The Animal Trail

けものみち

Animal Trail, a natural path made by traffic of wild animals, can sometimes be helpful for people who are totally lost in the wilderness. One day, a woman who is exhausted with her hopeless life unexpectedly meets a gentleman by chance. Out of genuine hope to escape from her misery, she allows her destiny to blindly follow the mysterious instruction given by this stranger. Would this "Animal Trail" ultimately lead her to happiness, or would it lead her to disaster? The life of Tamiko (Yonekura) was miserable, as she had to give up her dream to become a jewelry designer and work for a Japanese style hotel "Hosenkaku" simply to support her physically handicapped husband. One day, Tamiko was approached by a mysterious gentleman Kotaki (Sato) who offers her a unique proposal, "would you be interested in riding a vehicle without a destination?" His words shook Tamiko's desperate soul wanting for a drastic change in her life. In order to free herself from the depressing reality, she cleverly kills her husband by setting her house on fire. Then, through Kotaki's introduction, she becomes acquainted with Kito, a political fixer, and decides to become Kito's mistress. Although she notices that her decision may not be right, she decides to follow her instincts and go for the "animal trail"….

Screenplay

寺田敏雄

Director

藤田明二

Director

松田秀知

Director

福本義人

Status

Ended

First air date

12/01/2006

Original language

Japanese