Woman in the Dunes is a 1964 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, adapted from Kobo Abe's novel of the same name, about an amateur entomologist who becomes trapped in a sand pit with a widow who lives there shoveling sand nightly to keep her house from being buried, and who must labor alongside her to survive. The film uses stark black and white cinematography and abstract, tactile close-ups of sand and skin to build a claustrophobic allegory of labor, isolation and eventual acceptance of one's circumstances. It won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and is regarded as one of the major works of the Japanese New Wave.
Facts
Classification
Original Language AwardKinema Junpo Award for Best Film 1 Release Year Connections
Created By
Source Wikipedia: Woman in the Dunes
In Medium
Source Wikipedia: Woman in the Dunes
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Japan, originated there.
- Also in Language Atlas: Japanese, original language there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Woman in the Dunes
Infobox, released
1964 2 15
Wikidata P495 country of origin
Japan
Woman in the Dunes, Description, original language
Woman in the Dunes is a 1964 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, adapted from Kobo Abe's novel of the same name, about an amateur entomologist who becomes trapped in a sand pit with a widow who lives there shoveling sand nightly to keep her house from being buried, and who must labor alongside her to survive.
Wikipedia category, checked 2026-09-27
Category:Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners
In Medium: Film, Article lead sentence
Woman in the Dunes or Woman of the Dunes (Japanese: 砂の女, Hepburn: Suna no Onna; lit. 'Sand Woman') is a 1964 Japanese drama film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara and written by Kobo Abe.
Created By: Hiroshi Teshigahara, Article lead sentence
Woman in the Dunes or Woman of the Dunes (Japanese: 砂の女, Hepburn: Suna no Onna; lit. 'Sand Woman') is a 1964 Japanese drama film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara and written by Kobo Abe.
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.