Dogra Magra


Horror and experimental films share a lot of the same DNA.  But their fans rarely swim in the same circles.  The intentionally obtuse work of filmmakers like Stan Brakhage and Kenneth Anger isn’t designed for mass consumption, yet their ability to break through cinematic barriers to produce stylistic, transgressive and often disturbing personal visions is exactly what horror movies have in mind.  The two genres rarely overlap entirely in a traditional Venn diagram (except maybe in the case of David Lynch), but Dogra Magra, the 1988 adaptation of an influential early Japanese novel, is a good example of the successes and failures when they do.

An amnesiac patient, Ichiro, is bounced between two doctors who both postulate the same theory on his mental state:  genetic memory has triggered him to murder his fiancé on their wedding day in a supernatural attempt to complete an ancient family scroll.  But with no memory of his actions or his true identity, Ichiro must solve the mystery of his foggy past to awaken from a deadly psychological loop.

 

Directed by avant-garde filmmaker Toshiro Matsumoto, Dogra Magra dabbles in several genres but manages to thwart any real attempt at categorization.  There’s a POV-shifting detective angle a la Wilkie Collins early mysteries, a psycho-sci-fi mind fuck familiar to William S. Burroughs fans with a playfully dark satirical edge straight out of Luis Bunuel’s playbook.  It’s not always a pleasant concoction and Matsumoto strings the audience along with the promise of narrative resolution that some may find disappointing.

 

Yet it’s that same unconventional plotting – the film jumps between characters, perspectives and decades with clever literary dexterity – that makes it unique.  Producer Shuji Shibata claims to have toned down some of the surrealism to make things more accessible.  But it’s the often headache-inducing narrative contortions inherent in that process that prove to be its weakest moments.  Dogra Magra fares far better as a period-piece fever dream, stuffed with images and ideas that might flash through one’s head at the moment of birth or moment of death.  Matsumoto’s film suggests it’s all one and the same.

 

Radiance gives this one its world premiere on a limited edition 3000-copy Blu-ray with a transfer supervised by DP Tatsuo Suzuki and producer Shuji Shibata.  Extras include a director’s commentary and archival interview, visual essay, rare production sketches, trailer and liner notes.

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