Die Frau in den Dünen

A Tokyo schoolteacher Niki Jumpei (Eiji Okada) and part time entomologist travels to a remote area in the hope of studying a rare species of beetle, his aim is to find it and have it named after himself. His first morning there he spends collecting specimens in jars from the sand, he is approached by a rather suspicious local, who questions him as to his motives for being there, Niki dispels the locals suspicions that he is some authoritative figure snooping and goes on his way. Resting briefly in an old boat, he ponders humanity's dependence on paper qualifications to prove our credentials to others, passports, driving licences, university certificates, medical certificates etc and what a suspicious world it would be without them. Niki ( incidentally a name we only find out a the end of the film) falls asleep with the hazy sun beating down on him, he is awakened by the same local, who asks him, how he is going to get home, as he has missed his last bus. Somewhat bewildered Niki says he'll have to walk, the local man says he might be able to help and offers to help find him a bed for the night in the nearby village. Niki is led through the treacherous dunes until they come across a large pit, at the bottom of which lives a woman, it is here that Niki will spend the night.

Niki immediately questions the woman, as to why she would live in such a desolate place, in a ramshackle house where the sand is constantly flowing through holes in the roof and he is amazed to find that her nightly Sisyphean task involves filling baskets with sand that has blown into the pit and having it hoisted up by the locals. After feeding him, the woman tells him he doesn't have to help on his first night here, he finds this a curious statement as he is only staying one night? The truth behind the pit is soon revealed as Niki finds that there is no way out of the pit, the rope ladder having been removed by the locals.

Teshigahara is perhaps best known for his surreal and existential works, Woman in the Dunes fits right into this category. The setting of the sand dunes with the blinding sun gives the film an otherworldly dreamlike quality, with continuing rivers of sand also adding to this quality. The revelation that he is being kept captive is also a rather scary and intriguing, the film traces Niki's mixed emotions of anger and aggression, his denial of his captors, his change of heart and the fact he would stop at nothing to get the merest of rewards from them. His transformation is complete as he himself turns into a captor, of the woman that he now shares his life with.

The film is an epic at almost 2 ½ hours, its pace is incredibly slow but strangely it still doesn't feel that long, this viewer being drawn in to the complexities of the film. There's also a very sensual and sexual subtext, with the burning heat and little to do during the day and with the woman's recommendation that they sleep naked because the sand will chaff them, it is inevitable that sexual liaisons will happen and they do, sometimes it rough and ready and they wrestle each other, sometimes its sensuous as they provocatively wash the sand from each other in some very intimate moments.

Woman of the Dunes I have heard is full of subtext and hidden meanings, some are contradictory to the writer and directors visions so its hard to tell exactly on this my first viewing, exactly what they are so I will not even try to do so, I'll just sit back and let the film wash through my mind again and maybe it will all fall into place. The ending is controversial I would say, I can imagine it causes divide amongst those who have seen it, but in the context of the surreal setting and qualities of the film, I think it suits it fine, if nothing else it will get you talking about it, I think it's a film ripe for over analysis, so again I won't.

Harsh and beautiful analysis of existentionalism. All the Sartrean trappings along with an element of Camus are presented in this film better than any other I know. The realization that life is absurd leads the main character to venture towards trying to make meaning out of what is essentially meaninglessness. The intersubjective relationship between man and woman is examined both erotically and violently while the villagers play the crucial role of the everpresent Other. Disturbing ending only underlies the overpowering presence of the sand dunes. The sand being the strongest metaphor in the film, illustrating the belief that life is nothing but a giant and endless egg-timer flowing sand down upon us. Highly recommended.

I get more and more impressed with the classics of Japanese cinema and this is def a highlight. Mesmerizing and artsy it portrays a etymologist and 'the woman of the dunes' trapped in sand. The trap itself obviously symbolizes the trap a certain desert beetle digs to lie in the midst of it waiting for prey which cannot help but sliding into it. Its the same for him, he cant climb the sand walls, the more he struggles the more the sand runs a little like the woman who in fear of the outside continues her sisyfosan existence.

The psychology between the two is excellently depicted. The tension is intensified trough images of sweaty skin and running sand. The cinematographer is a master in filming this. Lots of black. Editing also is sharp and very well done. Sound is minimal and fits the images' bleak and deserted dunes.

Much can be said about this movie, it is one for repeated viewings for sure.

'Woman In The Dunes' is a superb film adaptation of a fascinating novel by Kobo Abe. Abe was heavily influenced by Kafka and wrote several very strange and unforgettable books, but this was his masterpiece. He scripted the movie himself, and the director Hiroshi Teshigahara obviously "got" the material, so the film is also a masterpiece. It includes some of the most striking visual imagery I've ever seen, and I would have to say this movie is among the very best I've watched. Yes, it's THAT good. The two leads (Eija Okada and Kyoko Kishida) both give superb performances and there are some genuinely erotic (though not explicit) scenes between them. Okada plays an insect collector on holiday who finds himself stranded overnight in the country. Kishida is a local woman who agrees to lodge him for the night. However she lives in most unusual circumstances - in a shack surrounded by sand dunes which continually invade her home. To say anything more about what happens would be to spoil the extraordinary movie that follows. You can read it as an allegory or take it as a filmed nightmare, it's up to you, but believe me you won't EVER forget 'Woman In The Dunes'!

Hiroshi Teshigahara's "Woman in the Dunes" is truly a unique movie. It's about an entomologist who goes on a holiday, only to find himself trapped in huge sand pit with a woman. The woman has no will to get out of the sand (it's been "broken"--like that of a stable horse--no doubt), but he refuses to live a "meaningless" life in the sand pit (like the woman). He tries to get out, but it's all in vain: the wall of sand is an impenetrable barrier between him and his "freedom." And so the story goes. The sand pit, I guess, is a metaphor for humanity's existentialist plight. Like the mythological Sisyphus, who was condemned for eternity to roll a rock to the top of a hill only to have it roll back down again, the two characters in this film dig sand out of their pit--but the sand keeps coming back....which raises the question: If life is meaningless--as Satre and Camus have said--what will we do? Do we keep digging? Do we opt for suicide instead? Or what? This is one of those films that haunt you after you see it; you'll keep thinking of it during subsequent days and even weeks. It is also distinguished by its luscious and crisp black and white deep focus photography. "The Woman in the Dunes" is (sadly) a far too little-known cinematic treasure that is thought-provoking, beautiful, erotic, and even eerie. Once you see it, you won't soon forget it.