Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) Movie Script
[Creaking Noise]
[Creaking Continues]
[Creaking]
[Match Striking]
[Horn Blowing]
[Horn Blowing]
[Horn Blowing]
[Seagulls Screeching]
[Thunderclaps]
[Man] Move the net. This way?
Yeah, yeah.
[Seagulls Cawing]
[Men Grunting]
We're not supposed to take
these. Don't worry about it.
Just get the net in.
Oh, Jesus!
Kinda tough.
We're not pullin'
at the same time.
Jesus!
[Gagging]
[Gagging]
Did any more of you guys see Carl
out at Ship Channel Bank last night?
What do you
wanna know for?
To see if anybody 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]
[Indistinct Chattering]
Catch him.
Better hurry up!
Hi.
Hatsue?
Hatsue?
You all right?
Go away, Ishmael.
I just wanted to tell you... Go away.
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 'bout that jury?
What a bunch of yokels.
Have you seen
the Silent 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]
[Laughing]
[Child Chattering
In 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? Afisherman
drowned. It happens sometimes. You know.
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's Voice] 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 wonderin' 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]
Susan Marie?
[Susan Marie] Come
in! I'll be right down.
[Door Creaks,
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]
That's what happened?
I warned him.
[Child Crying]
[Crying Continues]
[Nels Gudmundsson's Voice]
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's Voice] 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. [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's Voice] 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's Voice] 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.
Like a fishing gaff, for
example? That's very possible.
Yeah. [Hooks's Voice]
Now, um, you say...
it was a laceration about two and
a half inches long, 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]
Hah!
[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]
[Child Whining]
[Nels] Your report states it was
death by drowning, not a kendo wound.
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?
- Sure, 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!
[Kazuo]
Anyway, just a few more days.
You look beautiful.
I'm not going until you smile.
[Japanese]
I think it's dangerous
with this jury.
[Child Laughing]
Hatsue!
[Speaking Japanese]
[Japanese]
[Man And Girl Chattering]
[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]
[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.
[Hatsue's Voice] She
teaches me to beJapanese.
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.
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
In Japanese]
[Band: Marching Music]
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.
She's sort of an unwitting
virgin sacrifice...
to the concept of racial harmony.
And for a while
it seems to work.
[Ishmael's Dad] 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 Chattering]
They fished together.
They went to school.
My boy Carl treated him...
like a white person.
Just like any friend.
[Hooks's Voice] So tell us, Mrs.
Heine, where did things go wrong?
[Mrs. Heine's Voice]
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's Voice]
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...
forJapanese 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 hot 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.
[Mr. Heine's Voice] As
payment we'll work out...
[Hook] The arrangement was those payments
would be made... 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 OleJurgenson.
But 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]
[Hooks's Voice]
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.
They plowed clear out to the
point. What's the attraction?
I'm checking lighthouse records to
see if it's the biggest snowstorm.
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 this.
This is right.
Your move.
[Wind Whistling]
[Muttering]
Correcting course
via Ship Channel Bank.
If this is correct...
[Muttering]
[Muttering]
[Ishmael's Voice] At 1:48 a. m., made
a corrective dogleg to the northwest.
Ship's navigator took three
insurance readings, Boards 58, 56, 60.
[Creaking]
Hey, Levant?
Here's the shipping channel. Any freighter
off course can dogleg back through here.
But that only happens
if we're really socked in.
Don't the gill-netters
work off this bank?
Not even they're crazy enough to hang
around in a bad fog. They get the hell out.
[Levant's Voice] What's this got
to do with your snowstorm story?
[Ishmael's Voice] Nothin'.
Just curious, that's all.
[Ishmael's Mother]
Doesn't make him guilty.
The 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's Voice]
Hatsue.
I love you.
You smell like cedar.
So do you.
[Hatsue Whispering]
I can hear your heart beat.
[Hatsue's Voice] 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's Voice]
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 F.B.I. is in Seattle right
now, arresting Jap traitors.
Spies and everything.
The Defense Commission 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 theJaps 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?
Mr. Lambertson?
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 F.B.I. has arrested Mr. Surosake,
and his family can't leave their house.
Hey.
Everything
will be all right.
I promise.
[Car Door Slams Shut]
[Men Chattering, Laughing]
We are loyal.
It's for our defense. Everyone
on the island has these things.
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.
[Crying]
These are, uh,
real nice things.
They'll take special care
of ' em.
Any old-country stuff
we have to take.
[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. Maybe, but
this is still bad, you see.
