The White Trail: A Cold Day in the Mountains

Is it worth the hike?

If you have a soft spot for grainy, black-and-white mountain scenery and don't mind a story that moves at the speed of a frozen stream, you might find something to like in The White Trail. It is definitely for the folks who want to feel the chill in their bones. If you need snappy dialogue or, you know, a plot that actually goes somewhere quickly, you are going to hate this.

The whole thing starts with Hanka and Andrzej walking through the mountains like they are in a postcard. It’s cute, sure. Then, the mountain decides it’s had enough of their nonsense and drops an avalanche on them. Classic.

The Search

Jasiek is the guy who goes out to find them. He finds Andrzej, but Hanka is just… gone. The movie spends a lot of time letting us sit with the silence of the snow. It’s effective, but man, it really drags after a while. You can almost feel the director wanting you to feel the cold, but at some point, I just wanted someone to find a jacket.

Andrzej goes back out to find her alone. It’s noble and all that, but it feels like a long, cold walk to nowhere. I kept checking my watch, wondering if the mountain was going to do anything else interesting. It didn’t.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The White Trail (1932) through its definitive frames.

Wait, what?

Then comes the weird part. Andrzej gets rescued by Zoska, goes home, and—surprise!—Hanka is just there. Like, she’s totally fine. The movie doesn't really explain how she got back, it just decides that the drama is over now. Convenient, right?

Jasiek sees them being all happy and in love and realizes he’s third-wheeling his own life. It’s a sad moment, honestly. He heads off into the white tracks to find peace. It reminds me a bit of the mood in Frozen Hearts, but with way more snow and less talking.

A few notes from my notepad:

• The snow looks real. Like, painfully real.
• The silence is nice for five minutes, then it’s just empty.
• Jasiek looks like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
• I’m still not entirely sure how Hanka got home. Maybe she took a bus?

It’s not quite the level of drama you’d find in The Dove, but it’s got a weird, quiet soul. It feels like a movie made by people who really like staring at rocks and ice for hours at a time. If you’re into that, you’ll love it. If not, maybe just look at some photos of the Alps instead.

Anyway, it ends on such a lonely note. Jasiek walking off into the white just felt like a long, sad sigh. A bit anticlimactic? Sure. But maybe that’s the point. Mountains don't care about your love life, and neither does the weather. 🏔️