MovieChat Forums > Suna no onna (1964) Discussion > Truly one of the greatest films ever mad...

Truly one of the greatest films ever made

posted 8 years ago by angusmcnevin
3 replies | jump to latest

Hiroshi Teshigahara's masterpiece Woman of the Dunes is unlike any other Japanese film I've ever seen. Hell, scratch 'Japanese' from that last sentence.

I found no shock in discovering that Tarkovsky also boasted this picture as one of his favourites whatsoever: it is one of the few, remarkable pictures tuat literally left me shaking and within a detestable trance, of which I was unable to shake from me for days.

I truly believe this film to be, undoubtedly, one of the most harrowing, captivating films I've ever seen, and one of the greatest ever made. The lack of similar (and entirely deserved) laudation disheartens me as a film-lover - for instance, it collected only six total votes (leaving it excluded even from the top 500!) in the Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time Poll in 2012 (a highly regarded and mostly reliable barometer of merit), whilst a film such as Rossellini's Journey to Italy (1954), which, despite being a very good film, is infinitely inferior to this particular picture, received the title of the 41st greatest film ever made through its gathering of 32 votes.

Perhaps Teshigahara's Woman of the Dunes simply strikes a chord within me that no other film has struck, and for this reason only I hold it in such the high regard that I admittedly do; perhaps it is truly one of the great works of film in the medium's history.

[–] prplayer 8 years ago

it's a very unknown movie, i actually forget how i stumbled across this one

i liked it very much, a very unique film that i won't forget too soon

so many movies, so little time

[–] SamoanJoes 8 years ago

it's a very unknown movie, i actually forget how i stumbled across this one

I just finished watching this and I felt the same way.

[–] Tyler_Durden_pt 8 years ago

It's a great film, but the book is the powerhouse material. Kobo Abe's work is top literature, and Teshigahara's adaptation is a faithful, very accomplished film version. I'm yet to watch his other Kobo Abe adaptations, but I'm thinking they are also top notch.