Tetsuo - Iron Man

 Ich sah vor Kurzem einen Artikel mit dem Titel "Tetsuo: irgendwas" auf einer Seite namens Cyberpunk Reviews.com und musste dabei unweigerlich an Katsuhiro Ôtomo's Meisterwerk Akira denken, da einer der Charaktere dort ebenfalls Tetsuo heisst, also dachte ich mir, ich schau mir das doch mal genauer an, doch dieses Review geht doch um etwas gaenzlich Anderes.

Und zwar beschreibt es einen japanischen Schwarz-Weiss-Horrorfilm aus dem Jahre 1988 mit dem Namen "Tetsuo (The Iron Man)". Schon nach einem kurzen Ueberfliegen ueber die kurzen Textpassagen und die Screenshots aus dem Film war mir klar, dass dieser Film eklig ist. Aber fuer einen ekligen japanischen Horrorfilm auch wieder lustig. Darum will ich Euch dieses Review nicht vorenthalten ;^)

Dieser Horrorfilm handelt von einem Mann, der sich maschinelle Koerperteile einbauen laesst, und anschliessend spaeter im Film Sex mit seiner Freundin haben will, was allerdings schon eine ziemlich schmerzvolle Vorstellung ist, wenn man an den konus-foermigen Drillbohrer denkt, der aus seiner Hose schaut. Mehr oder weniger blutige Bilder folgen. Seid gewarnt. [...]
(show me)(don't show me)

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January 14, 2006
Tetsuo (The Iron Man)
Year: 1988
Directed by: Shinya Tsukamoto
Written by: Shinya Tsukamoto
IMDB Reference
Degree of Cyberpunk Visuals: Very High
Correlation to Cyberpunk Themes: Very High
Rating: 10 out of 10

Overview: For another movie that taps out the weird shitometer scale, and the pinnacle of Japanese cyberpunk flicks, Tetsuo is simply terrific! I must warn you that this movie is NOT for everyone. We get a bevy of disturbing images, including extreme body manipulation, anal rape of a guy by a mechanically "enhanced" female, rape in the reverse by a man with a literal "power tool," and truly the most bizarre set of images one can imagine. But in all this, there are some truly interesting messages that emerge. Unlike other Japanese Cyberpunk films such as Rubber’s Lover, which is more of a one track film (extreme situations to prompt greater than human abilities), Testsuo provides a wonderful commentary on the direction of mankind.

This is one of the best opening symbols for any movie I can remember. It sums up Tsukamoto’s message perfectly!

Tetsuo’s Message: While Tetsuo is a really bizarre, low budget, surrealist underground Japanese cyberpunk movie, it has a number of interesting themes running through it. On a societal level, Tetsuo explores how man’s technological dash to the future has resulted in an acute fear of technology, and that its ever encroaching progress is destroying our humanity. This is symbolically represented by a runner surrounded by scrap metal, and then later, a man in running gear who’s slowly being taken over by machinery when competing with another machine man.

The clear message at the end is that by constantly competing with one another in our strive for perfection in an orderly society, we are destroying humanity at its core. Technology is our tool of choice for this destructive competition. The shot of the augmented foot above really captures this well, as does the race scene below.

I can’t convey how truly disgusting this scene comes across

On a personal level, Tetsuo explores how guilt and repression can turn people into virtual "monsters." In this, we see an instance where an accidental car crash makes someone completely lose all sense of humanity and boundaries. This seems to fit with Asian cultures in that they are usually very reserved, but when they "cross" that line, the level of anger and craziness almost doesn’t have a limiter.

In combining this with the societal thought, Tetsuo posits that we are using technology as a crutch to cover up our own frailties, but that in doing so, we only serve to subvert our humanity. When this subversion is released, it becomes a perversion of immense proportions. In this sense, Tetsuo truly stretches the cyberpunk notion of "no boundaries" to its fullest.

Yes, she’s about to do what you "think" she’s planning to do with that thing!"

The Bottom Line: Tetsuo is a great example of what a low-budget scifi film can accomplish. I thought the cinematography is absolutely brilliant. We get cool stop-motion animation, incredibly interesting shadows and film angles, and wonderful use of different shot textures. The industrial sound track furthers the truly bizarre mood. Truly, I can’t say enough of how impressed I am by this film. Again, Tetsuo is DEFINITELY not for everyone, but it certainly belongs in the top 10 best cyberpunk films ever made!

Screen Captures - ADULTS ONLY: I do have a second page of screen captures, but I MUST warn you - these are VERY graphic. They show one of the most intense sex and violence scenes every put on film. If you want to get a sense of he the extent that Japanese cyberpunk fullfills its “no boundaries” approach, take a look. But this page is intended for adults - and truly, only a few select few of those. Don’t look if you’re not comfortable with watching these things.

NOTE TO THE WISE - Beware! This page is VERY graphic, and is NOT intended for minors!
Again…what you will see below is well past shocking. This isn’t sexy and there is no nudity if that’s what you’re looking for. I show these to give you a sense of the level of no boundaries depicted in Tetsuo. Many, in fact most won’t be able to stomach actually watching this movie, but may still be interested in understanding visually what Japanese cyberpunk as a sub-sub-genre contains, these pictures are for you. But again, don’t look at these if you aren’t comfortable.

But again, don’t look at these if you aren’t comfortable. We all want to look when we see a car accident, but chances are, we really “don’t” want to see a decapitated body.

Anal Penetration: Here’s the follow-on to the anal penetration set-up shot on the previous page. It goes without saying that Tetsuo truly cannot be understood without watching it, but sex and violence, enhanced by technology, while engaging in a competitive mode by all concerned are pretty much staples throughout. BTW, I didn’t take screen caps of the follow-on entry shots…

She seems a little more happy with this turn of events than her boy toy is.

His “Tool”: Here’s a few of the many full body tool pictures. The symbol really doesn’t need much elaboration, does it? Talk about twisted, invasive technology at its ultimate! And yes, these two are as stark raving mad as they appear here.

His “tool” is a drill, spinning around at high speed. In trying to pursue her, his aim isn’t the best.

The “Scene”: Tetsuo has one of the most bizarre and violent sex scenes ever put on film (this is the idea, incidentally). This scene for the most part involves our anti-hero pursuing his “girlfriend” to engage in sex. At first she is pretty opposed for obvious reasons, but after stabbing him a bunch, she gets excited too. It doesn’t end very well for her though (again, for obvious reasons). Just to be clear, again, Japanese Cyberpunk to me really means eliminating all boundaries of humanity in this march towards technology invading all aspects of our daily life. This scene serves to portray this concept very well, and strongly highlights the themes hit over and over again - that technology augmented competition destroys us, our humanity and our social order (and our world, but this part isn’t shown here).

She is less than thrilled with her former boy toy


One of the few understandable responses in this movie…


Unfortunately, this only makes him mad (not to mention, very bloody)


He tries to initiate foreplay again…




Again, one of the many disturbing scenes


She responds by getting a big kitchen knife and stabbing him repeatedly in the crotch while twisting the knife.




One wonders how many takes it took for Tsukamoto to get this shot, as clearly, this was what he was after. The symbolism is just freaky! Say what you want about the scene, but this is great camera work!


Now this scene gets even weirder (yes, this is really possible). For some reason she finds stabbing him continually to be very erotic. This was JUST the foreplay she needed.


They get hot and heavy while she stabs and twists and he enters.


Only after the moment does she remember the issues with his tool (the sheet quickly fills with blood after this) This is followed by the grossest scene - his “tool” spinning while vagina bits fly off in all directions…and um, no screencaps of that either…

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