All language subtitles for Snow.Falling.on.Cedars.1999.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG2_English

(CREAKING NOISE)

(CREAKING CONTINUES)

(MATCH STRIKING)

(BLOWING HORN)

(BLOWING)

(SEAGULLS SCREECHING)

(THUNDERCLAPS)

MAN 1: Move the net.
MAN 2: This way?

MAN 1: Yeah, yeah.

(SEAGULLS CAWING)

(MEN GRUNTING)

MAN 2: We're not
supposed to take these.

MAN 1:
Don't worry about it.

Just get the net in.

Oh, Jesus!

Kinda tough.

MAN 2: We're not pulling
at the same time.

(RETCHES)

What? Jesus!

(RETCHING)

SHERIFF: So, did any more
of you guys see Carl at Ship
Channel Bank last night?

FISHERMAN 1:
What do you
wanna know for?

To see if somebody
talked to him.

Fish went sour
when the fog rolled in.
I got out of there.

We got Ferry, Hartwell,
Molton, Miyamoto.

Anybody else?
Japs!

I figured you'd
have heard by now.

All right.

If you see any
of these guys...

Art's starting to sound
like a real sheriff.

MAN: Think this was
just an accident.

Of course it is.

But a man's dead.
I've gotta write
my report. Guys!

Chambers, tell me.

I'm not gonna pick up
your newspaper
and read some article

about an investigation,
am I?

You want me to lie?

No, no. I just wanna be
off the darn record.

That's what I want.

I mean, if there's a killer,
why would you want them
all alerted?

So there is
a murder investigation.

I didn't say that!

(SQUAWKING)

Now don't touch anything.

BOY: Catch him.
Better hurry up!

Hi.

Hatsue?

Hatsue?
You all right?

Go away, Ishmael.

I just wanted
to tell you...

Go away.

OFFICER: There you go,
Miyamoto.

Sir.

Morning, Kazuo.

I've come to get you off.

Good morning, sir.

Counselor.

Sorry I'm late.

That's all right.

Looks like we have
a good turnout.

How about that jury?
What a bunch of yokels.

Have you seen this
Island Review rag?

Guy writes like this trial
is the biggest thing
ever happened.

MAN 2: Tell me why
this is news in Seattle?

MAN 1: Because he's a Jap.
Simple as that.

MAN 2: Hey,
take a look at that.

(WHISTLES SOFTLY)

(LAUGHING)

(CHILD SPEAKING JAPANESE)

HOOKS: Would you tell us
please, Sheriff,

what was your
first impression
as you and your deputy

inspected the Susan Marie
that fateful
September morning?

(SIGHS)
Mainly, how quiet
it was out there.

And things just
didn't add up.

"Add up."
What do you mean?

A fisherman drowned.
It happens sometimes.

But Carl Heine...
I got to thinking.

He was so meticulous.
He did everything
right by the darn book.

His lights are on, Art,
every single one.

And his net's out.

I got a bad feeling
about this.

Don't say that, Abel.

Don't even think like that.
Jesus.

(CREAKING)

There's nothing
in the hold, Art,
apart from fish.

You wanna pull up
the net?

HOOKS: So looking
at the evidence there,

you determined
this was no accident.

Well, no.
I didn't determine
much of anything at first.

I just kept wondering
what I was gonna say
to his family.

After all, I knew the guy.
I knew his wife
and children, and...

(CHICKENS CLUCKING)

Hey.
Hi.

Is your mother home?

She's inside.

Go on and play now.

(TICKING)

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Susan Marie?

SUSAN MARIE: Come in!
I'll be right down.

(DOOR CREAKS)

(DOOR CLOSES)

(CLOCK TICKING)

Hey. What can I do
for you, Art?

Carl's not home yet.
That's why I...

That's why I'm here.

I'm afraid I've got
some very bad news
to tell you.

The worst kind of news.

Carl died last night
out at Ship Channel Bank.

No, no.
Carl's just fine.

I found him,
Susan Marie.

I found him tangled
in his net.

(CHILD COUGHING)

I knew this would happen.

I warned him.

(CHILD CRYING)

NELS GUDMUNDSSON:
Well, Sheriff,

you said there was no sign
of a struggle.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Uh, well,

as I said, with a fella
as particular as Carl,

there were a couple of things
that struck me as odd, yeah.

You mentioned
the coffee cup
on the floor.

(CLEARS THROAT)
Was there anything else
out of place?

Uh, there was
a dead battery
just lying around.

The cover
to the battery well
didn't fit right.

NELS: A battery cover
that didn't fit.

What did you make
of that?

Objection.
Asking the witness
to speculate.

Gosh, Alvin,
was I supposed to object
every time you did that?

That's quite enough
horseplay, Nels.
Try and act your age.

If I did that,
Your Honor,
I'd be dead.

(CROWD LAUGHING)

JUDGE: Proceed, gentlemen.

There's an objection,
Your Honor.

And it's overruled.

You may answer
the question.

I looked under the lid,
and one of the batteries
was bigger than the other.

NELS: Didn't that also
strike you as odd,

that he would have
a battery that didn't fit,
a man as particular as Carl?

Oh, yeah.
No, I wondered.

But he'd done some
on-the-spot work,
you see.

And the flange
was kind of banged away

to make room for the one
that was too big.

Would this "too big" battery
have fit, say,

in Kazuo Miyamoto's
battery well?

It was the exact same type
as Miyamoto's.
That's for sure.

