Media Type : Dvd | Rating : 8.0 out of 10 | Watched on : A sand-free day in September, 2004

Release Date : January ⁴, 2000 [originally released in 1964] | New & Used DVD Price : $24.25 & up

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This movie is one of the most interesting movies I have seen in this life. Out since 1964, this movie will show you a new boundary [unique to this day] of what you can achieve in a superb movie without the use of any digital special effects. You will be so much dragged into the atmosphere set in the movie that it will not be until someone else tells you that you will realize the entire movie is in numerous shades of black and white; no other colors are to be found anywhere in this classic suspense movie given its time frame of production and release. The portrait of the sand, the landscape, and the characters in almost every form possible is almost flawless; you can almost feel how it would really be to be in such a position, and the way that the sand is shown to approach you from all sides in every way possible, you almost get a feeling that you have had a real experience just like the one shown in your own real life, simply because of the way everything is shown in vivid motion in the entire movie. This movie can be used as the prime example as to why colors other than shades of black and white are not necessary to create a masterpiece.

The story revolves around a researcher from the city coming near almost deserted shores with villages to find out more about a certain beetle. When he misses his ride back to his quarters, the man finds an offer from the local villages, to stay the night over in one of the small huts, irresistible. He soon finds that the hut is located in almost the center of a large sand cavern, like a chamber without a ceiling. He is lowered by the villagers to go and spend the night. In the morning, he realizes that he has been taken hostage, and that the ropes used to lower him, are no longer there. He finds out that the woman, every night, digs out the sand that creeps onto the big hole every night, and puts it in barrels which are raised through a “pulley” system by the local villagers. It seems, though very strangely, that the woman does this to keep the house from being swallowed by the sand, and the whole village follows this pattern. Trapped, the man first tries to use several ways to get out, and slowly starts to realize that his efforts may be fruitless, and that he should keep on living with the situation he currently is. The whole movie concentrates on the actions and feelings that pour out of the characters because of the fact that this house is not the only one practicing this “system” to keep the entire village from being buried under the sand. Slowly into the movie, we find out that there are many other houses just like this, with their own captive-servants, who have been stuck there for years. This creates an extra level of uneasiness in the mind and a sense of horror and desperation in the soul that such a thing is happening, and there seems to be absolutely no hope whatsoever for such a situation. Such a desperation leads the main character to plan many forms of escape, and almost succeeding at one point. This desperation and sense of hopeless also creates different kinds of feelings inside him towards the woman he is with, including points when he is seduced unconsciously [by both characters] beyond belief and when he almost does not care what happens to her, as long as she does not die, in order for him to make his escape.

Over all, this movie will show you how life can take one expected turn, and how the crusade of surviving for one may seem like a barbarous act of torture to the other, and vice versa. The change in the mans’ character from trying to escape his “prison”, to trying to cope with the current conditions and actually change his life to revolve around this “new home” are depicted in a set of both tense and calm [though not forever in some instances] emotions that create an “eery” feeling that the whole story should hopefully not happen to anyone in real life. There are 4 main elements in the movie, in my opinion: the main character, the woman, the villagers, and the “sand.” The sand is what constitutes the whole movie along with the characters; Hiroshi depicted the sand in such a way that its vibrant motion in every direction, whether sliding down a hill or falling on you, is depicted perfectly in a way that you might think that the current digital effect era can, may be, never duplicate, or even compare with. Miles away from being a movie which results in a very nice happy ending, this movie leaves you with endless number of question, including the question as to what happened to the main character, of how this sense of hopeless is increased when no one else is looking for you, and you are considered to have “disappeared”, instead of “missing.” This movie is one of the big winners that have brought fame to the Japanese movie industry; even today, it will be hard to find a movie such as this one almost anywhere that explains a single subject in a single tone in such a depiction and realistic animation of nature. It is not something you would want to see with your family, unless you know they are into such an atmosphere and would be interested in such a theme. Overall, I gave this movie a 8 since I have not yet given any movie a 10; if I ever give a movie a 9 or a 10, this movie may be the first one to receive that rating.