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 Chattering Quietly]
[Family Crying]
[Ishmael's Voice] Journalism
is the facts. Which facts?
You can't print them all.
Journalism is making choices.
Culling out
what's unimportant.
[Man #1] 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?
"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 hikujin, 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's Voice]
Marry me, Hatsue.
[Bell Ringing]
[Crying]
Please say yes.
We'll leave here.
Are you crazy?
I want you to marry me.
[Bell Ringing Continues]
[Ringing Stops]
[Bicycle Bells Ringing]
[Bicycle Bells Ringing]
[Ringing Continues]
[Seagulls Squawking]
[Chattering]
[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.
Ten percent 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 Chattering]
[Gavel Bangs]
The State calls
Mrs. Susan Marie Heine.
Can you think back for me
to the morning of September 8?
The morning after
your husband...
purchased theJurgenson farm.
One week before his death.
[Inaudible Dialogue]
Did the defendant come calling
that day to speak to your husband?
[Carl's Voice]
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 Chattering]
[Chattering Continues]
[Nels's Voice] 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.
The State rests,
Your Honor.
[Judge] Very well. Mr. Gudmundsson,
the defense may call its first witness.
The defense calls
Mrs. Hatsue Miyamoto.
[Hatsue's Voice]
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.
I'm scared. 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's Voice] Yeah, but you
were helping him. Tell the sheriff.
[Kazuo's Voice] Are you kidding?
You think they're gonna believe me?
It's the truth, isn't it?
[Kazuo's Voice] That's right.
Let's just leave it at that.
[Wind Blowing,
Banging, Creaking Noise]
So,
your husband came home agitated after
his encounter at sea with the deceased?
[Banging, Creaking
Continue]
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
that 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, 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?
[Banging, Creaking Continue]
I don't know, Mrs. Miyamoto.
I just...
I, 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.
[Judge] Very well. Mr.
Gudmundsson, will you redirect...
[Gavel Banging]
[Judge] Under the circumstances,
we will adjourn early.
9:30 tomorrow.
[Gavel Bangs]
[Car Radio, Jazz]
This is a very fine car.
Much better
than the new ones.
Well,
it was my father's.
[Hisao]
He was a good man.
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]
[Swing Continues]
[Organ]
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'rejust 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 airjumping
to the tune of "My Blue Heaven. "
[Sounds of Children
Chattering, Laughing]
[Laughing]
Pardon us, Your Majesty.
Who's your lover boy?
[Chattering]
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...
[Hatsue's Voice] "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... "
[Hatsue's Voice]
"I am telling you. "
[Sounds Of Explosions]
[Hatsue's Voice] 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.
And I knew...
when I heard your heart beating,
it could not possibly...
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 ho more
honest way to say it.
[Continues Indistinct]
I don't love you, Ishmael.
I knew it. I can think of ho 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.
[Artillery Fire,
Bombs Exploding]
[Artillery Fire
Continues]
You must have.
I must say good-bye to you.
[Sounds Of 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 clamp.
Fuckin'Jap bitch.
[Ringing Noise]
[Humming, Chanting]
[Excited Chattering,
Laughing]
[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?
[Female Singer]
Moon over Burma
Smiling above
They say that you
Are the one little garden
of love
Moon over Burma
Heavenly light
[Continues Indistinct]
Have you ever
done this before?
Never.
You're my only.
[Moaning]
Do you swear to tell the
truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth,
so help you God? I do.
[Kazuo's Voice] 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's Voice]
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 claim 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 right
away. I wouldn't be here if I had.
"Should've told everything. "
Meaning you should've told
the truth.
[Nels Voice] But is that
the truth? The whole truth?
Is it?
[Kazuo's Voice] 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's Voice]
Nothing to say?
I didn't know that was a
question. 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. Either ask
questions that count for something or sit down.
[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's Voice]
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.
[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.
[Hooks]
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!
[Quiet Chattering]
Good night, Mrs. Miyamoto.
[Ishmael's Voice]
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.
[Hatsue's Voice]
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 the 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.
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.
[Abel's Voice] 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.
[Knocking]
[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's Voice] 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's Voice] 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.
- [Ishmael] 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, it takes
a rare thing,
a turning point,
to free oneself
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.
All rise. The Superior Court
for the State of W ashington,
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.
[Judge] 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.
It's been a pleasure
serving with you.
[Reporters Asking Questions]
[Hatsue]
Ishmael?
Can I hold you now?
