Sunday, August 22, 2010

A Short Review Of Tetsuo The Iron Man

By Karyn Rojas

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 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.

The movie really helped to define Japanese cyberpunk. There had been earlier efforts in the genre such as Burst City, but this one was the one that really defined the genre as being about industrialism and the Frankenstein-esque relations between man and machine. Where American cyberpunk tends to focus on the computer age, Japanese cyberpunk is more about antiquated machinery and post WWII fear.

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.

The movie primarily draws influence from Eraserhead and Cronenberg's Videodrome. A warning, if those movies made you squeamish, this one will, too.

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.

Tsukamoto is also an interesting actor, doing some bit parts for various Takashi Miike films. He also has another Tetsuo movie coming out, Tetsuo: Bulletman. It's clear that, while he's already been making movies for twenty years, he is nevertheless just now warming up. - 40732

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