Film/Book comparison

This is a book and film comparison of the classic existential masterpiece ‘The Woman in the Dunes’. The story follows an entomologist who travels to a distant beach in search of rare insects. As the sun fades, villagers ask if he’d like to stay the night with them, but the protagonist is unaware that he’s about to be forced to live there against his will... The protagonist becomes caught between overcoming his situation by fighting for his liberty, or to acquiesce and accept his new life in the dunes. His predicament is rendered even more absurd when he is faced with the Sisyphean task of shovelling ceaseless torrents of sand that pervade every inch of the place where he now lives. 

For me, the film is actually much better than the book. Its music score, use of editing, and palpable visual representations of the environment depicting the horror of the inescapable sand all harmoniously work together to create an exceptional piece of art. The book too is good, but I felt it read as a little sexist compared to the film. This is probably due to the book being solely from the male’s perspective, whereas the film does a great job of balancing both the male’s and female’s perspectives. That being said, it is worth reading the book first to better understand some of the protagonist’s motivations and his backstory as they are explored in much greater detail. The one scene I did like better in the book was the quicksand scene. I felt this significant moment was slightly rushed in the film. 
But all in all, ‘The Woman in the Dunes’ is a wonderful work of philosophical fiction, and one of the 20th century’s best. 

Overall rating:
Book: 7/10
Film: 9/10