But, he had both
of his batteries in

when we searched his boat
later on, so, I...

CORONER WHALEY: When you
fall off a motorcycle,
the injuries look different.

Now, in this case,
the injury
had been inflicted

by a long, narrow,
flat object.

HOOKS: Like a fishing gaff,
for example?

WHALEY:
That's very possible.

Yeah.

HOOKS: Now, um, you say
it was a laceration about
two and a half inches long...

WHALEY: He was hit hard.

...over the left ear.

Wanna play
Sherlock Holmes?

The bone under it
fractured over
a four-inch area.

What would've caused that?

I'll tell you what
a head wound like this
puts me in mind of.

I've seen wounds
exactly like this...

...many times in the war.

Have you seen this
specific kind of wound
before?

Frequently. As a result
of hand-to-hand combat
with Jap soldiers.

I told Art,
"You wanna play
Sherlock Holmes,

"look for a Jap
with a bloody gun butt."

HOOKS: What led you
to that conclusion?

WHALEY: I've seen these
kendo wounds many times.
Exactly like this one.

Could you tell us
what kendo is?

(SHOUTS COMMAND)

(STICKS CLICKING)
(CHILD WHINING)

WHALEY:
Kendo is Japanese
stick fighting.

They train as kids,
you know,
to kill with sticks.

Hmm.

HOOKS:
No further questions.
Thank you.

(SHOUTS COMMAND)

(SHOUTS)

(SPEAKING JAPANESE)

(CHILD WHINING)

NELS: Your report states
it was death by drowning,
not a kendo.

How did you determine this?

As I've already testified,

I found foam
in the deceased's lungs.

Ah, yes. This foam.

I'm not sure
I understand
about this, Horace.

What would
cause that again?

It occurs when water,
mucus and air are mixed
by respiration.

Breathing, that is.
I believe I said that.

But you can see
why I'm confused.

Because a drowned person
doesn't breath, so...

Of course not.
The foam means that
he went in breathing.

That's why the autopsy report
indicates drowning
as the cause of death.

I see. Meaning that
he wasn't murdered first,

say on the deck of the boat,
and then thrown overboard.

Well, you can always...

Thank you, Horace.
That's important.
That's good.

But there's something else
I'd like to ask you about.
(CLEARS THROAT)

Something in your report.
Um...

Go ahead, ask.

NELS: About the wound
to the deceased's head.

You say here that
it was made by a long,
narrow, flat object.

Is that what you saw,
or is it just
your inference?

It's my job to infer.
That's what coroners do.
We infer.

That's my area of expertise.
Inference.

Of course it is.
Of course, Horace.

Can you infer, then,
whether an object
was propelled

against the head
of the deceased,

or if his head moved
against an object, or
would both look the same?

The same.

So if the head struck
something narrow and flat,

like the gunnel of the boat,
or net roller, a fairlead,
could that have happened?

If the head were moving
fast enough, but I don't
see how it could be.

Nonetheless,
it is possible?

Sir, anything
is possible.

Is it fair to say that you
don't know for certain
which it was?

Didn't I just say...

I already said that!

But you are certain
that he died
by drowning.

For the third time, yes.
Can I say something?

No, thank you, Horace.
You've been more than helpful.

No further questions.

JUDGE: The witness
may stand down.

We'll take our
lunch recess now.
Reconvene at 1:30 sharp.

How are the kids?

They made a snowman
to welcome you home.

Wow, that's great!

Anyway,
just a few more days.

You look beautiful.
I'm not going
until you smile.

(SPEAKING JAPANESE)

I think it's dangerous
with this jury.

(CHILD LAUGHING)

Hatsue!

(SPEAKING JAPANESE)

(MAN AND GIRL
SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

(THUNDERCLAPS)

I'm sorry I kissed you
on the beach.

Let's just
forget about it.
Forget it happened.

Don't be sorry.
I'm not.

Me neither.

Do you think
this is wrong?

Your friends would.
Your dad would kill me.

My mom is the problem.

(WOMAN SPEAKING JAPANESE)

Stay away from white boys.

Marry one of your own kind
whose heart is strong
and gentle.

The hairpin should
be better placed for a girl
to find the right husband.

YOUNG HATSUE:
She teaches me
to be Japanese.

What does that mean?

Dances, calligraphy,
how to do my hair.

How to sit
without moving.

What's the point
of that?

It's a part of grace.
You boys don't understand.

Try me.

She doesn't let me
get away with anything.

It's the same for me,
except it's my dad.

Know what would
happen to an operator

who got his sleeve
caught in the press?

Huh? Do you?

He'd be popped open
in one instant like a balloon,
splattered all over the walls.

Even his bones
would disappear,

to be discovered later
on the floor like strips
of white confetti.

We'll make a newspaperman
out of you yet.

(LAUGHING)

(GIGGLING)

(MOTHER SPEAKING JAPANESE)

(BAND PLAYING MARCH)

Hey, James!

(BICYCLE BELLS RINGING)

Did you ever wonder why
the Strawberry Princess
is always a Japanese girl?

Not really.

I'm sure your father will
explain it to you anyway.

It's sort of an unwitting
virgin sacrifice.

A concept of
racial harmony.

And for a while
it seems to work.

That's the Fujita girl,
isn't it?

No, that's
Hatsue Imada.

Oh, yes.
She's lovely.

HOOKS: Mrs. Heine,

you were acquainted with
the defendant and his family,
were you not?

