Atsushi Yamatoya’s Dutch Wife in the Desert also goes by Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands in North America. OVID’s presentation of the film comes with a disclaimer about the painstaking process to preserve its visuals and audio. The latter seems unfinished but it’s better than nothing and there are worse restorations for bigger films. Anyway, plot – gun-for-hire Mr. Sho (Yuichi Minato) gets an assignment from Mr. Naka (Masayoshi Nogami). He must rescue Sae (Noriko Tatsumi), who presumably survives being the victim of a gang rape preserved on film.

Strangel enough, Mr. Naka is smiling while showing Mr. Sho the video of Sae’s sexual assault, which triggers him. He remembers a Mr. Ko (Shohei Yamamoto) raping and murdering his own girlfriend, and he’s out to avenge her. He may as well hit two birds in one stone, assuming that Mr. Ko is responsible for both these horrific crimes. This includes going to bars in a Japanese city, getting leads and asking for money Mr. Naka owes him. All of this leads him to Mr. Naka, whose collection of these snuff films seem bigger than expected.

A percussive jazz score by Yosuke Yamashita complements this ‘pink’ film, where men witness and perpetrate violent crimes. While watching this film, the act of preserving it is understandable now despite reservations towards its message and method. Count Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands as one of the movies where I don’t know what’s happening. Although that may not be fair because I get most of it, even when Mr. Sho finds Mr. Ko’s woman in a hotel. There, he rapes her and tells her his plans, despite of her telling him that Mr. Ko’s leading him to a trap.

I’m of two minds when it comes to Mr. Ko’s woman’s rape – Mr. Sho didn’t need to do that. But, and playing devil’s advocate here,  Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands amorality as a state within this world. Mr. Sho is not above immoral acts, performing them within a hall of mirrors that is the Japanese underworld. Minimal camerawork and effects still give viewers a kaleidoscopic world of dive bars full of information and money. And within them, Minato delivers a capable performance, portraying a character who may never get his wishes.

Atsushi Yamatoya was more of a screenwriter than he is a director, and I see what he’s going for here. There’s a showdown that happens between Mr. Sho and the gang, and he returns to Naka’s place. That return is his attempt to show the cyclical nature of violence, bookending scenes that look like the openers. This doesn’t really work for me just because the execution feels anticlimactic, one of many moments that feel flat. Nonetheless, I’m willing to give this film a conditional pass just because of how bleak it is, morality wise.

Inflatable Sex Doll of the Wastelands is an OVID.tv exclusive.