Popular reviews

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★★

  "No, no, dig up, stupid." -- Chief Clancy Wiggum

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  Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★★★★ 5

  93/100

  Hasty airport catchup: Marveled while rewatching this at its allegorical versatility, or perhaps slipperiness—it feels like it could represent anything and everything, which I suppose detractors might argue means that it represents nothing. Ultimately doesn't matter much, though, as the film's weirdly parched sensuality knocks me for a loop right from the surface. Life is an inexorable invasion of grit, inspiring a sort of existential Stockholm Syndrome; had Teshigahara chosen to call this The Sand, its kinship with Sjoström's The Wind (a contender for my favorite silent feature; Woman in the Dunes might as well be one too) would be more apparent.

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  Review by Bruno ★★★★ 13

  It just doesn’t get any more absorbing, provocative, existential and beautifully shot than this! Woman in the Dunes is only my first Hiroshi Teshigahara film and it absolutely floored me with the excellent performances, claustrophobic atmosphere, introspective look into the human condition and isolation, visual allegories, memorable dialogue and an unnerving musical score which reminded me of Mica Levi’s work in Under the Skin to some degree. There are many impressive shots of sand slithering downward, having a constant menacing aspect to them. After all, our protagonists are forced to live in this pit because of sand and they end up finding purpose in living on those circumstances. You also get a strong sense of fellowship throughout the film, emphasizing traditional Japanese family and community values. Overall, Woman in the Dunes is a remarkable gem and a must-see for every film enthusiast!

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  Review by Jaime Rebanal ★★★★★ 5

  Words to describe Hiroshi Teshigahara's Woman in the Dunes can range from "exotic" to "surreal" or "hypnotic" but they are mere understatements if one is going to describe the experience that is set to come. Though if there was one word that hits me when I think of Woman in the Dunes is not "masterpiece," because such a word isn't going to do justice to the experience that I had when I watch such a brilliant work. The moment when I first watched Woman in the Dunes was an experience that overwhelmed every thought process that was going through my head - but in such a way that I could not pin everything down on the spot what a film…

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  Review by josh lewis ★★★★★ 5

  one of the most strikingly composed and meditative fables ever put to film. at once unnervingly surreal and stripped down to the essential, elemental reality of everyday existence. a film interested in both the pursuit of purpose and control within the exchange of labor/resources for food, sleep and sex but also the pure banality and beauty that can be found in the rhythms & routines of our violent, coercive exploitation after a certain amount of time, distance and acceptance. incredible film. no idea why i didn't watch this sooner.

  full discussion on ep 227 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS.

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  Review by Nick ★★★★ 1

  Woman in the Dunes is a scathing piece on a man's place in modern society, wrapped up in the facade of an intense cat-and-mouse thriller. Despite the fact of the majority of the story revolves a man's self-rescuing, both the title and the poster primarily single out the female character, which is a really admirably intentional move from director Hiroshi Teshigahara.

  Earning a surprising best director nomination at the Oscars, Woman in the Dunes proves its directorial excellence at sight and sound as early as the first frame, amplifying an eerily transfixing experience of a male scientist collecting insects in the desert, yet ending up being the collected, by heavy use of close-ups and sensual sound effects. Teshigahara combined elements…

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  Review by Alyssa Heflin 2

  Anakin was right, that shit really does get everywhere.

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  Review by chavel ★★★★★ 5

  “Do you shovel to survive, or survive to shovel?” – The Man

  The Japanese Woman in the Dunes is a parable and visual tone poem that defies conventional description since it resists social realism, although in its hermetic presentation it plays realistic. It is also what the DVD box quote promises: “Haunting. Erotic. Unforgettable.” Sovereign rulers of nondescript power are perched atop a hill. Beneath are desert canyons, with people lodged in the dunes like inhabitants of an ant colony. The woman (Kyoko Kishida) needs a companion, so the village rulers trick a man (Eiji Okada) into the pit with promise of a hospice, and then permanently remove the ladder. The man, desperate for freedom, attempts to climb and scale…

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  Review by KINODASEIN ★★★★★ 2

  I’ve been haunted by this masterpiece for over fifteen years. In many ways, it is the film that sparked my obsession with cinema.

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  Review by Sand ★★★★½

  Sandpit Prank (GONE WRONG) (GONE SEXUAL)

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  Review by Wes ★★★★★ 1

  "Don't look up, you'll get sand in your face."

  i would have payed for a directing masterclass with my student aid money if it was lead by hiroshi teshigahara were he alive today. the dude somehow made sand scary, even giving it its own motif: a sharp one note that feels like cold water to the face. there's a vague anxiety that pierces through all of this; a screeching score that blankets serene scenes, human faces dissolving into the sand, all these little fears waiting to dig their way up and clog your pores should feel like an uneasy experience, but this is among the most serene and seductive you could ever get with a creature as claustrophobic as this. what a barnburner.

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  Review by Lara Pop ★★★★ 30

  #Watchlist 2021

  'Sand makes things rot.' A grain of sand can make you thirst for money. A handful of it can make you commit inhumane acts for said money – kidnapping, captivity, abuse, mental and physical torture. A mound of it can delude you into thinking it stands on solid ground, when all it needs is one slight tremor – and it becomes a landslide. A solid wall of it ruptures the delusion but makes you think that if you dig dig dig and strive upwards, you’ll break through eventually. After all, sand is merely tiny specks of slippery nothingness. But even a grain of it can bury you under. 'Sand makes things rot.' It will always sift through your…