Message from clockwood

[Anonymous]

I was reading through the recommended books and movies in this forum and saw a notation on the movie Women of the Dunes. It is very old (I saw it about 30 years ago) and in black & white.

Did I enjoy watching it? Not really. It is rather depressing. However, it is one of those movies that sticks with you. I think of it often; its images and the situation are haunting. I think about the choices the characters made and the author's message and how it reflects the Japanese philosophy. It would be an interesting movie to show in a film class, but probably would not be useful in a regular school program.

The story is: a women lives alone at the bottom of a sand pit, and her job is to fill up buckets of sand which are sent by pulley to the top. If she stops filling buckets, her house will be buried, and she can't escape. The story is about what happens when a visitor comes, they begin to work together on the task, and she has a choice of leaving the situation.

The symbolism is interesting; here is a woman who is making no progress, who is simply keeping herself from being buried, much as I think housewives may feel on a daily basis. Her life is bleak, joyless, mundane...and yet she keeps plugging away. When a visitor comes to break the monotony, the two of them have to decide how to change the routine, whether to try to escape, etc. A relationship changes the entire dynamics of her life.

Like many Japanese movies, there is no good guy or bad guy, no right path or wrong path, just a look at a situation and options. Life is not wonderful, it is mundane and frustrating, but there is hope that some light may brighten the road, however transitory.

So, if you're in the mood for a movie that makes you think, this one would fit the bill. In the classroom? I don't see an application...but there's no right or wrong answer to that question... : -)