Ja. Him and his folks
worked our land.

They lived in one
of our cabins at first.

So the defendant
knew the deceased,
your son, even then.

(CHILD SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

They fished together.

They went to school.
My boy Carl treated him
like a white person.

Just like any friend.

HOOKS: So tell us,
Mrs. Heine, where did
things go wrong?

MRS. HEINE:
My husband went and sold

his father seven acres
of our land.

That fence to that fence,
and then down to the road.

That's seven acres.
Yeah?

No.

Where, to the edge
of the mountain? Ah!

All right.

MR. HEINE:
All right, all right.

You drive
a hard bargain.

And that's where
all this trouble started.

But how can this be?
Hmm?

Since we all know
that it is against the law

for Japanese-born
to own land.

Even leasing is illegal.

So now, what was the point
of this payment plan?

MRS. HEINE:
Their kids was born here.
So, when the oldest,

that one there,
was 20,

and last payment
gets made,
he could own it.

But they missed
their last two payments,
so that was that.

Missed their last
two payments?

After years
of not missing one?

MRS. HEINE:
It was the war.
They were gone.

They were sent off
to the camps
with all the other Japs.

We must leave everything.
If you like,
you can work our fields.

Sell berries, keep money.
Otherwise they will rot.

Today I have half money
for next payment.

Absolutely not.
I'm not going to
take your savings.

No, no.

You take money.
$125. I will send more
from where I'm going.

If not enough,
you sell my seven acres
of berries, keep money.

I thought you was
giving us those.

Didn't you come in here
giving them away?

Now you want to make up
the other half in berries

you expect us
to tend and pick?

Is that what
you come here
hoping for? (SCOFFS)

You want more coffee?

No, thank you.
Take money.

Etta has been rude to you.

For that I apologize.

Keep this money.

Those payments
will work out...

HOOK: The arrangement
was those payments
would be made...

MR. HEINE:
...somewhere down the road.

HOOKS: Somewhere
down the road.

The road ended
when my husband
passed away.

I couldn't run the farm
by myself.

So I sold all 30 acres
to Ole Jurgenson.

And for a fair
price this time.

And I sent back
their equity

to those Japs
down to that camp
in California,

which I didn't
have to do.

HOOKS: So they got
all their money back.

That was that.
Or, did you hear from
the defendant's family again?

Oh, yes, I heard from them.
I heard from that one there.

That one sitting there
just showed up at my door.

Carl's overseas.
He's fighting the Japs.

What is it you want?

I came to get
our land back!

It isn't yours.
It's Ole Jurgenson's now.
Go talk to him about it.

I just did.
He didn't know
it was our land.

You didn't tell him
Mr. Heine
promised my father...

I'm supposed to tell him
there's some illegal contract
muddling things up?

You people didn't
make your payments.

In America,
the bank comes in
and repossesses your land.

I didn't do
anything wrong.

Nothing illegal.
Wrong is a different matter.

Get out!

You took advantage
of the fact that
we were gone!

You sold the land out
from under us while I was
fighting the Nazis!

(RIFLE SHOTS)

(EXPLOSION)

MAN: (GROANING) No!

(SCREAMING)

(SPEAKING GERMAN)

(CLINKS)

HOOKS: Your witness.

Well... (COUGHING)

Uh, just three questions.

Uh, the Miyamoto family
bought your seven acres

for $4,500.

MRS. HEINE: They tried to.
They defaulted
on their payments.

Second question:
What did Ole Jurgenson
pay you per acre?

A thousand.

I guess that makes
what would have been $4,500

into $7,000,
doesn't it?

So, if you sent
the equity back,

you had a profit
of $2,500.

Is that
your third question?

It is.

You've done
your math right.

You too, Mrs. Heine.
No further questions.

JUDGE: You may
step down, Mrs. Heine.

Before we adjourn
for the day,
there's one more thing.

This court takes
judicial notice of
the fact that tomorrow

is the ninth anniversary
of the attack on Pearl Harbor,

which has no relationship
whatsoever to this trial.

Which is why I mention it.

(POUNDS GAVEL)

9:30 tomorrow morning.

Stay warm.

MAN: They plowed
clear out to the point.
What's the big attraction?

ISHMAEL: I'm checking
lighthouse records

to see if it's the biggest
snowstorm in history.

Where were you in '29?
That was a snowstorm.

A real blizzard.

Is that right?

You don't believe me,
check those coast guard
records if you want proof.

There should be
a story in it.

Scribble, scribble,
while the rest of us
have to work for a living.

Always a pleasure,
Dave.

(MEOWS)

Everything's dated.
That's how we do things.
By dates mainly.

Radio transmissions,
shipping logs,
weather reports.

The whole nine yards.
Those stacks go
clear back to Noah.

Not that anyone
pays them any mind.

You monitor
all radio activity?

Fishermen,
that sort of thing?

Pretty much.
Anything significant,
anyway.

Some of these guys
don't know when to shut up.

Well, just yell
if you need me.

Left is as good
as right.

Your move.

(WIND WHISTLING)

(MUTTERING)

"Correcting course
via Ship Channel Bank."

"S.S. West Corona,
pilot relays position
somewhere off south buoy 56.

"At 1:48 a.m.,
S.S. West Corona

"made a corrective
dogleg to the northwest.

"Ship's navigator took
three insurance readings."

(CREAKING)

Hey, Levant?

Here's the shipping channel.
So, any freighter off course
can dogleg back through here.

