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So much average

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Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Woman in the Dunes, like most Eastern fare, truly has the symbolism down. The fact that an entomologist collecting and trapping bugs only to share a similar fate is marvelously used, especially with the skill and care taken to show and develop the inanimate character of the sand that becomes his cell and permeates his whole existence for the most part.But that is where the skill ends, unfortunately. The human characters get far less development than the sand and we begin to be told motivations instead of shown. What's worse, the told motivations make no sense, like the ludicrous stated reason for the man's imprisonment. To top that, sometimes told motivations even contradict the previously shown motivations/character development! We are meticulously and masterfully shown as this man shed all other objectives for a single goal, that, at the end of the movie, we are told he abandons for a reason that makes absolutely no sense.Yet another example of plot driving character is where the main character, slightly desperate for something not essential for life, actually contemplates a bargain with his clearly untrustworthy captors to commit a despicable act for what he wants in return. Now I understand Japanese morals are different than those of my Western self, but from the comments of another Japanese character in the movie, clearly it is a despicable act even to the Japanese. Yet, without really showing why the main character, until this point shown as a fairly decent man, would even THINK about this nasty bargain let alone possibly go through with it on the hope that arguably bad guys would keep their word, we are just expected to believe he would?This movie starts out great and is beautifully shot, but without better character development and shown motivation for the human characters, this became a two hour disappointment.

Woman in the dunes is a great step in Japanese cinematography because Teshigahara, the movie's director, was the first Japanese director to be nominated for an Oscar - and it is truly amazing that, back in 1964, the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were able to realize the greatness of this movie.It all starts with the entomologist Niki Jumpei (Eiji Okada), alone, walking in the desert, looking for insects. No dialogue, just beautiful cinematography and games of light and shadow. He is invited by the local villagers to spend the night in the home of a widow (Kyôko Kishida), at the bottom of a sandpit, since he has missed the last bus to the city. This does not upset him, he's interested in their way of life, therefore he accepts. But the next morning he discovers the villagers trapped him - just like he traps his beloved insects - and expect him to live with the woman and help her collect the sand daily, receiving food and water in return. So he tries to escape this claustrophobic environment.Where should I begin? This movie has "masterpiece" written all over it. The two main (and almost only) characters are at the same time opposite and similar - opposite in their reaction to the imprisonment, similar in their loneliness and pointlessness of lives that they cherish nonetheless. Okada and Kishida put up amazing performances which make you forget they're just acting. But perhaps the true protagonist is the sand: the dangerous, devastating force that brings purpose to those who have learned to handle and make good use of it. A lot of scenes in the movie show it moving, changing, and always remaining the same, and they are never out of place. It dictates the lives of the people, and one is forced to love it in a perverted, Stockholm syndrome-sque kind of way, just like the widow does even after the sand has killed her husband and daughter. To make the movie fit its gloomy story even better, it was filmed in natural light; also, a lot of important things happen at night (for example, an attempt to escape) and even though you can hardly see anything, you know exactly what's going on. This creepy atmosphere is perfected by what's probably one of the best soundtracks of all time (composed by Toru Takemitsu), since it suits the picture incredibly well, making you feel uncomfortable and scared from the first minutes. And, as a conclusion, there is a sentence, said by the entomologist towards the end of the movie, which, in my opinion, sums up its message: We're pigs anyway. Simple yet powerful, just like everything else in Woman in the dunes.Rating: 9/10 Read more at http://passpopcorn.wordpress.com/

Dark and hypnotic, minimalist and absurd, transcendental and meditative are the first words which come to my mind when describing Hiroshi Teshigahara's masterpiece Woman in the Dunes. It is a metaphysical story about being, freedom and the human mind, characterized by psycho-sexual associations, studying existence and the vanity of life. By using music, sounds and extreme close-ups in an innovative manner, Teshigahara succeeds to truly touch us. His reflection of an incredibly distressing reality achieves to create an enduring and haunting experience of unforgettable images and cinematic bliss which will not be forgotten.The story begins when an entomologist travels from Tokyo to the sand dunes of Japan to study the life of certain insects. However, his three-day long journey takes a turn when the local community traps him into a domicile at the bottom of a vast sand pit. There, living with a lonely woman, he must try to survive as he goes through an unending and useless battle against the infinite nature.As the film unfolds on the screen, it begins to get even surrealistic features and grows out to be a story about an individual fighting for survival in a hostile environment. Furthermore, it includes an extraordinary sexual tension and an odd emotion of yearn and melancholy within. On one level, it depicts the Japanese mental landscape but could also be seen as a comment on the sudden affluence of Japan in the postwar era. In fact, the film drills down to the social themes of alienation and loneliness quite well while it offers a perverse picture of pathological mankind where the power game between the rulers and the oppressed continues.However, more important than the social aspect is the film's visual aesthetics and its relation with the themes. The vast and endless dunes almost resemble expressionistic art where distorted picture of reality reflects an inner vision. In the middle of Antonionian landscapes, people feel lost and trapped. Teshigara has tapped into this situation perfectly with regards to the poetics of space as the surrounding dunes and quicksand create a prison of mind where there is no way out. Thus, the visuals beautifully indicate the existential experience and agony of man.I think it is fair to say that Teshigara's zen-aesthetics is partly Bressonian -- drama stripped to essentials -- where only the most integral part of the image is shown. The close-ups of wet and dry skin, sand and water are really almost erotic. In fact, the inertia felt in the middle of brutal nature is associated with sexuality, which is another intriguing theme in the film. As the relationship of the man and the woman evolves, the sexual tension tightens and the yearning of touch becomes more vivid and concrete. In this process, the protagonist is stripped down both physically and morally when his conception of humanity is put to test in the chaotic wilderness.

Moving effortlessly from the banal, the scientific, curious and the surreal to the unsettling, chilling, lonely, erotic, ugly and ultimately the deeply moving this is a truly remarkable film which was for me an accidental find.I've since viewed the other films in the trilogy of which this a part and while of interest, they lacked the raw simplicity of this film, with it's almost shocking, symbol-laden premise.Compelling performances with an extremely limited palette should make this art-house fodder but the depth of the characterisation transcends the gentle pace and simple plot. Highly recommended.