Inflatable Doll Of The Wastelands (1967) Standard Edition Deaf Crocodile - Blu-ray Region A

Japanese director Atsushi Yamatoya's eerie, seedy and dreamlike Film Noir about a hitman seeking revenge for the death of his girlfriend

INFLATABLE DOLL OF THE WASTELANDS (KÔYA NO DACCHI WAIFU), 1967, 86 min.

“Every day at 3 o’clock I’ve been imagining your downfall,” murmurs low-rent hitman Shô (Yûichi Minato), haunted by the death of his girlfriend five years earlier and seeking revenge on the gangster responsible. Director and writer Atsushi Yamatoya crafts an eerie and dreamlike noir with fractured, time-bending storytelling reminiscent of John Boorman’s Point Blank and Christopher Nolan’s Memento.

Yamatoya also co-wrote Seijun Suzuki’s Branded to Kill (released the same year), and the two films share a similarly unconventional style. Strange flashbacks, unusual dialogue and song lyrics, moments that break the fourth wall, and a dissonant free-jazz score all contribute to the film’s distinctive tone.

Produced by Keiko Satô, one of the few female producers working in Japan’s underground pink film movement, the film stands as a striking example of the experimental cinema emerging from that era. The stark black-and-white cinematography and surreal atmosphere create a hypnotic viewing experience.

Recently rescued from the only surviving 35mm film elements by Rapid Eye Movies in Germany and newly digitally restored by Craig Rogers for Deaf Crocodile.

Special Features

• New commentary by film historians Arne Venema and Mike Leeder
• New video interview with film professor Alexander Zahlten on the Pink Film subgenre in Japanese cinema
• New video essay by journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill (The Disc Connected) and film professor Dr. Will Dodson
• Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion
• New reversible wrap art by Beth Morris