Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands
Encyclopedia
aka Dutch Wife of the Wasteland and The Dutch Wives of the Wild, originally released as , is a 1967
Japan
ese pink film written and directed by cult filmmaker Atsushi Yamatoya, starring the first "Queen" of pink film, Noriko Tatsumi
, and with music by the noted jazz pianist, Yōsuke Yamashita
.
's Branded to Kill
(1967). Yamatoya had co-directed the pink film with Kōji Wakamatsu
in 1966, but Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands was his solo feature film directorial debut.
He directed a few more pink films such as for Wakamatsu's production company, but found writing to be more to his taste. He often wrote anonymously for Wakamatsu during the 1960s, and was later regularly credited for his script work at Nikkatsu
on their Roman porno series. He revisited the sex-doll theme in his script to Chūsei Sone
's Roman porno Love Doll Report: An Adult Toy (1975). Sone was one of Yamatoya's co-workers on Branded to Kill, and Yamatoya wrote several of Sone's Roman porno scripts, notably Showa Woman: Naked Rashomon, an erotic restructuring of Kurosawa
's Rashomon
(1950).
Yukihiro Sawada, who worked with Yamatoya on the script for Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands, also went on to work at Nikkatsu, where he directed such Roman pornos as Sex Hunter: Wet Target (1972). During the filming of Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands, lead actors Noriko Tatsumi
and Yūichi Minato worked together on director Ario Takeda's pink film Love's Milky Drops for Okura Eiga studio. This film used the same sets as Yamatoya's.
's Branded to Kill
(1967), which Atsushi Yamatoya helped write. According to the Weissers, despite several very erotic scenes, because the film emphasizes a hard-boiled mystery plot rather than sexploitation, it is not technically a pink film.
Jasper Sharp writes that the film shows how versatile the pink film genre could sometimes be, calling it "probably the most idiosyncratic work the genre has ever produced", and noting that it out-does Suzuki's Branded to Kill in terms of "dreamlike illogicality". Of the plot, Sharp writes that, in spite of its disjointed nature, "as with Suzuki's film, there is clearly some method behind the onscreen madness". Sharp remarks that a comparison with Suzuki's better-known film is inevitable. Besides the sharing of a main character's name ("Joe") with the star of Suzuki's film (Joe Shishido
), Sharp lists some similarities between the films: "the striking high-contrast monochrome cinematography; the quirky, hard-boiled performances; the hypnotic disjunction between sound and image; the use of montage to construct a surreal, alien-looking landscape that bears little resemblance to any recognisable vision of Japan; and the atonal jazz soundtrack, full of chaotic fanfares that blare out to punctuate the action."
Chirashis, or movie flyers, advertised this DVD release as "60s Sex Play". The film's title was also used for a book on Yamatoya's films issued in June 1994.
1967 in film
The year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese pink film written and directed by cult filmmaker Atsushi Yamatoya, starring the first "Queen" of pink film, Noriko Tatsumi
Noriko Tatsumi
is a Japanese actress known primarily for her appearances in pink films of the 1960s. During the "First Wave" of pink film, Tatsumi became known as the first "Queen" of Japanese softcore sex movies, a title which she held from 1967 through 1970...
, and with music by the noted jazz pianist, Yōsuke Yamashita
Yosuke Yamashita
Yōsuke Yamashita is an acclaimed jazz pianist, composer, essayist, and writer from Tokyo, Japan.He is praised by critics for his unique piano style...
.
Synopsis
A wealthy real estate investor receives a film showing the rape and murder of his girlfriend. He hires a private detective, and shows him the film-- which he criticizes for its poor cinematography-- so that the detective can find the criminals and bring them to justice. The detective discovers that the woman is not dead, but doesn't inform his employer because the detective has romantic intentions towards her as well. His search leads him to a warehouse in the wastelands, filled with flies and sex dolls modeled on the woman. A gunshot is heard and the detective is engaged in target practice in the desert with the realtor. The realtor says he has a case he would like to be investigated, which returns the film to the first scene.Cast
- Noriko TatsumiNoriko Tatsumiis a Japanese actress known primarily for her appearances in pink films of the 1960s. During the "First Wave" of pink film, Tatsumi became known as the first "Queen" of Japanese softcore sex movies, a title which she held from 1967 through 1970...
as Sae - Yūichi Minato as Jō
- Miki Watari as Mina
- Shōhei Yamamoto as Kō
- Seigi [Masayoshi] Nogami as Naka
- Hatsuo Yamaya as Doctor
- Mari Nagisa as Rie
- Akaji MaroAkaji Marois a Japanese actor, Butoka, and theater director. He was born in Sakurai, Nara and is the founder of Dairakudakan. His son is Nao Ōmori.-Film:*Yakuza Weapon *Sakigake!! Otokojuku *Makai Tensho *Kill Bill Vol...
