Tetsuo

This is a very artsy and experimental film that is full of disturbing and phantasmagorical images. It is difficult to watch and follow at times. Best viewed as an experiment.

The first time, and perhaps the last, depending on how you feel about it, you watch TETSUO: THE IRON MAN, you'll sit wide-eyed. Your mouth will open, emitting sounds of choking mixed with laughter.

TETSUO is a fever dream at light speed interrupted by jolts of sexual sadism and mega-violence. It's techno-industrial mayhem on acid. Whatever it is, it must be seen many times. Not to further understand it, but to allow the viewer to relive the same nightmare.

Director Shin'ya Tsukamoto not only created this miraculous abomination, but stars in it as the demonic Metal Fetishist, whose plot to dominate the world is fulfilled through metal-flesh infusion.

When your mouth finally snaps shut, love it or hate it, all you'll be able to say is: "Ho-lee $h!t! What the hell was that?!"...

I can honestly say that this is the strangest movie I have ever seen. It is not bad, just really weird. There doesn't seem to be any other way to describe it well. It's also very easy to get lost in it. Crazy camera action. Crazy things. Crazy people. WEIRD!

I heard about this movie reading a comic book magazine in elementary school. It piqued my interest and I searched for it on video for rental for several months before finding it. Also included on the video was a short film entitled "Drum struck" which didn't interest me at all. The real meat was Tetsuo.

The "plot" of this film revolves around a businessman (who apparently like to have sex with his girlfriend in public places and film it) who is involved in a hit and run auto accident with a metal fetishist. Soon the man appears to be hallucinating about people sprouting metal appendages until it begins to happen to him. Chunks of scrap metal grow like cancerous tumors. Soon, they're not random scraps but working appliances such as drills. If this isn't bad enough he soon finds out the man he hit (played by the director of the film) is in fact alive and rather peeved.

Absolutely insane violence permeates the film which retains its punch through the black and white film.

The review I read about this film compared it to Eraserhead (A film I still have not seen) which I believe says a lot about Eraserhead. To compare it to a film I've seen I'd say it reminds me of "Un Chien Andalou" with about three more lines of dialog and a lot more gore and violence.

I also recommend the sequel Tetsuo II: Body Hammer. It's similar but bigger. Color, dialog, etc.

10/10

It's so visually striking that you could never fully describe Tetsuo in words. But here are a few that apply: Japanese, hyperactive, perverse, industrial, surreal, Faustian bargain, contrasty, black-and-white, Kafkaesque, scifi, stop-motion, manga-influenced, revenge, technology, alienation, supervillains.

Shinya Tsukamoto is an actor (he's the antagonistic "Metals Fetishist" here as well as Jijii in Ichi the Killer) as well as a ground-breaking writer/director/cinematographer. Tetsuo's influence can be seen clearly in directors as diverse as Darren Aronofsky, Takashi Miike, and even David Cronenberg.

There is definitely a plot, but due to the non-linear editing and sparsity of dialogue you'll need to pay close attention on a first viewing or else you'll be overwhelmed by the engrossing visual style (which might be a good thing). It's filmed in contrasty black-and-white. Each frame is cramped and chaotic, much of the time it's filled with wires, pipes, chain-link fences, and all the other incidental debris of life in the late 20th century... which suddenly seems significant and even menacing.

Towards the fifty-minute mark (it's 67 min. total) the willful excess starts to feel a little too excessive, perhaps the manga influence is a bit too strong. But Tetsuo finishes strong, with an end that's at once unexpected and inevitable. Highly recommended.