But that only happens
if we're really socked in.

Don't the gillnetters
work off this bank?

Not even they're crazy enough
to hang around in a bad fog.
They get the hell out.

LEVANT: What's this
got to do with your
snowstorm story?

ISHMAEL: Nothing.
Just curious, that's all.

ISHMAEL'S MOTHER:
That doesn't
make him guilty.

This island ought
to be ashamed.

ISHMAEL: It's not
as simple as that.

I followed
every second of it.

The evidence
sounds very solid.

This prosecutor
has his facts
all lined up.

You haven't heard
the defense case yet.

You sound as if
you're ready to hang him.

Besides, you can't
depend on facts,
not by themselves.

What else is there?
Emotions?

Facts you can cling to.
Emotions just float away.

Then let them.

(LAUGHS)

(WIND HOWLING)

ISHMAEL: Hatsue.

I love you.

You smell like cedar.

So do you.

(HATSUE WHISPERING)

I can hear your
heart beating.

HATSUE: Dear Ishmael.
I can't think of anything
more painful

than writing
this letter to you.

I feel I have to
tell you the truth.

ISHMAEL: I know it's late.

I went by the lighthouse
and found a report
that stated...

Just came across some
information I thought might be
relevant to Kazuo's case.

I went by the lighthouse
and found a report
that stated

a giant freighter
passed through
at the exact time that Carl...

Which I think is something
that should have
been discussed...

ISHMAEL: Hatsue.

I love you.

(ISHMAEL AND HATSUE
LAUGHING)

Hey.

Not just Hawaii.
They're attacking
all over the Pacific.

The whole fleet's destroyed!

The FBI is in Seattle now
arresting Jap traitors.

Spies and everything.

The defense commissioner
reckons anything can happen.

There'll be a black list.

(TYPEWRITER KEYS CLICKING)
These people
are our neighbors.

BUS DRIVER: Make sure you
paper up your windows so
the Japs won't find us.

ISHMAEL'S FATHER:
They've sent their sons
to the United States Army.

They're no more an enemy
than our fellow islanders
of German descent,

of German or
Italian descent.

You get the message?

ISHMAEL: Mr. Lamberson?

We get the message.

ISHMAEL'S FATHER:
Let us live that
when it is over

we can look each
other in the eye

and know that we
have acted honorably.

(TYPEWRITER KEYS CLICKING)

Set that for me,
would you?

ISHMAEL: "Let us live

"that when it is over

"we can look each other

"in the eye

"and know that we

"have acted honorably."

The FBI has arrested
Mr. Shirasaki and his family
can't leave their house.

Hey.

Everything
will be all right.

I promise.

(CAR DOOR SLAMS SHUT)
(MEN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)

We are loyal.

It's for our defense.

Everyone on the island
has these things.

INVESTIGATOR 1:
They'll hold on to
this stuff a little bit,

then ship it
back to you.

Nothing to worry about.

You folks have been
real polite.

Be out of your hair
in just a second.

That's very nice.
From the old country,
it appears.

Very high-class.

These are, uh,
real nice things.

They'll take
special care of 'em.

Any old-country stuff
we have to take.

(AGENT WHISTLING)

Strawberry Princess, huh?

You must've been
flattered by that.

INVESTIGATOR 2:
Hey, Crawford, guess
what was in the shed?

Dynamite.

Twenty-four sticks.

This for tree stumps.

For clearing land.

INVESTIGATOR 1:
Maybe, but this
is still bad, see?

INVESTIGATOR 2:
It's illegal contraband.

You're supposed
to turn that in.

Now we've gotta arrest you
and bring you to Seattle.

We don't need those.
Mr. Imada- san is a class act,
a real gentleman.

You can't do this.
He's done nothing wrong!

Best for an honest man
to clear his name,
for good and all.

Excuse me.
Would you mind?

No, no, no, no, no.

(CHIME TINKLING)

(MEN TALKING QUIETLY)

(FAMILY CRYING)

ISHMAEL:
Journalism is the facts.
Which facts?

You can't print them all.
Journalism is
making choices.

Culling out
what's unimportant.

MAN 1: You know
what happens
to Jap lovers?

Jap lovers
get their balls cut off,
shoved down their throats.

(DIAL TONE)

(RINGING)

MAN 2:
Better watch your step.

(DIAL TONE)

It's unbelievable to me.

I don't know, Mom.
The P.T.A. honors 23 women.

Dad singles out three names
and they're all Japanese.

That's not journalism.
It's propaganda.

HELEN:
This is dangerous, Arthur.

ARTHUR: It'll blow over.

HELEN:
Did you see the letters?

(SCOFFS)
"Seems like you're
favoring the Japs, Art.

"Your newspaper's an insult
to all white Americans.

"Please cancel
my subscription."

What are you gonna do?

Send him a refund.

What happened
to the Petersen ad
I put together?

They pulled out.

So did the gas station.

And Larsen,
and the cafe.

What now?

Print four pages
instead of eight.

"Please tell Sumiko
to help her mother
with the garden work.

(GIRLS GIGGLING)

"We are digging trenches
for a water system.

"I am folding and ironing
clothing in the laundry."

The hakujin, they are
no better than animals!

Not all of them.

How would you know?

Because I live
here among them.
So do you!

You speak
with great assurance.

The words fly
from your mouth.

I don't care what you say.

Do you hear me?
I don't want
to be Japanese!

