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 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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