Ritoru foresuto: Fuyu/Haru

This movie is the sequel to, or in any case should be watched after, Little Forest: Summer/Autumn (2014).

The format is much the same--life in a tiny hamlet in Iwate prefecture in northern Japan, how one manages there, how one can gather what is in the area, or prepare and preserve vegetables in advance (or fail to do so, as the main character, Ichiko, does at least once), and live a life that is poor in many conventional ways...I think this is the only movie set in modern-day Japan in which I have not seen a cellphone, or even, except very briefly, a TV...but astoundingly rich in other ways.

Nonetheless, Ichiko starts to wonder about her proper place in the world, and comes to realize what the astute viewer knew already by the end of the first reel, "Summer/Autumn", which is that she is missing something fundamental in her life. She suddenly sets out to correct this. Not many details are provided; the viewer is left to infer things.

The ending of the film is wonderful in a completely different and unexpected way, taking the viewer unawares.

A beautiful film, but not necessarily one that urban Westerners may appreciate. IAC if you didn't like "Summer/Autumn", there's no reason to watch this.