Under Snow

In the Echigo region of northwestern Japan, where heavy snow blankets entire villages for more than half the year, a distinctive way of life has evolved. Time follows a different, slower rhythm, and everyday routines, along with religious rituals, wedding traditions, festivals, foods, songs, and games, are adapted to Echigo’s austere living conditions and natural beauty. Ottinger leads us into this mythical country with a film that is part documentary and part legend, depicting two students, played by Kabuki performers, who are wondrously transformed with help from a beautiful vixen fox.