- Taka Ôkubo
- Kohei Tsuzaki
Background
Director Atsushi Yamatoya was one of the group of writers on Seijun SuzukiSeijun Suzuki
, born Seitaro Suzuki on May 24, 1923, is a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are renowned by film enthusiasts worldwide for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility...
's Branded to Kill
Branded to Kill
is a 1967 Japanese yakuza film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Joe Shishido, Koji Nanbara, Annu Mari and Mariko Ogawa. It was a low budget, production line number for the Nikkatsu Company, originally released in a double bill with Shōgorō Nishimura's Burning Nature. The story follows Goro...
(1967). Yamatoya had co-directed the pink film with Kōji Wakamatsu
Koji Wakamatsu
is a Japanese film director who directed such pinku eiga films as and . He also produced Nagisa Ōshima's controversial film In the Realm of the Senses...
in 1966, but Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands was his solo feature film directorial debut.
He directed a few more pink films such as for Wakamatsu's production company, but found writing to be more to his taste. He often wrote anonymously for Wakamatsu during the 1960s, and was later regularly credited for his script work at Nikkatsu
Nikkatsu
is a Japanese entertainment company well known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio. The name Nikkatsu is an abbreviation of Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Cinematograph Company".-History:...
on their Roman porno series. He revisited the sex-doll theme in his script to Chūsei Sone
Chusei Sone
is a Japanese film director known primarily for his stylish and popular Roman Porno films for Nikkatsu, particularly the first two installments of the Angel Guts series. Despite a somewhat uneven career, many mainstream critics consider Sone the best of Nikkatsu's Roman Porno directors.-Life and...
's Roman porno Love Doll Report: An Adult Toy (1975). Sone was one of Yamatoya's co-workers on Branded to Kill, and Yamatoya wrote several of Sone's Roman porno scripts, notably Showa Woman: Naked Rashomon, an erotic restructuring of Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
's Rashomon
Rashomon (film)
The bandit's storyTajōmaru, a notorious brigand , claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then brought the woman there. She initially tried to defend herself with a...
(1950).
Yukihiro Sawada, who worked with Yamatoya on the script for Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands, also went on to work at Nikkatsu, where he directed such Roman pornos as Sex Hunter: Wet Target (1972). During the filming of Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands, lead actors Noriko Tatsumi
Noriko Tatsumi
is a Japanese actress known primarily for her appearances in pink films of the 1960s. During the "First Wave" of pink film, Tatsumi became known as the first "Queen" of Japanese softcore sex movies, a title which she held from 1967 through 1970...
and Yūichi Minato worked together on director Ario Takeda's pink film Love's Milky Drops for Okura Eiga studio. This film used the same sets as Yamatoya's.
Critical appraisal
In their Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films, the Weissers write that Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands is "one of the major cult films of the '60s". They give the film a rating of three out of four stars, noting that, due to the surrealistic and hallucinatory nature of the plot, the film may not be to all viewers' tastes. They judge the film is "even more eccentric" than director Seijun SuzukiSeijun Suzuki
, born Seitaro Suzuki on May 24, 1923, is a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are renowned by film enthusiasts worldwide for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility...
's Branded to Kill
Branded to Kill
is a 1967 Japanese yakuza film directed by Seijun Suzuki and starring Joe Shishido, Koji Nanbara, Annu Mari and Mariko Ogawa. It was a low budget, production line number for the Nikkatsu Company, originally released in a double bill with Shōgorō Nishimura's Burning Nature. The story follows Goro...
(1967), which Atsushi Yamatoya helped write. According to the Weissers, despite several very erotic scenes, because the film emphasizes a hard-boiled mystery plot rather than sexploitation, it is not technically a pink film.
Jasper Sharp writes that the film shows how versatile the pink film genre could sometimes be, calling it "probably the most idiosyncratic work the genre has ever produced", and noting that it out-does Suzuki's Branded to Kill in terms of "dreamlike illogicality". Of the plot, Sharp writes that, in spite of its disjointed nature, "as with Suzuki's film, there is clearly some method behind the onscreen madness". Sharp remarks that a comparison with Suzuki's better-known film is inevitable. Besides the sharing of a main character's name ("Joe") with the star of Suzuki's film (Joe Shishido
Joe Shishido
is a Japanese actor most recognizable for his intense, eccentric yakuza film roles and his artificially enlarged cheekbones. He has appeared in some 300 films but is best known in the West for his performance in the cult film Branded to Kill...
), Sharp lists some similarities between the films: "the striking high-contrast monochrome cinematography; the quirky, hard-boiled performances; the hypnotic disjunction between sound and image; the use of montage to construct a surreal, alien-looking landscape that bears little resemblance to any recognisable vision of Japan; and the atonal jazz soundtrack, full of chaotic fanfares that blare out to punctuate the action."
Availability
Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands, first known as Horror Doll, was released theatrically on October 3, 1967. It was released in VHS format in Japan in May 1997, and on DVD on August 23, 2002.Chirashis, or movie flyers, advertised this DVD release as "60s Sex Play". The film's title was also used for a book on Yamatoya's films issued in June 1994.