(CRYING)

ISHMAEL:
Marry me, Hatsue.

(BELL TOLLING)

(CRYING)

Please say yes.

We'll leave here.

HATSUE: Are you crazy?

I want you to marry me.

(BELL TOLLING CONTINUES)

(TOLLING STOPS)

(BICYCLE BELLS RINGING)

(BICYCLE BELLS RINGING)

(RINGING CONTINUES)

(SEAGULLS SQUAWKING)

(INDISTINCT)

(SINGING QUIETLY)

So, Dr. Whitman, sir,
you found...

(THUNDERCLAPS)

...blood on the gaff.
(CLEARS THROAT)

It was not fish blood
at all.

It was human, yes?

Type B positive.

Carl Heine's type.

Yes, but you can't say
with any certainty
that the blood was his.

WHITMAN:
No, but as I say
the type is rare.

10% of Caucasian males.
Whereas the defendant
is type O.

NELS: Yes, sir, you told us.
No one is contesting that.

But you also told us
that you scraped
the dry blood

from the handle of the...

An object was
propelled against...

(INDISTINCT TALKING)

(GAVEL BANGS)

The State calls
Mrs. Susan Marie Heine.

Can you think back
for me to the morning
of September 8th?

The morning after
your husband

purchased the Jurgenson farm.

One week before his death.

(INAUDIBLE)

Did the defendant
come calling that day
to speak to your husband?

CARL: It's no big deal.

It's a long story.

He wants to buy seven
of Ole's acres.

The ones his family had.
You know that thing
my mother talks about?

Had a feeling it was that.
What did you tell him?

What could I tell him?
There's my mother
to think about.

You know her.
Uh-huh.

I said I'd think it over,
and have a talk with you.

He go away angry?

I couldn't tell.
Kazuo's a Jap.
You can't read Japs.

Don't say that.
You don't mean that.

You fished together.
You and he were friends.

We were kids then.

(BABY COUGHING)

(CHILDREN TALKING
INDISTINCTLY)

NELS:
So your husband said
he'd think it over.

He encouraged Mr. Miyamoto
to believe he might...

I... Well, I wouldn't
say encouraged.

But he didn't say no.
He didn't say
no hope existed.

Not in those words.

So the defendant
was encouraged to hope.

How could anyone know
what he hopes for

or anything else
he's thinking?

But, Mrs. Heine,

you really think
that's fair?

Objection!

That's totally irrelevant.

There's nothing
more relevant
in this courtroom!

You know that as well
as anybody.
Your Honor.

Gentlemen, please!
Back to your corners.

Mrs. Heine,
I'm very sorry for
this little interruption.

I have no further questions.

JUDGE:
Thank you, Mrs. Heine.
You may step down.

HOOKS: The State rests,
Your Honor.

JUDGE: Very well.
Mr. Gudmundsson, the defense
may call its first witness.

NELS: The defense calls
Mrs. Hatsue Miyamoto.

HATSUE: My husband
came home excited.

He woke me with the news.

He told me he helped Carl
at sea.

And Carl had agreed
to sell us the land.

We started making plans
right away.

NELS: When did you
first learn that
Carl Heine had drowned?

HATSUE: 1:00 that afternoon
from a clerk at Petersen's.

HATSUE: Kazuo? Kazuo?

(BABY CRYING)
What is it?

Carl Heine's dead.
It's all over
the island.

What do you mean?

He drowned!
They found him
in his net.

Poor Susan Marie
and those kids.

I can't believe it.
How horrible.

(BABY CRYING)

Gotta get to the boat,
replace that battery.

What are you talking about?

I was on his boat
last night, remember?

HATSUE: Yeah,
but you were helping him.
Tell the Sheriff.

KAZUO: Are you kidding?
You think they're gonna
believe me?

It's the truth, isn't it?

KAZUO: That's right.
Let's just leave it at that.

(WIND BLOWING)

(BANGING AND CREAKING)

So,

your husband came home
agitated after his encounter
at sea with the deceased?

I said "excited,"
not "agitated."

He was excited in the sense
of being overjoyed.

You were, um,
overjoyed yourself
to hear the news?

Happy for him,
and relieved.

Uh-huh. So then
you and your husband,
you must've called...

Well, uh, friends
and relatives

to tell them
the happy news, yes?

No.

HOOKS: Really?

You didn't call your mother,
your sisters,
about starting a new life?

Your husband, he never tells
his family the family honor's
been vindicated?

No.

We decided not
to tell anyone

until we signed papers
in case something
went wrong.

Then something did.

Carl Heine was found dead.

With his head crushed.

Yes. And then,
what was there
to call about?

Everything was up
in the air.

"Up in the air."
Was that your reaction?

So, apart from your concern
about a land deal evaporating,
what was your reaction

to the news that a husband
and father to small children
was dead

with his skull bashed in?

If you mean to imply
that we didn't care
about Carl's death,

that is wrong
and insulting.

I see. I see.
Then did it occur to you
to come forward

and tell Sheriff Moran
what you knew about
this encounter in the fog?

The dead battery, was it?

We discussed that,
and decided not to.

Why not?

Because things looked bad.
Very bad!

Kazuo and I knew that.

We thought
he could end up here
on trial for murder.

And that's exactly
what has happened.

But if truth
was on your side,

whatever were you
worried about?

Trials aren't
only about truth,
Mr. Hooks,

even though
they should be.

So you hid the truth
deliberately.
You lied, didn't you?

