Le Col Nomugi

Life was tough in the early 1900's in central Japan. The only chance for many families living in the mountainous areas was to send their teenage daughters to work their nimble fingers to the bone spinning silk. This meant them taking a long journey, on foot, through the treacherous Nomugi Pass, in the dead of winter. This journey also meant that they would not see their families for the next five years, and working as virtual slaves in a pre-Dickensian factory.

There is much to recommend this film. Gorgeous snow-bound mountains, a large support cast of nice-looking young women giving their all against adversity and cruel management, the sweep of world history, grand melodrama, the workings of the factory. There's teen angst by the bucketload, including romance, cruelty, rape, teen pregnancy and murder. But it isn't all doom and gloom. There's plenty of humour as well, much of it focused on the rank odour of silkworm pupas. "This smell will become your smell", the menacing foreman warns each crop of new girls.

Warmly recommended.