Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) Original Cinema/Horror-Sci-Fi RT: 67 minutes No MPAA rating (graphic violence, bizarre disturbing images, strong sexual content, nudity, language) Director: Shinya Tsukamoto Screenplay: Shinya Tsukamoto Music: Chu Ishikawa Cinematography: Kei Fujiwara and Shinya Tsukamoto Release date: August 28, 1992 (Philadelphia, PA) Cast: Tomoro Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, Nobu Kanaoka, Shin’ya Tsukamoto, Naomasa Musaka, Renji Ishibashi. Spoken in Japanese w/English subtitles
Rating: *** ½
The Japanese cyberpunk horror-sci-fi film Tetsuo: The Iron Man (NOT the Marvel superhero!) is the very definition of the term “cult movie”. It’s custom-made for midnight showings at smaller independent theaters as an alternative to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I don’t see it having much appeal outside the crowd that regularly shows up at that hour to view films deemed not suitable for mainstream viewing. Shot in 16mm black and white, it is beyond weird. Bizarre only begins to describe the experience of watching this truly one-of-a-kind movie.
The plot, a term I use loosely, is fairly simple. An unnamed Japanese businessman (Taguchi) undergoes a horrifying transformation after he and his unnamed girlfriend (Fujiwara) attempt to cover up a violent crime against a depraved metal fetishist (Tsukamoto). This is what I’d tell anybody who asks what Tetsuo: The Iron Man is about. It’s not the entire story, of course. If asked to elaborate, I’d say that it plays more like a surreal nightmare that makes sense only in the final stage of sleep, aka REM. When you wake up, you try to figure out what it all means. It’s the same with Tetsuo: The Iron Man. When the movie’s over, you try to put it together into a coherent narrative only you can’t. It’s okay, you’re not supposed to.
What we have with Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a collection of bizarre images that tell a wild story. It all starts with a scene of the fetishist inserting a large metal rod into a gaping wound on his leg. Seconds later, it’s covered in maggots. The scene then shifts to the businessman in his apartment getting ready for work. While shaving, he finds a small metal spike protruding from his cheek. This is the beginning of his transformation into the “Iron Man” of the title. It gets much weirder from here. On his way to work, he’s chased by a lady with glasses (Kanaoka) who physically bonds with a flesh-metal object she finds on the floor in a subway station. It leads to a crazy fight. Later in his apartment, dinner with his girlfriend is interrupted by a certain appendage turning into a large metal drill. The movie culminates in a battle between the Iron Man and the fetishist, also a man of metal.
Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a self-made job by Tsukamoto (he writes, directs and produces) that bears the influences of David Lynch, David Cronenberg and Sam Raimi. Let’s break it down. The black and white cinematography, expressionistic lighting and surreal industrial imagery are all reminiscent of Lynch’s Eraserhead. The body horror is pure Cronenberg; Videodrome, in particular. The wild camerawork and stop-motion effects evoke Raimi’s The Evil Dead. Tsukamoto brings it all together into one unique vision, one that’s simultaneously eye-catching and horrifying. There’s nothing pretty in (or about) Tetsuo: The Iron Man yet it has a beauty all its own. Does that make any sense? If it does, this movie is for you.
One of the most frequent questions I hear in my line of work is “What’s the movie really about?” It’s not a question I like, but I suppose it’s valid. If asked this query about Tetsuo: The Iron Man, I’d have to say it’s really about the industrialization of modern Japan. On a deeper level, it deals with the fear of humanity being replaced by machinery. Of course, this all textbook stuff. I expect that most people watching Tetsuo: The Iron Man are intelligent enough to figure it out.
At a mere 67 minutes, Tetsuo: The Iron Man barely qualifies as a feature film yet it’s just long enough to wear out its welcome near the end. That is to say, it gets to be too much. It’s not the easiest film to watch to begin with. At the same time, I think it’s great. It’s bleak, no doubt, but it’s cool. What’s truly impressive is how Tsukamoto managed to realize his vision on such a small budget. I don’t have the exact figures, but he made it with money he saved from his day job. It’s low-budget without looking cheap. He gets a lot of bang for his buck. Take the scenes of the Iron Man speeding through city streets via rockets on his feet. Like Raimi in his first major feature, Tsukamoto speeds up the camera. It’s wild!
I don’t know what to say about Tetsuo: The Iron Man that I haven’t already said. Although influenced by the work of other filmmakers, it’s definitely its own movie. You’ve probably never seen anything quite like it outside a bad dream. It has minimal dialogue; the narrative is imagery-driven. OMG, Tetsuo: The Iron Man really is like a bad dream. Watch it late at night to get the full effect, I dare you.