We were afraid
to come forward.
Seemed like a mistake.

Doesn't it seem to you
that your mistake
was in being deceitful

and deliberately concealing
information during the course
of a sheriff's investigation?

It seems human to me.

I suppose you mean that
somehow excuses your lies?

I don't know,
Mrs. Miyamoto.
I just...

I don't understand.
I'm completely at a loss.

I mean to say, how on earth
can you expect any of us
to believe you now?

Question withdrawn,
Your Honor.

Wait a minute!
I haven't had a chance.

No further questions.

That's enough,
Mrs. Miyamoto.
Not another word.

The fact that
you wish to speak,

that you might like
to give Mr. Hooks
a piece of your mind,

that just isn't allowed,
Mrs. Miyamoto.

Very well.
Mr. Gudmundsson,
will you redirect...

(GAVEL BANGING)

Under the circumstances,
we will adjourn early.

9:30 tomorrow.
(GAVEL BANGS)

(JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO)

This is a very fine car.

Much better
than the new ones.

Well,
it was my father's.

HISAO: He was a good man.

ISHMAEL: I know
it's caused you trouble,

but the snow's beautiful,
isn't it?

Yes, very beautiful.

This trial is unfair.

Your father would
have written about that
in his paper.

What would he have said?

How this trial is wrong!
The whole thing is unfair!

Sometimes I think unfairness
is a part of things.

I'm not talking about
the whole universe.

I'm talking about people.
The coroner, that prosecutor.

You! You could do
something to help.

Is that what you think?

Maybe I should write
an article. Yes.

About unfairness.

About all the unfair things
people do to each other.

(SWING MUSIC PLAYING)

(INAUDIBLE)

Excuse me,
Mrs. Chambers.

The Japanese people
of the island
are saddened by this loss.

Your husband was a man
of great fairness
and compassion for others.

A friend to us
and to all people.

We know you will follow
in his footsteps, Ishmael,

and honor his legacy.

Thank you.

(DOOR OPENS)

You should stay
the night.

Don't drive back
through this.

I've got an early start.

This room is full
of ghosts, isn't it?

I hate to see you
this way.

I don't know
what you mean.

She's married, Ishmael.

Look, it's awfully cold
in here. Let's talk
in the kitchen.

I don't wanna talk
about anything.

You're just like
your father.

I'm not just like my father!
I know everyone wishes I was.

Whenever they look at me,
I hear them thinking,

"He's only half the man
his father was."

I was only going to say
he never minded the cold.

It's not such
a terrible thing,

being your father's son.

(TEA KETTLE WHISTLING)

(WHISTLING STOPS)

RADIO DEEJAY:
...well-organized rhythm,

as the men of
the dance band take over
and start the air-jumping

to the tune of Walter
Donaldson's hit of the '20s,
My Blue Heaven.

(LAUGHING)

Pardon us, your majesty.

Who's your lover boy?

(ALL SHOUTING)

HATSUE: Give it back!

Does this explain
your eagerness to walk
in the woods every day?

Does it?

Answer me!

"Dear Ishmael,

"I can't think of
anything more painful

"than writing
this letter to you.

"I feel I have
to tell you the truth.

"When we met the last time
in the cedar tree,

"and I felt your body
move against mine...

"When we met
the last time
in the cedar tree,

"and I felt your body
move against mine,

"I knew with certainty

"that everything was wrong.

"I knew we could
never be right together.

"And that soon
I would have to tell you so.

"And now, with this letter,

"I am telling you.

(EXPLOSIONS)

"This is the last time
I'll write to you.

"I'm not yours anymore.

"I don't love you, Ishmael.

"I can think of
no more honest way to say it.

"When I heard
your heart beating

"as we lay together,

"I felt closer to you
than I had ever been
to anyone.

"I felt closer to you
than I had ever been
to anyone.

"And I knew,

"when I heard
your heart beating,

"it could not last forever.

"This is the last time
I'll ever write to you.

"I knew with certainty

"that everything was wrong.

"I loved you,
and I didn't love you
at the same moment.

"I can think of no more
honest way to say it.

"I don't love you, Ishmael.

"I knew it. I can think of
no more honest way to say it.

"I loved you,
and I didn't love you
at the same moment.

"I'm going to move on
with my life as best I can.

"And I hope that
you will, too.

"I don't love you, Ishmael.

"I can think of
no more honest way to say it.

"Whenever we were together,
I knew it.

"I loved you,
and I didn't love you
at the same moment.

(MACHINE GUN FIRING)

(BOMBS EXPLODING)

"You must live.

"I must say goodbye to you.

(EXPLOSIONS)

"I know you will
do great things
in this world.

"You have a gentle heart.

"A good heart.

"I will never forget you,

"and the time
we spent together."

WOMAN: Scissors.

Retractor.

A regular clamp.

Fuckin' Jap bitch.

(CLANGING)

(HUMMING)

(CHANTING IN JAPANESE)

(INAUDIBLE)

HATSUE'S SISTER: (LAUGHING)
Hatsue! Hatsue!

HATSUE: Are they really
gonna send you to Europe?
I think so.

Why did you
have to volunteer?

(GIRL SPEAKING JAPANESE)

They'll hear everything.

Wouldn't some music
be nice?

(INAUDIBLE)

(ROMANTIC MUSIC PLAYING)

FEMALE SINGER:
* Moon over Burma

* Smiling above

* They say that you

* Are the one little garden
of love

* Moon over Burma

* Heavenly light

Have you ever
done this before?

