Tetsuo Iron Man was the debut film from Japanese madman director Shinya Tsukamoto. Even if you don't like reading subtitles, put it on your queue next time you log into your movie download service anyways. It's NOT that kind of foreign film. It's practically a silent film, because it's really just all action, special effects and weirdness, with very little dialog.
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 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 incredibly fast paced, and it's even a little confusing, but that's sort of the point. The movie also has a great look to it, with stark, high contrast black and white really driving home the nightmarish atmosphere of the film's setting. It really results in a strange look and a strange feel. The movie feels much more like a bad dream than it does like events happening in real life.
Besides Eraserhead, the movie also draws a lot of inspiration from Cronenberg's Videodrome, starring James Woods. It uses some of the same recurring images of flickering television sets and grotesque horror sights. So, a warning, if that movie made you squeamish, this one will, too.
Tsukamoto would later go on to create a number of incredible films, including Tokyo Fist and Bullet Ballet, and a sequel to the original Tetsuo, called Tetsuo: Body Hammer. He's now working on a third in the series, Tetsuo: The Bulletman. All of his films focus on some similar themes regarding violence, sexuality and the male ego. If you like Tetsuo Iron Man, check out Tokyo Fist, which similarly deals with the concept of rage as a component of transformation.
Tsukamoto has also developed into an interesting actor, mainly taking small parts in films by Takashi Miike, who has a similarly strange approach to filmmaking. Tsukamoto's career is definitely one to keep tabs on, as it's clear that, two decades after his debut, he's just getting started and still has plenty more surprises up his sleeves. - 40730
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 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 incredibly fast paced, and it's even a little confusing, but that's sort of the point. The movie also has a great look to it, with stark, high contrast black and white really driving home the nightmarish atmosphere of the film's setting. It really results in a strange look and a strange feel. The movie feels much more like a bad dream than it does like events happening in real life.
Besides Eraserhead, the movie also draws a lot of inspiration from Cronenberg's Videodrome, starring James Woods. It uses some of the same recurring images of flickering television sets and grotesque horror sights. So, a warning, if that movie made you squeamish, this one will, too.
Tsukamoto would later go on to create a number of incredible films, including Tokyo Fist and Bullet Ballet, and a sequel to the original Tetsuo, called Tetsuo: Body Hammer. He's now working on a third in the series, Tetsuo: The Bulletman. All of his films focus on some similar themes regarding violence, sexuality and the male ego. If you like Tetsuo Iron Man, check out Tokyo Fist, which similarly deals with the concept of rage as a component of transformation.
Tsukamoto has also developed into an interesting actor, mainly taking small parts in films by Takashi Miike, who has a similarly strange approach to filmmaking. Tsukamoto's career is definitely one to keep tabs on, as it's clear that, two decades after his debut, he's just getting started and still has plenty more surprises up his sleeves. - 40730
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