Woman in the Dunes (1964)

Woman in the Dunes (Suna no onna)
Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara
Written by Kobo Abe ad Eiko Yoshida from Abe’s novel
1964/Japan
Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd./Teshigahara Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Entomologist Niki Jumpei: If not today, maybe tomorrow.

 

This erotic, thought-provoking, beautiful film is surely one to see before you die.

A schoolteacher seeks meaning in life by studying insects in his free time.  He is particularly interested in creatures who live in the sand dunes and hopes to discover a new species that can be named for him.  On a field trip to the dunes, he misses his bus and finds himself looking for somewhere to spend the night.

Local villagers have a place already in mind.  A woman has lost her husband and daughter and is now shoveling sand to protect her house, which is at the bottom of a large dune, and those of her neighbors single-handedly.  It is too big a job for one person and the villagers trick the schoolteacher into filling the vacancy.

The woman does everything in her power to cater to the schoolteacher but he struggles mightily, at times violently, to escape.  He eventually accepts that his efforts are futile and makes some kind of adjustment to his prison.

I love this movie.  The story is eerily moving when taken at face value.  But there is so much more here.  I liked the way Teshigahara compares the man’s plight to those of the insects he captures.  I also think the movie asks how different is life in the bottom of a pit from the man’s life on the outside.  Eventually, he finds meaning in his prison.  Is life another kind of prison?  When we accept it, we are set free?  Most highly recommended.

Hiroshi Teshigahara was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director.

No subtitles