Tetsuo Iron Man was the debut feature from the unpredictable Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto. It's a foreign film, but it's not THAT kind of foreign film. As in, don't think you're going to be sitting there reading subtitles. There's really very little dialog in the film, and what's there isn't usually important. It plays something like a silent film, so definitely put it in your queue the next time you log into your movie download service, whether or not you're usually a fan of Japanese cinema.
The movie follows a typical Japanese salary man who, for no reason at all, starts to sprout pieces of scrap metal from his body. It starts when he's shaving and pieces of... Aluminum cans or something start growing from his face. It's very strange. Eventually, he grows into a living, breathing heap of junk metal, and it winds up being a great example of Cronenberg's body horror genre.
The concept behind the movie was to make something like a monster film with a human sized badguy. The end result is sort of the Japanese answer to both David Cronenberg, and David Lynch's Eraserhead. It's definitely a strange journey full of unforgettable images, for better or for worse. The movie might be right up your alley, or it may leaving you simply scratching your head, but it's not an experience you'll forget any time soon.
This is really what Japanese cyberpunk is all about. It's not so much about the relation between man and computers as man and industrial concepts. So the film is filled with imagery of steam and steel and junkyards and factories. The closest comparison in American cyberpunk would be Robocop, set in the industrial city of Detroit. Although Robocop has nothing on this film's style.
The movie is fast paced, sort of confusing, but ultimately, it really works well as a sort of horror movie slash action flick. It has an incredible nightmarish look to it, utilizing stop motion special effects, cheap props and costume that look more real because they're not makeup. They actually glued pieces of metal to the actors faces in order to get the look they were going for.
The film draws a lot of influence from two sources: Eraserhead, and David Cronenberg's Videodrome. Both of these films greatly contributed to its look, with Shinya Tsukamoto being a particularly big fan of Cronenberg's entire library of work. A warning, though, if those movies made you squeamish, this one will make you twice as squeamish. As surreal as the imagery is, it still might gross you out just a bit.
Tsukamoto went on to create some of the greatest films ever to come from Japan, including Tokyo Fist, which is one of the greatest films ever made on the subject of the male ego. It's about what happens when two men who are at odds with one another absolutely refuse to back down no matter what, and how far conflict can go when it's not put in check.
He's also gone on to have a career as an actor (he plays a major character in this film), starring as a major character in Ichi the Killer. His career is certainly one to watch. Twenty years after his debut, it's clear that he's just warming up. - 40724
The movie follows a typical Japanese salary man who, for no reason at all, starts to sprout pieces of scrap metal from his body. It starts when he's shaving and pieces of... Aluminum cans or something start growing from his face. It's very strange. Eventually, he grows into a living, breathing heap of junk metal, and it winds up being a great example of Cronenberg's body horror genre.
The concept behind the movie was to make something like a monster film with a human sized badguy. The end result is sort of the Japanese answer to both David Cronenberg, and David Lynch's Eraserhead. It's definitely a strange journey full of unforgettable images, for better or for worse. The movie might be right up your alley, or it may leaving you simply scratching your head, but it's not an experience you'll forget any time soon.
This is really what Japanese cyberpunk is all about. It's not so much about the relation between man and computers as man and industrial concepts. So the film is filled with imagery of steam and steel and junkyards and factories. The closest comparison in American cyberpunk would be Robocop, set in the industrial city of Detroit. Although Robocop has nothing on this film's style.
The movie is fast paced, sort of confusing, but ultimately, it really works well as a sort of horror movie slash action flick. It has an incredible nightmarish look to it, utilizing stop motion special effects, cheap props and costume that look more real because they're not makeup. They actually glued pieces of metal to the actors faces in order to get the look they were going for.
The film draws a lot of influence from two sources: Eraserhead, and David Cronenberg's Videodrome. Both of these films greatly contributed to its look, with Shinya Tsukamoto being a particularly big fan of Cronenberg's entire library of work. A warning, though, if those movies made you squeamish, this one will make you twice as squeamish. As surreal as the imagery is, it still might gross you out just a bit.
Tsukamoto went on to create some of the greatest films ever to come from Japan, including Tokyo Fist, which is one of the greatest films ever made on the subject of the male ego. It's about what happens when two men who are at odds with one another absolutely refuse to back down no matter what, and how far conflict can go when it's not put in check.
He's also gone on to have a career as an actor (he plays a major character in this film), starring as a major character in Ichi the Killer. His career is certainly one to watch. Twenty years after his debut, it's clear that he's just warming up. - 40724
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