It’s rare anymore that I take the time to mention inspirations like a movie, but I was so taken back by Hiroshi Teshigahara’s The Women in the Dunes that I could not not share it.  I guess it was a relatively big art house hit in the 60s and 70s. and the story itself is a beautiful parable on existence, absurdity, reality, meaning, and struggle in the existential vain of that era (Beckett, Camus, Sartre), and while I think it remains as relevant today philosophically, the truly mesmerizing aspect of this film is the cinematography by Hiroshi Segawa.  It is incredible, inspired, and along w/ Soy Cuba and The Third Man, one of the most beautifully photographed black and white films I’ve ever seen.  From the stark nature of light and shadow, to the visceral treatment of the human form alongside the nearly surreal visual personification of the sand itself, the film comes alive in the filming.  Four stars and some thumbs and what have you.

photo: still from The Woman in the Dunes, 1964

photo: still from The Woman in the Dunes, 1964

photo: still from The Woman in the Dunes, 1964

photo: still from The Woman in the Dunes, 1964

photo: still from The Woman in the Dunes, 1964

photo: still from The Woman in the Dunes, 1964

photo: still from The Woman in the Dunes, 1964