Snow Trail is a 1947 film from Japan directed by Senkichi Taniguchi. The screenplay was written by Akira Kurosawa.
Three bank robbers flee from the police, heading up into the mountains near Nagano. The police are confident of catching them, because the road is a cul-de-sac, heading up into a hot spring resort before terminating at a cabin. From there, the mountain is thought to be impassable in winter snows.
The robbers—unofficial leader Nojiro (Takashi Shimura), hotheaded Eijima (Toshiro Mifune), and an older man named Takasugi—make it to the resort, and thence to the cabin. The police are hot on their heels, though, until an avalanche which kills Takasugi but blocks the road behind the other two thieves. Nojiro and Eijima then find an isolated ski lodge operated by an old man and the old man's pretty granddaughter Haruko, and already containing one guest, a mountaineer named Honda. The people in the lodge don't have a radio and therefore know nothing about the bank robbery. Nojiro takes a shine to Haruko, who reminds him of his daughter, but trigger-happy Eijima doesn't want to wait around at the lodge.
Toshiro Mifune's film debut. Both Mifune and Shimura would soon become regular collaborators with Kurosawa.
Tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending; Nojiro gets Honda back down the mountain, saving his life. As a result, Nojiro is arrested and taken away to prison, but he's been morally redeemed.
- Call-Back: Haruko is very impressed by Nojiro's Swiss Army knife. At the end, before the cops take Nojiro away, he gives the knife to her.
- Cut Phone Lines:
- When the bandits get to the resort they cut the phone lines and also disable all the radios. It does not work, as the news stories have already spread.
- An unusual variation on this as Eijima kills the messenger pigeon that Haruko and her grandpa keep as an emergency communication device.
- Furo Scene: One of the workers at the resort contrives to take a bath in the hot spring at the same time as Nojiro, to see if Nojiro is missing two fingers, like one of the bank robbers. He confirms that Nojiro is the eight-fingered bandit.
- Glasses Pull: Nojiro, who has been wearing stylish sunglasses for the whole movie, whips them off right before the climactic fight with Eijima.
- Hair-Trigger Avalanche: The cop leading the posse warns the others not to fire a gun in the mountain pass as the area is very prone to avalanches. Eijima takes a shot at a police dog that's chasing him, and sure enough triggers an avalanche, which kills Takasugi but allows the other two thieves to temporarily escape the posse.
- Info Dump: One of the reporters tagging along with the posse asks why the lead detective is so confident of catching the thieves. Cue a junior detective, who gives a little spiel, complete with a wall map for illustration, about how the road they're on dead-ends in the mountains and it is impossible to get down on foot in winter.
- Instant Messenger Pigeon: Never used! Haruko and her grandfather keep a homing pigeon for emergency messages, seeing as how they live in an isolated ski lodge. Eijima kills it.
- I Owe You My Life: Honda pulls both Nojiro and Eijima back up, after they fall. When Honda is badly injured, Eijima suggests abandoning him, but Nojiro refuses, saying that Honda saved his life so he must repay the favor.
- Literal Metaphor: When Honda reaches the peak of the mountain he tells the other two that "It's all downhill from here."
- No Name Given: Haruko's grandfather is never named.
- Snowed-In: Nojiro and Eijima wind up trapped in the ski lodge with Haruko and her grandfather.
- Spinning Paper: An unusual example in that we see printing presses printing a newspaper, but do not see the actual newspaper headline, with the necessary info (bank robbers flee to the mountains near Nagano) shown with titles as the presses spin.
