What the Snow Brings

Manabu Yazaki, who had big dreams of success in Tokyo, loses his high-class lifestyle as well as his family and returns home to the Hokkaido heartland in midwinter. There his elder brother Takeo manages a stable for "Banei horserace", a sleigh-pulling race unique to Hokkaido. Their long overdue reunion exposes the gap between them even more. Takeo does not let his brother met their aging mother who is living in a nursing home. However, while he watches Manabu interact with the sometimes quirky stable workers and the horses as they face the challenges of racing day in and day out, Takeo decides to have his brother met their mother. Gradually the two men develop an understanding each other. In the end, Manabu puts his all into taking care of the horse that was supposed to be killed for not taking home the prize money in its rode to recovery. For Manabu, this becomes his chance to "reset" his own life and a hope for his new start. (Eleven Arts)