Tetsuo Iron Man Reviewed
Tetsuo Ironman was the debut film by the legendary Japanese film director Shinya Tsukamoto. The film is of course in another language, but you should consider putting it on your downloads queue next time you sign into your movie download service because it's not THAT kind of foreign movie. It's a horror action film, so there's always something happening on screen. The dialog isn't what's important. You can follow the story with the subtitles off and still understand it about as well as anyone else... Which isn't saying much, considering how strange the film is.
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.
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 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.
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