Brandon's #83: Woman in the Dunes (Hiroshi Teshigahara)

This is the stuff of nightmares, thus it's all the more terrifying to see it's similarities to reality. Nightmares begin innocent enough, the pursuing terror seems to come unexpectedly out of nowhere. I try to flee but my legs are like cinderblocks. I try to drive but I keep falling asleep at the wheel. I try to punch but my hands turn to paper. Likewise, you try to crawl or climb in sand and it caves in and eventually buries you. You are trapped.

I suppose you could attach this metaphorical hysteria to anything in life that lures you in, never to let you out. It could be drugs, booze, love, a job, depression, religion, etc. By avoiding exposition, Teshigahara let's us attach whatever ails us to the narrative. At the time I saw it, there were three very pressing/oppressive problems holding me down. It reminded me of the things that I need and how I obtained them, and ultimately where they got me. I'm bound to a cycle, now and forever. It's a depressing thought, one that I sometimes try to suppress. This movie hasn't left me as a result.

Do we shovel to survive or survive to shovel. Sounds simplistic. It probably is, but it's heavy to me.