Rating: 
Summary: one of the best-ever Japanese films
Review: When I first read the book by Kobo Abe on which the film is based, I was struck by the power of its plot, and by parallels with Camus' Myth of Sisyphus. When I saw the film version, I was impressed again by the power of the plot, and also by the sensitivity and lyricism of its filming. Teshigahara is also a master of Japanese flower arranging, and his aesthetic sensibilities served him well here.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating image of that timeless dance
Review: When I first saw this movie a number of years ago it made a tremendous impression. I had walked in "cold" into an LA art theatre and had no idea what I was watching and what to expect. But I soon found myself mesmerized as if under the spell of the Ancient Mariner - it still retains some of this power today.The plot of this movie has been fairly well summarized by several reviewers. For completeness, I give a thumbnail sketch: A youngish man for the city (Tokyo) goes to a desolate part of the countryside to collect insects (his hobby). He overstays, and misses the last bus back. The local villagers decide to put him up with "Granny" - who turns out to be thirtyish, not-unattractive woman, who ominously lives at the bottom of a sand pit. The next morning the man finds the ladder removed, and himself trapped in the sand pit. Much of the movie portrays his half-hearted attempts to escape, and his tempestuous relationship with his woman "jailor." Near the end of the movie he is given a clear and easy chance to escape, but decides to "postpone" his departure. This film is an adaptation of the novel by the same name by the Japanese writer, Kobo Abe. A major and fascinating writer, Abe shares stylistic affinities with Dostoyevsky and (especially) Camus. Alienation and loss of identity are prominent Abe motifs (as they are with Camus). The movie was made in Japan; so unlike many Hollywood films, it is fairly faithful to the novel. For stylistic reasons, it was made in black and white: shadows are an essential element in the mood. An extreme reductionist view of the film/novel might go something like this: The movie explores the eternal dance by which man and woman accommodate themselves to each other. The woman's need for security, stability, and social respectability often conflict with the man's need for freedom, new experiences, and impractical dreams. Gradually, through a largely unconscious process, the two make those small adjustments which allow for a log-term - if somewhat uneasy - alliance. A secondary theme is the corrosive effects of time. Or more accurately, the effects of the second law of thermodynamics/entropy: things not constantly repaired, whether house or relationship, inevitably deteriorate. Time/entropy is represented in the film by the unceasing flow of sand. Light and shadows - prominent throughout the film - symbolize the dualities of life. It is easy to make a case that the movie has a misogynistic tone. Certainly the image of woman as an ant-lion lurking at the bottom a sand pit is not the most flattering. But upon further analysis this view must be rejected. The reason the protagonist does not return to his former life (once given the chance) is simply that his former life lacked emotional meaning. The struggle with the woman at the bottom of the sand pit, although grim in certain respects, reconnects him with those parts of himself which his overly civilized and sterile city life had disconnected.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie, but don't get gouged
Review: Yes, this is a ground breaking movie, yes it is now out of print.
Of course, the gougers are trying to get you for $90, when they are selling the CUT version of the movie.
The director's cut is $45 (approx) from Amazon JP, or can be had for $15-$20 from the EU via eBay.
Your mileage may vary, but don't be gouged by shysters / pirates.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting, erotic, mystical, superb film!
Review: You have to watch "Woman in the Dunes" several times to even begin to catch all the symbolism in this amazing film. Just consider, for example, the begining of the film...all those official stamps for "identification" followed by the anonymous shifting sands and the strident chaos depicted in the musical score by Toru Takemitsu. Indeed the film, based on the famous Kobo Abe novel of the same name, is all about our identities. A business executive hunting for bugs in the midst of sand dunes...as if to say, looking for meaning in a vast desert. I will not spoil the story for you...but you will plunge from the modern world of government forms with its anonymous shifting sands into the depths of a rural, almost primitive world where human beings depend on each other for survival...i.e. to bail out that sand. This film has beautiful black and white photography, wonderful acting and some of the most erotic scenes in cinema accompanied by a haunting sound track. The images will remain with you long after seeing it.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting, erotic, mystical, superb film!
Review: You have to watch "Woman in the Dunes" several times to even begin to catch all the symbolism in this amazing film. Just consider, for example, the begining of the film...all those official stamps for "identification" followed by the anonymous shifting sands and the strident chaos depicted in the musical score by Toru Takemitsu. Indeed the film, based on the famous Kobo Abe novel of the same name, is all about our identities. A business executive hunting for bugs in the midst of sand dunes...as if to say, looking for meaning in a vast desert. I will not spoil the story for you...but you will plunge from the modern world of government forms with its anonymous shifting sands into the depths of a rural, almost primitive world where human beings depend on each other for survival...i.e. to bail out that sand. This film has beautiful black and white photography, wonderful acting and some of the most erotic scenes in cinema accompanied by a haunting sound track. The images will remain with you long after seeing it.
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