Oscar Muñoz selects…

Woman of the Dunes (1964)
Hiroshi Teshigara (Dir.)
127 mins

Comparable to Samuel Beckett and Jean-Paul Sartre in its existential intensity, Woman of the Dunes is a cinematic experience that is both sensuous and oppressive in equal measure.

Preferring the freedom and ease of his own company to the trappings of contemporary civilisation, a young entomologist, Niki Junpei, works alone in the dunes of a small village. After missing his bus home one night, he accepts an invitation to stay with a young widow who lives in a hut situated at the bottom of a deep and ominous sand-pit. Junpei wakes to find himself trapped in the hut with the young widow. His life depends upon his ability and willingness to shovel a daily torrent of sand that threatens to collapse the widow’s home.

As the days, weeks and months pass, Junpei’s desire for freedom ebbs away, and his frustration at his entrapment moves from belief in the possibility of escape to resignation to his situation.

This is the final screening in a series of films selected by Oscar Muñoz that have been influential to his practice.

This event is free. Advance booking is essential, please contact:
020 7749 1240 or bookings@rivingtonplace.org
All events may be subject to change.