Directed by:
Shin'ya TsukamotoScreenplay:
Shin'ya TsukamotoCinematography:
Shin'ya TsukamotoComposer:
Chū IshikawaVOD (1)
Plots(1)
Somewhere between nightmare and a techno-fetishist's ultimate fantasy, this extraordinary film from Shinya Tsukamoto caused a sensation when it was first released, and spawned a companion piece, Tetsuo II: The Body Hammer. Concerning itself with a young man's gradual mutation into a metal-being, the film takes a surreal journey into a dark and disturbing world where D.I.Y. body transformations and post-human women with deadly robot arms form the fabric of a strange new reality. Likened to the work of Lynch and Cronenberg, Tetsuo molds explosive violence, bizarre sexual imagery and jet-black humor into a cinematic experience like you've never seen before. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (5)
It's certainly a remarkable rebellion against the conventions of traditional storytelling that promises big extravagant things, especially in the first fifteen minutes, set to a thrilling rhythm of cyberpunk music and disjointed space-time. But since it’s nothing but a formally entertaining piece of crap from the get go, as Tsukamoto's bizarre surrealism abandons its attempts at interesting attention-grabbing and the film gradually becomes an ultra-cheesy piece of shit suitable only for individuals with deviant sexual appetites or a very strange sense of humour. Had we been served a more intimate horror drama in a similar style, about a man who must come to terms with his fate on his own, this could have been a gem of an indie film; this way, Tetsuo is incredibly dull and only artificially refined, downright fucked up in its formal and narrative potential.
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Can you believe that you can pierce a table with your penis during an erection? Tetsuo, the story of a man who gradually becomes a hideous iron monster, will convince you that it is possible; this film will disgust and fascinate you at the same time. A remarkable visual experiment that would be a cinematic treat if it were half as long, but with the runtime of a feature film it becomes an indigestible spectacle, because the frantic editing, the nervous industrial soundtrack and the explosion of artistic shots with no deeper meaning begin to tire gradually. But the Švankmajer style scenes are a delight. It's definitely a film worth watching, whatever you think of it. I actually lost my appetite for spinach, it contains a lot of iron...
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I hadn’t seen anything crazy from the east in a long time and I thought I’d give Tetsuo a go. Once again I came to the conclusion that these efforts are pointless. I don’t believe anyone can like this.
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A very strange audiovisual fetish over a piece of metal, which can be interpreted in many ways. Certain types of film art are very unique, and likely every film scholar or scientist will enjoy every last detail of Tetsuo: The Iron Man. For the layman, however, the film is a frantic ride without any substantial plot skeleton, standing and falling on the benevolence of each individual's take on this bizarre madness. This may be interesting and "entertaining" in its own way (for the first ten minutes or so) but unfortunately, it then drowns in its own monotony of shaky camerawork, fast editing, and ambient soundtrack. It’s a poseur film, but one that will certainly find "its" audience. Much more impressive and comprehensible films are available within the cyberpunk genre.
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After the classic destructive monsters of Japanese cinema such as Godzilla or Mothra, monsters coming from the outside, Tetsuo appeared in 1989, this time from the inside, from the depths of the black soul. Tetsuo is a work that needs to be perceived with your feelings, but you have to be prepared for the feeling of the threads of a metal screw grinding your teeth, and it will not be very pleasant. This odyssey has not only made history in the body-horror genre, where it rightfully belongs with its totally unique scenes, but more importantly also in the imaginary sound-horror industry, as its jarring sounds and absolutely throbbing music must have been indelibly etched in the memory of all viewers who had the privilege to experience it. A crazy, underground, experimental and deeply distinctive video-clip spectacle that you just can't get out of your head once you've seen it. [KVIFF 2024]
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