The Snow Flurry (film)

Upon witnessing the bridal procession of Sakura, the granddaughter of the Nagura family, Suteo, a young man of about 18, runs to the river banks, followed by his mother Haruko, who fears for his life. In a series of flashbacks interspersed with the present, the viewer learns of the preceding events, starting during the Pacific War.

Expecting a child from Hideo, heir of the Naguras, and both knowing that his family of landlords will neither approve of their relationship nor Hideo's reluctance to going to war, Haruko agrees to commit double suicide with her lover. While Hideo dies, disavowed by his father for his "cowardness", Haruko survives and is taken in by the Naguras to silence the gossip about the affair. Haruko gives birth to a son, whom Hideo's father, without her consent, registers under the name of Suteo. Housed in a separate shack, Haruko and Suteo live as labourers, treated kindly only by Sakura, the youngest family member. When Sakura grows older, her grandmother Tomi prevents her from enrolling at a higher school out of the village, like her friends do. Instead, she is given private dance and music lessons, as Tomi is planning to marry her into a wealthy family. Suteo, now a young man, confesses his love to Sakura. Although she feels the same for him, Sakura decides that the only way to escape is in giving in to the prospected marriage.

Back in the present, Haruko has caught up with her son, afraid that he might try to commit suicide like once she and Hideo did. She promises, now that Suteo has grown up, to leave for the city together and begin a new life on their own.

• Keiko Kishi as Haruko
• Ineko Arima as Sachiko
• Yoshiko Kuga as Sakura
• Yūsuke Kawazu as Suteo
• Chieko Higashiyama as Tomi
• Yasushi Nagata as Hideo's father
• Chishū Ryū as Yakichi
• Kuniko Igawa
• Masanao Kawakane as Hideo

Film historian Donald Richie saw The Snow Flurry, due to its fragmented, nonlinear storytelling manner, as a predecessor of Shochiku's New Wave films.[3]

• The Snow Flurry at IMDb
• The Snow Flurry at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
• "The Snow Flurry". Shochiku Films. Retrieved 2 February 2021.