor would have you do your duty as Americans. Proud Americans. Of course you must. And if you do, Kazuo Miyamoto has nothing to fear. because this great country is supposed to be founded on a set of principles. Of fairness. Equality. Justice. And if you are true to these principles, you will only convict a man for what he has done. Not for who he is.
He holds their gaze.
NELS I am an old man. I do not walk so well anymore, and one of my eyes is close to useless. My life is drawing to a close. Why do I say this? I say this because it means I ponder matters in the light of death in a way that you do not. I feel like a traveller descended from Mars, astonished at what passes here. What I see is the same human frailty passed from generation to generation. We hate one another. We are the victims of irrational fears.
He straightens his spine. Winces slightly, with the pain of it.
NELS You may think this is a small trial. In a small place. Well, it isn’t. Every once in awhile. Somewhere in the world. Humanity goes on trial. And integrity. And decency. Every once in awhile, common folks get called on to give the report card for the human race.
The eyes are watering. But the voice gains strength.
NELS In the name of humanity. Do your duty as jurors. Return this man to his wife and children. Set him free. As you must.
Von Sydow did that very well.
Scott Hicks, of course, is an Australian, though born in Uganda. I see Hicks was a finalist in 2008 for the Australian of the Year Awards.
I read David Guterson’s novel Snow Falling on Cedars some years ago and rather liked it. Subsequently it has appeared on the HSC lists. I do recall The Rabbit rather despising it, and from a literary viewpoint he may have some reason for that, but I felt it was better than average in that respect, and way above average in the significance of its themes. The film is a real work of art, perhaps even better than the book.
