Grethiwha Kobo Abe's "The Woman in the Dunes" feels like it should already be part of the popular consciousness - like it was required reading in high school or something - part of everyone's shared cultural iconographic understanding. But what a delight it is to discover it unexpectedly, a little later in life when I can fully appreciate it! Humans' ability to adapt - like an insect - in harsh environments, one's gradual acceptance of one's circumstances and comfort in a routine which stifles ambition... These ideas get under the skin, the setting seeps into the unconscious mind like sand - sand which I can never look at the same again!Teshigahara's film adaptation - in which Abe was directly involved - is faultless; it has to be the most successful realization of a seemingly unfilmable book ever made. That they managed to bring this location to life, and make it absolutely believable and real, is an astounding feat. With perfect cinematography, a perfect score by the legendary Tôru Takemitsu, and fantastic performances, this is one of the greatest films of all time.I first watched the film four years ago, and I was blown away. I was absolutely glued to the screen; I'd never seen anything like it before. Now I've recently finished reading the novel and subsequently watching the beautiful new blu-ray version of the film. And I am further convinced: there is absolutely nothing like "The Woman in the Dunes". The novel or the film.The film moves briskly through the events of Part I & II of the novel (which is about 200 pages), spending more time on covering the crucial Part III (which is only 30 pages); it inevitably misses a lot of the psychological side of the book, as well as the sense of how much time is passing. So I highly recommend both, novel and film. I won't go so far as to recommend starting with one or the other, but in either case I do suggest you try to go in knowing as little as possible.I've done what I can to avoid giving away the plot in this review. Let it surprise you, and you may be as blown away as I was.

PimpinAinttEasy Dear Hiroshi Teshigahara, Woman in the Dunes was awash with this uniquely hypnotic and claustrophobic aura. The film can be enjoyed for the visual experience alone. The first few scenes with the man walking across the desert was enough to hook me in completely. Toru Takemitsu's dissonant score is used throughout the film to create this paranoid and horrifying atmosphere. I wish you had used a more traditional score. The main narrative is interwoven with visuals of sand trickling down and mountains crumbling which creates a really eerie effect. The interactions between the man and the woman inside the closed space of the hut reminded me of this quote by Christopher Isherwood from his novel The Single Man: "Think of two people, living together day after day, year after year, in this small space, standing elbow to elbow cooking at the same small stove, squeezing past each other on the narrow stairs, shaving in front of the same small bathroom mirror, constantly jogging, jostling, bumping against each other's bodies by mistake or on purpose, sensually, aggressively, awkwardly, impatiently, in rage or in love – think what deep though invisible tracks they must leave, everywhere, behind them!"The close ups of their bodies and the shots from behind the naked body of the woman were used to emphasize the intimate and erotic nature of their relationship. The outdoor scenes, especially the ones in the pitch dark of the night were haunting. Some writers of noir flicks could conjure up some interesting ideas based on those visuals. Best Regards, Pimpin. (8/10)

gavin6942 An entomologist on vacation (Eiji Okada) is trapped by local villagers into living with a woman (Kyōko Kishida) whose life task is shoveling sand for them.Roger Ebert wrote "Woman in the Dunes is a modern version of the myth of Sisyphus, the man condemned by the gods to spend eternity rolling a boulder to the top of a hill, only to see it roll back down." Strictly Film School describes it as "a spare and haunting allegory for human existence". According to Max Tessier, the main theme of the film is the desire to escape from society.Why is this not on the IMDb Top 250?

Artimidor Federkiel Early on in Hiroshi Teshigahara's "Woman in the Dunes" we see entomologist Niki Jumpei lying in a broken boat which is entirely covered by sand. He looks forlorn there in the desert, lost on his search for new specimens of beetles that would bring him forward in life, or so he hopes. But what's for sure is only that he'll miss the last bus home. Niki looks stranded, physically and metaphorically. And yet, among the dunes, he has visions of the past - of a woman, of a relationship that went awry, now covered by the sands of time. Maybe nobody tried to uncover what has always been there between these two, maybe it's in the nature of things that everything will eventually be covered by dust and just has to be accepted the way it is. Later in the film we would see Niki dream of the sea, symbol of his freedom, of escape, of leaving the dunes behind forever. Ah, how he would long for the sea! But will he ever reach it? Because the time has come for a haunting reevaluation of life and the relationship with a woman - in a prison made of sand...Teshigahara's film, based on Kôbô Abe's novel and screenplay, is a realistic story, however parable and philosophical exposition of the human condition at the same time. It's rare that a picture can be read multiple ways without losing its power when seen from different angles, but Teshigahara's film meets this criterion with ease. As minimalistic as its basic idea might sound, it literally entraps its viewer in its claustrophobic environment, consisting of just two people, and sand, sand, sand, the puzzle of human existence buried with it, hopelessness written all over it. In his philosophical essay "Le Mythe de Sisyphe" existentialist Albert Camus concludes that one must imagine Sisyphus to be happy. Sisyphus, the man condemned by the Gods to roll up a rock on top of a mountain, watch it roll down again and start over, again and again. Sisyphus, a happy man? A contradiction? Not really. Man needs to find reasons to justify his own existence in the absurdity that surrounds him, Camus would argue. One of the reasons might be found in Teshigahara's masterpiece: There's someone who shares Sisyphus' predicament: the one suffering on his side, also known as "The Woman in the Dunes".