FC2Video

It's hard not to love the snow monkeys of Japan; they are just so adorable, whether skittering down mountainsides or languidly grooming one another in hot springs. This beautiful, fascinating film visits three different monkey troupes in three very diverse Japanese habitats: one lot are urbanised scavengers living on the outskirts of a town; another are mountain-dwellers; while the third are celebrity snow monkeys, the hot-springs gang whose every move is photographed and "aahhed" over by tourists from around the world. They are irresistible, resourceful and delicate creatures who live within a complex hierarchical structure. The hot-springs society is run by females who are in turn led by an imperious queen, upon whom the others dance attendance. The images of her lying lazily in the pool as her female relatives clean and pamper her fur are priceless.