WOMAN IN THE DUNES (1964)

A.K.A.: Sunna no onna

Country: Japan

Genre(s): Drama

Director: Hiroshi Teshigahara

Cast: Eiji Okada / Kyoko Kishida

Plot

A Tokyo schoolteacher becomes the prisoner of a secluded seaside village, trapped at the bottom of a massive sand pit in a rotting house inhabited by a mysterious woman.

What I Liked

“Woman in the Dunes” is based on the novel of the same name by Japanese novelist Kobo Abe.  I have read the novel and the film is probably the closest adaptation of a novel to a film that I have ever seen, which really is not surprising, considering that Abe wrote the script for the film as well.  Both the book and film present a very bizarre plot as an existential or nihilist metaphor for life itself.  Though, like most metaphors, it can be interpreted in a variety of ways, they all lead basically to the same themes: the unimportance of the individual in the modern world; the unimportance of the individual human and individual human actions in the scope of universe; and man’s egotistical desire to ignore the previous two concepts and believe himself the master of his own important fate.

There is of course great irony in the fact that the main character is an entomologist who spends his time watching insects crawl through the sand or watching them try to escape the glass jars in which he traps them.  He essentially becomes one of those very insects, constantly and futilely trying to deny that he is trapped, despite the facts.  He knows as little about his own existence and purpose as do the insects he observes.  Yet he considers his own survival and freedom of utmost importance and nearly kills himself trying to escape.  Eventually it becomes clear that even he is no longer aware of the reason he is trying to escape, and is acting primarily out of some misguided and ignorant instinct (again, just like his insects).

As far as the aesthetic values of the film go, "Woman in the Dunes" is exceptionally well made.  The cinematography movingly captures the co-existing beauty and horror of the sand-filled landscapes.  Meanwhile, director Hiroshi Teshigahara makes sure a very real sense of claustrophobia and desperation seeps into every scene.  Actors Eiji Oakada and Kyoko Kishida play their roles with touching depth and realism, allowing the audience to ignore the illogical plot and become absorbed into the human drama.  But perhaps most important is the sound of the film.  Toru Takemitsu’s score is unorthodox but absolutely quaking with paranoia and agony.  Meanwhile the sounds of the ever-shifting and ever-seeping sand, the heavy breaths of sexual tension, and the frantic rasps of thirst lend a very raw, bestial texture to the entire film.

What I Didn’t Like

To be honest, I never finished the novel.  Though I got pretty far, I found it mostly dull and eventually found something else to read.  The film was less boring, but still overly long.  For all the intellectual and aesthetic strengths, it still lacked enough simple entertainment value to keep finishing it from being a chore.

Most Memorable Scene

The most emotionally powerful moments of this film are actually the extreme close-ups of the actors' bare skin, which is always covered in a layer of sand that gathers as soon as it is wiped off.  This is an effective element of the novel that proves even more effective in the film, driving home the irritation and futility of the predicament in which the characters find themselves.  These are always accompanied by the sand-paper like sound of the sand grating and grinding through the skin.  I can’t say one of these close ups is more important than another, but they are all the most compelling aspect of “Woman in the Dunes.”

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5