Woman in the Dunes (1964)
Directed by: Hiroshi
Teshigahara.
Written by: Kôbô Abe
and Eiko Yoshida based on the novel by Abe.
Starring: Eiji Okada (Entomologist
Niki Jumpei), Kyôko Kishida (Woman).
Woman in
the Dunes is about two people trapped in a sand dune in rural Japan – one who
willing there, and embraces her role trapped in there, and the other who fights
against it for most of the movie. The film is clearly an allegory, except of
exactly what it perhaps left unclear. We certainly aren’t meant to take the
situation as in any way realistic – there are many things that wouldn’t make
logical sense, from just how high the walls of the dunes are themselves, to the
economics that underlie their predicament – that the two of them down there dig
up enough sand, and send to the townspeople above, who then sell the sand and
support the whole town. Yet as surreal as a situation as this is, it is almost
made more so by the way director Hiroshi Teshigahara shoots the whole movie. He
got his start in documentaries, and he shoots this in many ways with that eye
for realism – that eye for the physical reality of what we see. As a result, we
almost feel the texture of the sand. By making everything feel realistic – at
least visually – it almost makes the story itself more surreal.
Although
the film is called Woman in the Dunes, the main character is actually the man –
an Entomologist whose name we don’t learn until the final frames (it’s not
really a spoiler – but it also doesn’t really matter at all). He is in a remote
area of Japan studying bugs – he hopes to find a new breed of cricket, which
will make him famous in his small world. He gets so involves searching for them
in the desert, that he misses the last bus back to the hotel. He asks some
locals if they know a place he can spend the night – and that’s how he comes to
stay with the Woman in the Dunes. He descends to her house via ladder, and
spends an odd night there. The house is surrounded by sand, constantly
threatening to bury the house completely. It comes in everywhere. When he wakes
up in the morning he heads outside, and is surprised – but not initially
concerned – that the ladder is gone. Soon though it becomes clear that he is
meant to stay there forever – helping the woman dig out the sand. He is
convinced that he will be missed – that people will come looking for him. But
in the meantime, he doesn’t really have a choice – he either digs out the sand,
or gets buried by it. And the woman is attractive, and nice to him – and she
doesn’t seem to mind being trapped down there. It’s also clear from the
beginning that she is more than willing to use sex to keep him down there. And,
well, what else does he have to do?
Woman in
the Dunes is a very sexual, erotic film without ever being graphic about it.
Those early scenes down in the fit are as filled with sexual tension as
anything I can remember – especially an early moment that looks at the woman’s
naked back as she sleeps – and alongside the Entomologist, we simply watch her.
Like he does with the sand Teshigahara makes the woman’s physical reality pop
off the screen in a way that makes it seems like you know what it would feel
like to touch her skin. Those early scenes are erotic in a way that later ones
are not – as they settle into their roles, and seem to be wearing more and more
clothes. The sexual politics of the film are complicated – I cannot help but
wonder what the conversation around them would be had the film been released
today. In particular, there is a scene late in the film that is really rather
ugly – in which the villagers come to the top of the dunes, and try and coax
the two of them to have sex in front of them – something that man wants (they
are being offered a chance out of the dunes – occasionally in return) – and the
woman resists. The scene is ugly – although it never gets to the point of rape,
it isn’t for lack of effort – but it’s portrayed in an interesting way. Yes,
it’s ugly – but it’s also the villager’s way to try and actually welcome the
Entomologist into their community. That he is now one of them.
The two
central performances in the film are both very good. Eiji Okada has more range
to play as the Entomologist who goes from happy-go-lucky, too angry to
desperate to resigned over the course of the movie. Kyôko Kishida has the more
enigmatic role – we never really learn why she ended up down there in the first
place, or why she has come to except as she has. She tells a story about a
husband and child bury in the dunes during a wind storm, but that’s as much
backstory as we get. Anyway, she certainly doesn’t want to leave. And by the
end of the film, the Entomologist doesn’t want to go either. It’s more
complicated than finding happiness in slavery – or even that he loves the woman.
The end of the film leaves him in a rather precarious situation – alone, with
no guarantee that he will ever not be alone again. But, still, he doesn’t want
to leave. Because, of course, in a way we are all in the pit – and you spend
long enough down there, it’s more comfortable than leaving. Because, by then
he’s made improvements to the pit – and you can’t just leave those behind now
can you.
No comments:
Post a Comment