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 main character is a Japanese salary man who is sort of the Japanese equivalent of the "everyman" character. One day, metal starts growing from his body for... Well, pretty much no reason at all. It's really the same sort of Japanese surrealism as Kobo Abe writes, and drives home the same basic idea, that life is strange and unpredictable.
The movie was based on the idea of making a monster movie like Godzilla, but with a human sized beast. So the Salary Man, as he transforms more and more into a heaping hunk of metal, has to do battle with Tetsuo, who, also, has grown into a heap of metal. They have a showdown in a junkyard where both have developed the ability to absorb all of the metal around them through... Magnetism, or chemistry or something. Your guess is as good as anyone else's.
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 has since created some of the greatest films to come out of Japan in the last few decades. In particular, Tokyo Fist is a real classic, and one of the greatest films ever made on the subject of the male ego and what can happen when a conflict is allowed to snowball with neither side backing down. It's really a great, deep look at what it means to be a man.
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.
The main character is a Japanese salary man who is sort of the Japanese equivalent of the "everyman" character. One day, metal starts growing from his body for... Well, pretty much no reason at all. It's really the same sort of Japanese surrealism as Kobo Abe writes, and drives home the same basic idea, that life is strange and unpredictable.
The movie was based on the idea of making a monster movie like Godzilla, but with a human sized beast. So the Salary Man, as he transforms more and more into a heaping hunk of metal, has to do battle with Tetsuo, who, also, has grown into a heap of metal. They have a showdown in a junkyard where both have developed the ability to absorb all of the metal around them through... Magnetism, or chemistry or something. Your guess is as good as anyone else's.
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 has since created some of the greatest films to come out of Japan in the last few decades. In particular, Tokyo Fist is a real classic, and one of the greatest films ever made on the subject of the male ego and what can happen when a conflict is allowed to snowball with neither side backing down. It's really a great, deep look at what it means to be a man.
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.
About the Author:
Piano Restoration Watch Fantastic Four Movie The movie is doing so well, it beat out the new Terminator Salvation movie, even though Terminator had an extra day. ) And she certainly knows how to keep the guys attention doesn't she, fellas'
No comments:
Post a Comment