See Tetsuo Ironman: A Japanese Film
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 focuses on a Japanese salary man who suddenly starts sprouting pieces of scrap metal from his body one day. It’s very much in the same category as Japanese surrealist authors like Kobo Abe, where weird things just suddenly start happening for no real reason in particular. It kind of drives home the point that… Life is weird and unpredictable, and there’s really no inherent meaning to it all so… Just enjoy the long strange trip for what it is.
Tsukamoto made the film around the idea of a monster flick with a human sized monster. So imagine Godzilla if Godzilla were only five foot eight. It’s not exactly like that, but it’s very similar. The film has two monsters doing battle: The salary man after his transformation, and Tetsuo, played by Shinya Tsukamoto himself. Both do battle as these metallic monsters, having a final show down in a junkyard on the outskirts of Tokyo.
This is the movie people point to when they talk about Japanese cyberpunk, which has always been more focused on the imagery of industrial machinery, steam, sparks and electricity than on the relations between man and computers. If you want to see more of this genre, you should also check out Electric Dragon 80000v and Burst City, which are considered two classics in this genre.
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.
Machine allows you to play the songs including the vocals which make you able to learn the songs. Anything else is just a bloody cherry on top of my horror sundae. Plus, for a flat fee you rent what you want as often as you want.
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