Never.
You're my only.

(MOANING)

MAN: Do you swear
to tell the truth,
the whole truth

and nothing but the truth,
so help you God?

I do.

KAZUO: I heard an air horn
and saw a lantern in the fog.

CARL: Is that you,
Miyamoto?

And another one
in Carl's hand.

What's up, Carl?

My batteries
are drawed down,
both of them.

The generator belts
were loose.

Lantern and air horn's
all I got.
I'm dead here.

KAZUO: No problem.

We'll pull one of my batteries
and get you started.

That thing's big,
but it'll fit if I bang
the flange out of the way.

We can use this
to hammer with.

For the life of me,
I cannot imagine why you kept
this story from the Sheriff.

Why?

I didn't have a lawyer.

Even after you had
an attorney, you still
claimed to know nothing.

You claimed not
to have seen Carl.

Am I correct?
Yes, initially.

Well.

"Initially."
That's an interesting word.
You'd been arrested.

You had a lawyer.
You still claimed
ignorance.

I should've told everything.
I wouldn't be here if I had.

"Should've told everything."

Meaning you should've
told the truth.

NELS: But is that the truth?
The whole truth?

Is it?

KAZUO: You don't wanna
hear the whole truth.

Why don't you try me?

The whole truth is,
I wanted to kill him.

But did you?

(GRUNTING)

Nothing to say?

CARL: It'll take me
a while to charge up.

KAZUO: We'll catch up
on the dock.

HOOK: Nothing to say?

I didn't know that
was a question.

HOOKS: Oh, my apologies.

Do you regret
not telling the truth?

I have told the truth.

You mean this morning.
The battery story.
That one is the truth?

That's a question, sir.

Yes.

And I told it
long before this morning.

You said in
your testimony that,

"I slept until 1:30
when my wife woke me
with the news.

"We talked for a while,
then I went straight
to my boat."

You didn't go anywhere else.
Just straight to your boat.

Is that the truth?
Yes.

Well, the Sheriff found
two batteries in your well.

If, as you claim,
you left one with Carl,

how's that possible?

I had a spare battery
in my shed.

I brought it down
and put it in just before
the Sheriff showed up.

Conveniently,
in your shed.

Why does the battery story
change every time
a new question's raised?

You asked me if I went
straight to the boat.
I did, with the battery.

And the new line, too?
Was that in your shed?

You have a regular
chandlery in there?

When you have no answer,
you sit in silence
with no expression?

You're a hard man
to trust, sir.

NELS: Objection!

JUDGE: Sustained.

You know better than that,
Mr. Hooks.

Either ask questions
that count for something

or sit down and
have done with it.

JUDGE: Mr. Hooks!

Shame on you.

No further questions.

HOOKS: Believing
that Etta Heine's son

would never
sell him the land,

land that in his mind,
belonged to his family.

His only chance to get
that land would be to
eliminate Carl Heine.

Thus believing that
cold-blooded murder
was justified,

he trailed Carl Heine.

...leapt aboard striking
the treacherous blow

he had been trained to strike
by his father's hand.

After a series of lies,

the defendant at last
admits he was there,

alone on the boat,
in the fog.

Carl Heine's blood
on his fishing gaff.

CARL: Seven acres.

I just wonder
what you'd pay for 'em.
Just curious, is all.

What are you selling 'em for?
Why don't we start there?

Did I say
I was sellin'?

If I was,
I guess I'd have to figure
you want 'em real bad.

I ought to charge
a small fortune, maybe.

All right,
I'm sorry about it, okay?

About the whole damn mess.

Twelve hundred
an acre.

That's what I paid Ole.
You got no choice on that.

We'll sign off tomorrow.

HOOKS: Look clearly
at the defendant.

See the truth
self-evident in him.

And in the facts
of this case.

Look into his eyes,
ladies and gentlemen.

Consider his face.

Ask yourself,

each one of you,

"What is my duty
as a citizen
of this community?

"Of this country?

"As an American?"

(NELS CLEARS THROAT)

NELS: There's no evidence
of anger at Carl,

much less rage,
much less murderous rage.

No reason
for premeditation.

No evidence of it
anywhere.

He had asked
his childhood friend Carl
to sell him some land.

Carl was considering it.
Carl's own wife testified

that her husband
had not made up his mind.

(CLEARS THROAT)
A strange moment
to follow and kill a man.

Don't you think?

What Mr. Hooks
asks you to believe is
that no proof is needed

against a man
who bombed Pearl Harbor.

(SIGHS)

"Look at his face,"
the prosecutor said,

presuming that you will see
an enemy there.

He's counting on you
to remember this war,

and to see Kazuo Miyamoto
as somehow connected
with it.

Indeed he is!

Let us recall
that First Lieutenant
Kazuo Miyamoto

is a much decorated hero
of the United States Army.

Now,

Kazuo Miyamoto did
one thing wrong.

He wasn't certain
he could trust us.

He was afraid
that he would be made
the victim of prejudice,

as Mr. Hooks, indeed,
is urging you to do.

And there's reason
in his uncertainty.

Why? Well,
we sent him and his wife

and thousands of Americans
to concentration camps.

They lost their homes,
their belongings,
everything!

Should we now be unforgiving
of his mistrust?

(SIGHS)

Now,

our learned prosecutor
will have you do your duty
as Americans.

Proud Americans.

And, 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,

of equality
and justice.

