Comments on: The Friday Afternoon Movie: Tetsuo: The Iron Man

By: toro

toro — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:56:37 +0000

Well, by coincidence, at a friend request, I just finished watching this movie. And to be honest, I think is rubbish.
First of all, this is not cyberpunk. Maybe is related to splatterpunk, but definitely is not cyberpunk. Metal is not a technology, it could symbolize it, but the movie is not following that path.
Second of all, there is no congruent plot in this movie. Probably the author did not intend to sent any message, my assumption is that he wanted to transmit a state of nightmare/irrational fears to the audience. As in my case, it totally failed.
The only redeeming quality of the movie is the original makeup of the actors. Simple and efficient. Visually powerful even on black and white film.
In the end: my opinion is that in spite of the huge hype, the movie is worth the effort for one viewing, but is way far from what a masterpiece should be.

ps. More likely the author of the movie didn’t want to transmit anything, cause the movie really feels like it was produced on the spot without any script. Visual masturbation is still an empty experience. Or the movie should be watched stoned, cause it doesn’t work for a rational person.

By: Vivacious G

Vivacious G — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:47:41 +0000

I don’t know if these comments are all read but here I am. I wanted to say to Mer – no harm or offense taken AT ALL, thanks for commenting back. In fact, I’m delighted that something made me want to pursue a longer comment. Maybe I should thank Kate! :)

By: Mollie

Mollie — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:12:32 +0000

I remember reading a review of this movie on IMDB describing it as “Eraserhead + Einsturzende Neubauten + crack”, which is pretty apt. It does remind me a little of that film Shogo Ishii did for “Halber Mensch”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0LF6WA9rxI

By: christine

christine — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:30:34 +0000

As outrageous as this movie is, the most memorable scene and my personal favorite is when a guy is running through alleys and the editing is quite choppy, giving it a video game quality.

By: Lara

Lara — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:56:33 +0000

LOL, when I read the comment that “both Tsukomoto and his semen are featured in Ichi” I thought you were just talking about the fact that he plays a part in it. I had no idea they used actual semen for that scene. Right when I thought that movie couldn’t get any crazier…

Tetsuo’s soundtrack is really amazing. Chu Ishikawa also made the theme for Bullet Ballet, another film directed by Tsukamoto and which happens to be one of my favorite movies ever. :)

By: rubyredshoes

rubyredshoes — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:08:35 +0000

I watched this with my boyfriend and I am glad that he talked me into watching it with him. I love the over the top crazy story line, in my view there doesn`t even need to be a hidden meaning or whatever. Its just plain entertaining.

Although they arent similar….except that I cracked up laughing through both of them (I have a strange sense of humour) I beg for everyone to watch tokyo zombie.

By: Ross Rosenberg

Ross Rosenberg — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:21:49 +0000

Mer – From wikipedia:

“Director Takashi Miike reveals on the US TokyoShock DVD release that the semen used in the close-up during the intro sequence, when the film’s title raises out of a puddle of semen, is real. It was notably supplied by Japanese director Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man) who plays Jijii, the mastermind that controls Ichi. Miike gave a bucket to Tsukamoto to fill but was unable to provide enough material for the shot. He passed the bucket to three other crew members to add the remaining amount.”

By: Tequila

Tequila — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:09:29 +0000

Tetsuo was a high school favorite. The visuals were so potent in black & white and little looked like that mainstream wise way back then. It was the age of VHS and imports were beyond expensive. If I remember right Fox Lorber brought it over. It was a nice package too…all shiny metallic foil. It was always popping up in zines, parties, and around anyone who liked weird stuff.

I may not feel the love for it I did then but it’s still a great bit of filmmaking. It exploits its limitations as strengths and I doubt it’d have been anywhere near as fun in color.

The sequel gets a bum wrap but the title was and still is awesome. Body Hammer…how can one not like that title?!

By: Mer

Mer — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:43:45 +0000

Hi, Viv-G. I’m sorry if my comment seemed angry or irked at short comments in general. That’s really poor wording on my part, because terse comments voicing neutral or positive feedback aren’t at all what I was reacting to, here. I don’t take any issue at all with short happy statements like “whee, this is neat!” I just meant that I’ll always prefer a more meaty chat. But I don’t have a problem with short “thank you” type comments at all. I’m thankful for them! I am sincerely sorry if I made you think otherwise because of crappy wording.

My comment for Kate is more about addressing the frustration I experience when Coilhouse posts something, and someone drops by just to spit on the subject matter without further articulating themselves. Short, dismissive, NEGATIVE remarks take on a completely different tone than “this is nice, thank you” comments. When someone drops into the discussion just to say “I hate this” without actually engaging, it can feel like the equivalent of someone walking into a presentation (or even just a cozy dinner chat) and saying “BOO”, then leaving. It’s dismissive, and it’s discouraging.

Meanwhile, a person who disagrees, but respects the forum and the person presenting something enough to actually engage in whys and wherefores? Hey, that’s great! That’s polite and human and interesting. There’s always a lot to gain from balanced, civil debate.

But again, that’s all a bit off topic from what you were trying to explain/defend. Please rest assured that the kind, brief comments you leave are well received, and appreciated. :)

By: Vivacious G

Vivacious G — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:12:15 +0000

Hey, Mer! I can’t speak for other people who leave short comments, but I leave short comments on here a lot so I felt the need to defend short commentors (even though if I don’t like something I usually won’t bother saying unless I feel REALLY strongly about it and want the world to know why) So here’s my not so short comment on why I leave short comments. 1) Sometimes I feel strongly about something, but I don’t know why and I don’t want to analyze why since I tend to overthink everything anyway. It’s a nice mental break for me to just admire something and leave it at that. 2) Sometimes what I read evokes personal pain that I want to keep private but I still want you to know that I appreciate that it was posted. 3) Someone already commented my thoughts 4) (and the number 1 and probably obvious reason) I simply don’t have time to read AND comment but, like before, want you to know I liked what was posted. Ok, all that aside – I do want to say though that I saw this film in the mid-90′s and was fascinated because I hadn’t seen anything so violently strange that could somehow retain threads of beauty throughout it and also leave you with questions that aren’t usually found in the usual mindless rush of violent films. (Of course, having seen other Asian “horror” films since, I don’t find this one quite as violent now, but at the time…) 10 years later I revisited it to share with my partner who also totally loved it. It’s definitely not for everyone and I’m glad there are other people out there who are of like mind. I can’t say I’ll be watching it very often but I’m glad to have viewed it at all. The End.