Which is the most important knowledge to have: Who you are? Where you are? or Why do you exist?
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This was a random question from my previous post and thank you to those of you who gave your answers. I had mentioned in that post that I often tend to think in terms of geography--the "Where am I" kind of knowledge. Ironically I just now watched a film that ponders these same sorts of questions with the overall conclusion that knowing where you are matters most.
The 1962 Japanese film Woman in the Dunes is surrealistic existentialism quite similar to the films of Ingmar Bergman or Federico Fellini. My guess is that David Lynch probably was influenced by this film. The film is primarily a drama a la the works of Samuel Beckett. Most of the film focuses on two characters in a confined bleak setting. The run time is nearly 2 1/2 hours though the slow pacing makes it seem longer. Before going into the film I decided to give it 30 minutes or so before giving it up. The film was so riveting and thought-provoking that I stayed with it until the end and now here I am writing this review or whatever this is I'm writing.
The story begins with a school teacher from Tokyo who goes to a seaside area of vast sand dunes in order to study insects. After he overstays and misses his bus back to the city, the villagers from the strange little town nearby invite him to spend the night with one of them. They take him to a vast sand pit where there is a house accessible by rope ladder. Taking on the adventure, the teacher finds that the house where he will be staying is occupied by a homely widow who treats the man kindly and lavishes him with attention. The following morning the teacher finds that the rope ladder is gone and he is now trapped with the widow.
There is a strange eroticism to the story though it also presents a metaphor for the alienation of the human condition while clinging to an interdependence on others. An eerie pall is cast over this story as we see these humans struggling against the eternally flowing sands that permeate everything in their lives. The imagery of the drifting shifting sands depict emotion as well as the obvious comparison to the sands of an hourglass.
When the teacher falls into the pit he already knows who he is but this identity no longer seems to matter the longer he is in the pit. The woman explains what their purpose is to be in this pit, but it makes no sense. Ultimately, when he attempts an escape, he realizes that his failure to get away was because he did not know where he was.
It's not too often that a movie grabs me to the extent that I'll write about it. Maybe I should do it more often. But then I'm not totally sure anymore why I am here. On this blog I mean. I didn't intend to write this post because I had another in mind. But that's okay. Sometimes I feel like I've fallen into a sandpit where no matter how much I try to claw my way out, more sand keeps on pouring down and I can never quite get a handhold that will give me a grip to pull myself upward just a bit more. The sand keeps coming and there's not much we can do about it.
Do you tend to just accept things without complaint? Are you good at making a bad situation into something better? Have you seen Woman in the Dunes?