I'm so grateful
for your gentle heart.
[Creaking Continues]
[Creaking]
[Match Striking]
[Horn Blowing]
[Horn Blowing]
[Horn Blowing]
[Seagulls Screeching]
[Thunderclaps]
[Man] Move the net. This way?
Yeah, yeah.
[Seagulls Cawing]
[Men Grunting]
We're not supposed to take
these. Don't worry about it.
Just get the net in.
Oh, Jesus!
Kinda tough.
We're not pullin'
at the same time.
Jesus!
[Gagging]
[Gagging]
Did any more of you guys see Carl
out at Ship Channel Bank last night?
What do you
wanna know for?
To see if anybody 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]
[Indistinct Chattering]
Catch him.
Better hurry up!
Hi.
Hatsue?
Hatsue?
You all right?
Go away, Ishmael.
I just wanted to tell you... Go away.
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 'bout that jury?
What a bunch of yokels.
Have you seen
the Silent 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]
[Laughing]
[Child Chattering
In 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? Afisherman
drowned. It happens sometimes. You know.
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's Voice] 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 wonderin' 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]
Susan Marie?
[Susan Marie] Come
in! I'll be right down.
[Door Creaks,
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]
That's what happened?
I warned him.
[Child Crying]
[Crying Continues]
[Nels Gudmundsson's Voice]
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's Voice] 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. [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's Voice] 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's Voice] 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.
Like a fishing gaff, for
example? That's very possible.
Yeah. [Hooks's Voice]
Now, um, you say...
it was a laceration about two and
a half inches long, 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]
Hah!
[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]
[Child Whining]
[Nels] Your report states it was
death by drowning, not a kendo wound.
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?
- Sure, 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!
[Kazuo]
Anyway, just a few more days.
You look beautiful.
I'm not going until you smile.
[Japanese]
I think it's dangerous
with this jury.
[Child Laughing]
Hatsue!
[Speaking Japanese]
[Japanese]
[Man And Girl Chattering]
[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]
[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.
[Hatsue's Voice] She
teaches me to beJapanese.
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.
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
In Japanese]
[Band: Marching Music]
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.
She's sort of an unwitting
virgin sacrifice...
to the concept of racial harmony.
And for a while
it seems to work.
[Ishmael's Dad] 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 Chattering]
They fished together.
They went to school.
My boy Carl treated him...
like a white person.
Just like any friend.
[Hooks's Voice] So tell us, Mrs.
Heine, where did things go wrong?
[Mrs. Heine's Voice]
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's Voice]
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...
forJapanese 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 hot 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.
[Mr. Heine's Voice] As
payment we'll work out...
[Hook] The arrangement was those payments
would be made... 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 OleJurgenson.
But 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]
[Hooks's Voice]
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.
They plowed clear out to the
point. What's the attraction?
I'm checking lighthouse records to
see if it's the biggest snowstorm.
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 this.
This is right.
Your move.
[Wind Whistling]
[Muttering]
Correcting course
via Ship Channel Bank.
If this is correct...
[Muttering]
[Muttering]
[Ishmael's Voice] At 1:48 a. m., made
a corrective dogleg to the northwest.
Ship's navigator took three
insurance readings, Boards 58, 56, 60.
[Creaking]
Hey, Levant?
Here's the shipping channel. Any freighter
off course can dogleg back through here.
But that only happens
if we're really socked in.
Don't the gill-netters
work off this bank?
Not even they're crazy enough to hang
around in a bad fog. They get the hell out.
[Levant's Voice] What's this got
to do with your snowstorm story?
[Ishmael's Voice] Nothin'.
Just curious, that's all.
[Ishmael's Mother]
Doesn't make him guilty.
The 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's Voice]
Hatsue.
I love you.
You smell like cedar.
So do you.
[Hatsue Whispering]
I can hear your heart beat.
[Hatsue's Voice] 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's Voice]
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 F.B.I. is in Seattle right
now, arresting Jap traitors.
Spies and everything.
The Defense Commission 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 theJaps 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?
Mr. Lambertson?
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 F.B.I. has arrested Mr. Surosake,
and his family can't leave their house.
Hey.
Everything
will be all right.
I promise.
[Car Door Slams Shut]
[Men Chattering, Laughing]
We are loyal.
It's for our defense. Everyone
on the island has these things.
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.
[Crying]
These are, uh,
real nice things.
They'll take special care
of ' em.
Any old-country stuff
we have to take.
[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. Maybe, but
this is still bad, you see.
