A surreal and funny action film that's sort of a cyberpunk retelling of Kafka's The Metamorphosis. Only in this version we get to see the transformation from ordinary citizen (in this case, a standard-issue briefcase-toting Salaryman) to monster (an amorphous combination of flesh and metal).
Combining a driving industrial soundtrack with an amphetamine-laced action movie, an undercurrent of violent eroticism and threads of black humor worthy of Lynch or Bu–uel, director Shinya Tsukamoto pulls off something Hollywood finds an almost impossible task: creating a film that's both accessible and also capable of showing you things you've never seen before.
(R. Kadrey)
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Tetsuo: The Iron Man
Shinya Tsukamoto, director
Fox Lorber Video
419 Park Ave. S.,
New York, NY 10016
800-862-8900
$83.90 ppd
Graphic: Tetsuo 2: The Body Hammer
Here is the TEXT POPUP for Tetsuo: The Iron Man:
I got to meet and spend several days with Tetsuo's director Shinya Tsukamoto when he came to DC for a showing of the film at the 1992 Filmfest DC. In Tetsuo, Shinya himself plays the part of the "Metal Fetishist." At a party I hosted after the showing, I asked him, through an interpreter, if he himself was a metal fetishist. He sat thinking for a moment, burst out laughing, and said "Maybe so...(pause)...YES...I guess I am!"
- Gareth Branwyn
Tsukamoto told me that some of his primary influences were David Lynch, cyberpunk SF, Japanese animation (especially Akira whose main character is named Tetsuo), and Survival Research Labs.
- GB
Doctor: There's a piece of metal stuck in your brain. I can't believe you're still alive! What genius inserted it? You'll die if it is removed. Think of it as jewelry.
Fetishist: Your future is metal!
Stop resisting!
