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 follows a typical Japanese salary man who, for no reason at all, starts to sprout pieces of scrap metal from his body. It starts when he’s shaving and pieces of… Aluminum cans or something start growing from his face. It’s very strange. Eventually, he grows into a living, breathing heap of junk metal, and it winds up being a great example of Cronenberg’s body horror genre.
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.
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 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.
Another disadvantage is often your own music creativity is limited. Movie This is an excellent way of ensuring that you excel in the music business. On its release the movie drew mixed critical reactions, partly due to its violent nature.