Woman in the Dunes

Woman in the Dunes
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHiroshi Teshigahara
Screenplay byKōbō Abe[1]
Based onThe Woman in the Dunes
by Kōbō Abe
Produced by
  • Kiichi Ichikawa
  • Tadashi Ono[1]
Starring
CinematographyHiroshi Segawa[1]
Edited byFusako Shuzui[1]
Music byToru Takemitsu[1]
Production
company
Teshigahara Production[1]
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • February 15, 1964 (1964-02-15) (Japan)
Running time
146 minutes[1]
CountryJapan[1]
LanguageJapanese

Woman in the Dunes or Woman of the Dunes (Japanese: 砂の女, Hepburn: Suna no Onna, "Sand Woman") is a 1964 Japanese New Wave avant-garde psychological thriller film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara and starring Eiji Okada, Kyōko Kishida, and Kōji Mitsui. It received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for two Academy Awards. The screenplay for the film was adapted by Kōbō Abe from his 1962 novel of the same name.[1] The film is now considered to be Teshigahara's masterpiece, one of the best movies of 1964, of the 1960s and of the 20th century, as well as one of the best Japanese films of all time.[citation needed]

The film follows an amateur entomologist (Okada) who is led to settle in the house of a lonely widow (Kishida) at the bottom of a sand dune in a rural coastal village. He soon realizes that the villagers have trapped him there and expect him to work for them.

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Galbraith IV 2008, p. 208.