'Dogra Magra' Director: Toshio Matsumoto (1988) Radiance Blu-ray | DOP-supervised HD transfer | Region A+B | Japanese w/ English subtitles An amnesiac young man who wakes up in a mental asylum. He is told he killed his fiancée on their wedding day, and soon finds himself trapped in a confusing, mind-bending game orchestrated by two eccentric doctors who propose a radical, pseudoscientific theory: his insanity is a form of genetic memory. The final feature film by Toshio Matsumoto (Funeral Parade of Roses) is an adaptation of the celebrated novel by Kyusaku Yumeno, a period set gothic tale with a sense of dreamy dread that recalls Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure and the locked room mystery of Shutter Island. A stunningly shot phantasmagoria by Tatsuo Suzuki (Pastoral: To Die in the Country), Dogra Magra is presented on Blu-ray for the first time outside of Japan. Special features include:- Audio commentary by director Toshio Matsumoto- Interview with Toshio Matsumoto- Visual essay by programmer and curator Julian Ross (2024, 13 mins)- Instructions on Ahodara Sutra (a popular Japanese chant delivered by Dr. Masaki in the film) by legendary street performer Hiroshi Sakano
