Woman in the Dunes (1964) Suna no onna (original title)

Director:

Hiroshi Teshigahara

Writers:

Kôbô Abe (novel)
Kôbô Abe (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

25 October 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The most provocative picture ever made.

Plot:

Jumpei Niki, a Tokyo based entomologist and educator, is in a poor seaside village collecting specimens of sand insects...

Plot Keywords:

Sand | Insect | Entomologist | Sandstorm | Sand Dune

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Eiji Okada	...	Entomologist Niki Jumpei
Kyôko Kishida	...	Woman
Hiroko Itô	...	Entomologist's wife (in flashbacks)
Kôji Mitsui
Sen Yano
Ginzô Sekiguchi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kiyohiko Ichiha
Hideo Kanze
Hiroyuki Nishimoto
Tamotsu Tamura

Directed by
Hiroshi Teshigahara

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kôbô Abe		novel
Kôbô Abe		screenplay
Eiko Yoshida		scripter

Produced by
Kiichi Ichikawa	....	producer
Tadashi Ôno	....	producer

Original Music by
Tôru Takemitsu

Cinematography by
Hiroshi Segawa

Film Editing by
Fusako Shuzui

Production Design by
Tôtetsu Hirakawa
Masao Yamazaki

Production Management
Iwao Yoshida	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masuo Ogawa	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Ichirô Katô	....	sound recordist
Keizo Mori	....	sound effects editor
Shigenosuke Okuyama	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Mitsuo Kume	....	lighting technician
Yasuhiro Yoshioka	....	still photographer

Other crew
Kiyoshi Awazu	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd.
• Teshigahara Productions

Distributors

• Toho Company (1964) (Japan) (all media)
• Gloria Film A/S (????) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• Gloria Film A/S (????) (Iceland) (theatrical)
• New Star (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• trigon-film (2007) (Austria) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Milestone Film & Video
• Pathé Contemporary Films (USA) (subtitled)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• trigon-film (2007) (Switzerland) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Suna no onna" - Japan (original title)
"Woman of the Dunes" - , International (English title), UK
"Woman of the Sands" - Canada (English title) (new title)

Runtime:

123 min | 147 min (director's cut)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | UK:15 (re-rating) (1992) | UK:X (original rating) | Norway:15 (TV rating) | Australia:M | West Germany:18

Company:

Toho Film (Eiga) Co. Ltd.

Trivia:

Kyôko Kishida and director Hiroshi Teshigahara had a number of artistic differences in the film, ranging from Kishida's character's manner of dress to her symbolic importance. Kishida wanted to portray her character as a universal "every-woman" while Teshigahara insisted that her character was uniquely Japanese. Teshigahara's vision eventually won out.

Quotes:

Man:It's like building a house in the water when ships exist. Why insist on a house?
Woman:You want to go home too.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Music for the Movies: Tôru Takemitsu (1994)

Slow pacing, yet intensly gripping!

What is heralded as a classic piece of Japanese cinema and I suppose a rave at Cannes during it's time, Woman In the Dunes is a great film but certainly not to everyones tastes.

A man who is searching for a unique insect in a sandy dessert area ends up trapped in a sandpit where a young woman lives. It becomes apparant that while the man can not escape the woman decides this is her future and that there is little she can do but accept it.

The film is an old black and white film, and many a times it is hard to see what is going on. The story is slow paced, and there is a lot of confusion through much of the film as to why the characters are in this 'unusual' situation. However, I completely got into it and was absorbed by the man who was felt trapped like an animal, and the woman who was accepting of her fate and somewhat comfortable. Also the shots of the dunes are spectacular, the film feels totaly claustrophobic, and it's one of this films which you keep asking yourself every 5 minutes, "How the heck did the film this!?".

But because of its slow nature and somewhat snail pacing and payoff many might not like it. Too bad.

Rating 8 out of 10.