And if you are true
to these principles,

you'll only convict a man
for what he's done,
and not for who he is.

I... I'm an old man.

I... I don't walk
so well anymore.

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
that I ponder matters

in the light of death,

in a way that most of you
do not.

And I feel like a traveler
descended from Mars,

astounded by what
I see here.

The same human frailty

passed on from generation
to generation.

We hate one another.
We are the victims

of irrational fears,
of prejudice.

(SIGHS)

You might think
that this is a small trial
in a small place.

Hmm? Well,

it isn't.

Every once in a while,
somewhere in the world,
humanity goes on trial.

And integrity.

And decency.

Every once in a while,

ordinary people
just like you,
ladies and gentlemen,

get called on to give
the report card
for the human race.

In the name of humanity,
do your duty as jurors.

Return this man
to his wife and children.

Set him free,

as you must.

Good night,
Mrs. Miyamoto.

ISHMAEL: Please.

I know you'll think
this is crazy.

But all I want to do
is hold you,

and I think that
if you'll let me do that
just for a few seconds,

I can walk away,
and never speak
to you again.

Hatsue, can you
please look at me?

(SEAGULLS SQUAWKING)

I did a terrible thing,
Ishmael.

But you have to hear this.

I can never touch you.

You have to let go.

That's the way things are!

Things end, Ishmael.

They do.

You have to let go.

(KNOCKING)

I went by the lighthouse
and I found a report

that stated
a giant freighter

passed through
the Ship Channel Bank

at the exact time
of Carl Heine's death.

Which I think is something
that should have been
discussed at the trial.

I can't believe I let you
rope me into this.

We've been
over these boats
a dozen times.

ISHMAEL:
If there's a lantern
on Carl's mast,

then Miyamoto's
story's true.

See? No lantern.

What are those?

Nothing, bits of twine.

Bits of twine
aren't nothing.

Maybe we should take
a look at those.

Yeah.

Don't touch
anything up there.

It's still a crime scene.
Remember?

Don't ever touch something
at a crime scene.

Don't the phrase,
"The jury's out"
mean anything to you?

They're lashings, Art.

Figure-eight lashings
all cut through.

And you know
something, Art?

These stains here
on the mast,
they could be blood.

The cut on his hand.

See this?

ISHMAEL: Art,
I think you better
come down here.

Something you should see.

What the hell
is it now?

What?
Take a look at this.

Hmm.

JUDGE:
This better be good.

I can admit evidence at
this point only if required
in the interest of justice.

Only if it changes
everything.

Nels explained that
to you?

Yes, he did.

JUDGE: Very well then.
About this second lantern
and the freighter.

ISHMAEL: After Miyamoto left,
and Carl's engine
was up and running,

he must have remembered
the lantern, so he climbs up
to cut it down.

(SHIP'S ENGINE CHUGGING)

(SCREAMS)

ISHMAEL: Everything fits:
The Coast Guard report,

the lanterns,
the freighter's course.

The coffee cup,
the time on Carl's watch,

and Carl's blood
on the fishing gaff.

Your Honor, that is
the rankest speculation.

Alvin, please spare me.

With all due respect...
You listen here!

We're going to hear
this theory out.

And if justice demands it,
we're gonna let
the jury hear it, too,

just in case
it might be the truth!

JUDGE: The head wound?

ISHMAEL: We found
a small fracture
in the gunnel

just below the mast.

Anything could've
caused that.

Anything with human hair.

HOOKS: Why?

May I?

This isn't a legal case.

There's no way to prove
any of this, Your Honor.

This certainly warrants
a fresh look.

I want to
think about it.

By the way,
this Coast Guard report,

when did you
come across it?

Was it today you went out
to the lighthouse?

Day before yesterday.

Oh.

You're wondering
why I held on to it.

Perhaps I have some idea.

Could it have
anything to do

with the way
you look at her?

It takes a rare thing,

a turning point,

to free one's self
from any obsession.

Be it prejudice or hate
or even love.

I had to, really.

I had no choice.

You're sounding
just a little
like your father.

Did I ever tell you
how much I liked him?

I keep thinking
about Carl.
How unfair it seems.

An accident.
Just like that.

Things just bear down on us,
I suppose.

A freighter in the fog.

Or a war.

Accident rules every corner
of the universe.

Except maybe
the chambers
of the human heart.

Morning, Horace.
Reminds you of 1930,
doesn't it?

1929, Nels.
I believe you're
thinking of 1929.

Of course it was,
Horace.
Winter of '29.

MAN: All rise.
The Superior Court
for the State of Washington,

County of San Piedro,
is now in session.

Members of the jury,
this court thanks you
for your diligence

in the task you have performed
under difficult circumstances.

However, in the light
of the new forensic
evidence we have heard,

you are hereby discharged
from your responsibilities.

(MURMURING)

Order.

Order. You will
resume your seats.

Settle down.

Let us not forget

we have been considering
the death of one man,

as well as pondering
the fate of another.

Will the defendant
please rise?

Kazuo Miyamoto,
in the interest
of justice,

the charges against you
are dismissed.

You're free to go home.

(CROWD EXCLAIMING)

(MOUTHING)

It's been a pleasure
serving with you.

(INDISTINCT)

(REPORTERS CLAMORING)

(BABY CRYING)

(INAUDIBLE)

HATSUE: Ishmael.

Can I hold you now?

(SOBBING)

I'm so grateful
for your gentle heart.