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 Chattering Quietly]
[Family Crying]
[Ishmael's Voice] Journalism
is the facts. Which facts?
You can't print them all.
Journalism is making choices.
Culling out
what's unimportant.
[Man #1] 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?
"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 hikujin, 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's Voice]
Marry me, Hatsue.
[Bell Ringing]
[Crying]
Please say yes.
We'll leave here.
Are you crazy?
I want you to marry me.
[Bell Ringing Continues]
[Ringing Stops]
[Bicycle Bells Ringing]
[Bicycle Bells Ringing]
[Ringing Continues]
[Seagulls Squawking]
[Chattering]
[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.
Ten percent 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 Chattering]
[Gavel Bangs]
The State calls
Mrs. Susan Marie Heine.
Can you think back for me
to the morning of September 8?
The morning after
your husband...
purchased theJurgenson farm.
One week before his death.
[Inaudible Dialogue]
Did the defendant come calling
that day to speak to your husband?
[Carl's Voice]
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 Chattering]
[Chattering Continues]
[Nels's Voice] 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.
The State rests,
Your Honor.
[Judge] Very well. Mr. Gudmundsson,
the defense may call its first witness.
The defense calls
Mrs. Hatsue Miyamoto.
[Hatsue's Voice]
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.
I'm scared. 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's Voice] Yeah, but you
were helping him. Tell the sheriff.
[Kazuo's Voice] Are you kidding?
You think they're gonna believe me?
It's the truth, isn't it?
[Kazuo's Voice] That's right.
Let's just leave it at that.
[Wind Blowing,
Banging, Creaking Noise]
So,
your husband came home agitated after
his encounter at sea with the deceased?
[Banging, Creaking
Continue]
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
that 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, 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?
[Banging, Creaking Continue]
I don't know, Mrs. Miyamoto.
I just...
I, 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.
[Judge] Very well. Mr.
Gudmundsson, will you redirect...
[Gavel Banging]
[Judge] Under the circumstances,
we will adjourn early.
9:30 tomorrow.
[Gavel Bangs]
[Car Radio, Jazz]
This is a very fine car.
Much better
than the new ones.
Well,
it was my father's.
[Hisao]
He was a good man.
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]
[Swing Continues]
[Organ]
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'rejust 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 airjumping
to the tune of "My Blue Heaven. "
[Sounds of Children
Chattering, Laughing]
[Laughing]
Pardon us, Your Majesty.
Who's your lover boy?
[Chattering]
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...
[Hatsue's Voice] "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... "
[Hatsue's Voice]
"I am telling you. "
[Sounds Of Explosions]
[Hatsue's Voice] 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.
And I knew...
when I heard your heart beating,
it could not possibly...
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 ho more
honest way to say it.
[Continues Indistinct]
I don't love you, Ishmael.
I knew it. I can think of ho 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.
[Artillery Fire,
Bombs Exploding]
[Artillery Fire
Continues]
You must have.
I must say good-bye to you.
[Sounds Of 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 clamp.
Fuckin'Jap bitch.
[Ringing Noise]
[Humming, Chanting]
[Excited Chattering,
Laughing]
[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?
[Female Singer]
Moon over Burma
Smiling above
They say that you
Are the one little garden
of love
Moon over Burma
Heavenly light
[Continues Indistinct]
Have you ever
done this before?
Never.
You're my only.
[Moaning]
Do you swear to tell the
truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth,
so help you God? I do.
[Kazuo's Voice] 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's Voice]
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 claim 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 right
away. I wouldn't be here if I had.
"Should've told everything. "
Meaning you should've told
the truth.
[Nels Voice] But is that
the truth? The whole truth?
Is it?
[Kazuo's Voice] 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's Voice]
Nothing to say?
I didn't know that was a
question. 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. Either ask
questions that count for something or sit down.
[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's Voice]
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.
[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.
[Hooks]
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!
[Quiet Chattering]
Good night, Mrs. Miyamoto.
[Ishmael's Voice]
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.
[Hatsue's Voice]
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 the 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.
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.
[Abel's Voice] 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.
[Knocking]
[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's Voice] 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's Voice] 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.
- [Ishmael] 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, it takes
a rare thing,
a turning point,
to free oneself
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.
All rise. The Superior Court
for the State of W ashington,
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.
[Judge] 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.
It's been a pleasure
serving with you.
[Reporters Asking Questions]
[Hatsue]
Ishmael?
Can I hold you now?
I'm so grateful
for your gentle heart.