Kita no zeronen

This finely-etched social portrait details the first wave of colonists who chose to settle into the hardy world of Hokkaido in Meiji, Japan in the 1870s. The first group must transplant themselves into a rustic, untamed wilderness where most characters' loyalty and physical limits are tested; it's a richly forested land that still has a population of hardy creatures like wild bears. Ken Watanabe's character has second thoughts, however, with a land that cannot equal the lushness of his native Awaji.

The story is told deliberately and, at times, slowly, but one gets a good sense of the rustic conditions under which the common folk must try to survive. Travail teaches many to suspend notions of "class" in the hopes of building a new world from scratch.

Watchable for its fine production and photography - and less for the ordinary simple writing.