Snow Trail

"When I'm cornered I tend to do some crazy things"

Snow Trail was a lot of people’s firsts. This film was Mifune Toshiro’s first film. It was Ifukube Akira’s first film to score. And it was the first of 53 films that Mifune and Shimura Takashi would make together. Kurosawa Akira wrote the screenplay marking the first, albeit minor, collaboration between he and Mifune as well.

Three bank robbers flee to the mountains in Nagano with the police hot on their tails. They start out at a hot springs spa hotel before making their way deeper into the mountains where an old man, his granddaughter, and a mountaineer are staying in their rustic guest house. The robbers face the problem that there is only one road in and out of the mountains. Climbing over the mountains could be deadly as they face avalanches, blizzards, and treachery.

Let me just get this out of my system, Mifune was a sexy beast in this film and in his debut he showed the charisma that would keep him employed for many decades. But as much as a young Mifune Toshiro appealed to me, this was Shimura Takashi’s film. As the two men were cooped up in the guesthouse, Shimura’s Nojiro softened, longing for home and missing his lost daughter. Mifune’s Eijima grew more restless and dangerous by the minute like a caged panther. Kono Akitake had the pivotal role of the mountaineer coerced into leading the two criminals over the deadly mountains.

I can only imagine how beautiful this film would have been in a 1947 theater. The cinematography in the mountains was stunning even in this faded copy. I would also love to read about the making of this film as they climbed up, rolled down, and stumbled through the snow and rock.

The film showed the depravity of humanity through Eijima and the hidden humanity waiting to be restored as in Nojiro. The generous and cheerful grandfather and granddaughter elicited opposite emotional reactions in the two crooks. Shimura gave a touching performance as the crook transformed by human kindness. Mifune also gave a strong performance as Eijima’s baser instincts took over. The grandfather did not seem too concerned about the events that unfolded on the snowy peaks, “The mighty mountain will punish the bad.”

Snow Trail combined a thrilling mountain escape with a redemption story, fleshed out by two actors I enjoy watching work together. Ifukube’s music hit all the right notes as the men struggled against nature and themselves. Yeah, I enjoyed this film and could easily recommend to people who enjoy old Japanese films or want to be reminded that we are all tied together.

“Mountaineers have a code. No matter what, we don't cut the rope. The rope that ties one human life to another is not to be touched.”


19 June 2025

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