Hiroshi Teshigahara’s 1964 “Woman in the Dunes”

In Woman in the Dunes, an amateur entomologist (Eiji Okada) who searches for beetles finds himself tricked by a group of nearby villagers to stay overnight in a decrepit house at the bottom of a dune with a strange woman (Kyoko Kishida). By morning, he discovers they do not intend to set him free, but rather to live with this woman to help her with the Sisyphean task of shoveling sand out of the dune to stop the village from collapsing. This dehumanizing trap creates a loss of self and puts into question the meaning of progress within society. The monotonous and claustrophobic setting is a meditation on the existential strife one experiences within the confines of society and the burning desire to escape them. As the dunes and the widow become a part of his daily routine, his failed attempts to escape force him to reflect on his past life and whether it is worth returning to. The film follows his transformation as he struggles to find meaning in his life.

Director Hiroshi Teshigahara (b.1927-2001) is a master of visual texture. It is nearly impossible to watch this film without feeling the sand covering every inch of their skin, with sweat sticking to every pore. The beauty of this film lies in the director’s artistic eye, who also practiced Ikebana (flower arrangement) and sculpture. His attention to detail turns negative space into stunning compositions. The film favors moments of stillness, silence, and slow pacing, yet manages to create tension that puts you on the edge of your seat. As a Surrealist avant-garde film that blends the realism of postwar Japan, the film stands out in its power to convey alienation. Using a macro lens and close-ups turns the landscape of the dunes into a character in and of itself. By allowing sand to fill every frame, the film produces a feeling that it is impossible to escape the dunes. The music is equally jarring to the senses due to its minimalist, nerve-racking repetition. Space and time are felt materially as a physical manifestation of the weight of his existential dread. In thinking about the necessity to conform in postwar Japan, the film is a revelation in capturing the will to survive, the desire for freedom, and the search for anonymity.