---
title: "Woman in the Dunes: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/woman-in-the-dunes/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/woman-in-the-dunes"
critics_score: 80
critics_reviews: 8
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Woman in the Dunes (1964): what the critics said

Critics' score 80 from 8 reviews: 8 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative.

All eight reviews are positive, and they agree on what carries the film: the way it makes sand feel like a physical presence. Critics return again and again to Teshigahara’s close-ups of sand on skin, water and bodies, and to the cramped shack, which several describe as tactile enough to be felt from the seat. Most read the story as an allegory of entrapment and find it haunting, praising its unsettling, oppressive atmosphere and its emotional reach.

The spread runs from solid approval to outright rapture, and the reservations are about the story rather than the images. The Los Angeles Times finds the tension slackening and the focus growing dense in places, and The New Yorker allows that the plot has irritations before the film’s harsh sensualism wins out. Time Out notes the allegory risks heaviness, though it judges the film gets away with it. The warmest reviews, from The AV Club and Eye for Film, have no such doubts.

## The AV Club — Keith Phipps

Rating A. 29 March 2002. 

Phipps finds the film a resonant, haunting parable for human existence. He especially praises the striking cinematography, which makes the sand and cramped shack feel palpable.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/woman-in-the-dunes-1798195680)

## Empire — William Thomas

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

The review calls the film hypnotic and emotionally wrenching filmmaking. It singles out Teshigahara’s tactile close-ups of sand and skin and the film’s emotional range for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/woman-dunes-review/)

## Slant Magazine — Clayton Dillard

Rating 4/5. 25 August 2016. 

Dillard finds the film a haunting, sharply ironic work about entrapment and self-importance. He praises Teshigahara’s camera for its striking, intimate attention to surfaces and bodies.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/woman-in-the-dunes/)

## Los Angeles Times — MARK CHALON SMITH

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 24 August 1990. 

The critic finds the film disquieting and often startling, though its tension sometimes slackens and its focus grows dense. He praises the cinematography for making the dunes and mundane details feel striking and new.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-24-ca-1361-story.html)

## The Guardian — Rob Mackie

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 10 August 2006. 

Mackie presents the film as a strange, compelling and unclassifiable experience. He especially praises its tactile handling of sand, water and skin.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/aug/10/dvdreviews.worldcinema1)

## Time Out

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 15 March 2012. 

The critic says the film makes its allegory work despite the risk of being heavy-handed. They single out its stark, creepy depiction of a man trapped in a sand pit.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/newyork/film/woman-in-the-dunes)

## The New Yorker

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 

The critic finds the film’s harsh sensualism ultimately overcomes the irritations of its plot. They single out Teshigahara’s spare, stylized imagery and its merging of bodies with the landscape.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/woman-in-the-dunes)

## Eye for Film — Anton Bitel

Fi1m's normalised score 96/100 (inferred from the text). 3 October 2006. 

Bitel calls the film an enigmatic masterpiece, praising its intense, unsettling atmosphere. He singles out the sand itself for its oppressive, entrapping presence.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/woman-of-the-dunes-film-review-by-anton-bitel)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/woman-in-the-dunes.md