This release has sure been a long time coming. After years of being the elusive object of costly EBay auctions and over-priced collector’s shops, TETSUO: THE IRON MAN finally gets a stunning new DVD reissue courtesy of Tartan Video’s new imprint: Asia Extreme. Although the film only runs slightly over an hour, its impact on the cinema world has been huge. Arguably, it’s one of Japan’s most important films of recent times. It not only helped ignite renewed interest in Japanese film, but further emphasized what could be done on a limited budget with scant equipment.
Director Shinya Tsukamoto tells the story of an average office worker whose life is indelibly altered after a brief encounter with a “metal fetishist,” a person who has implanted pieces of scrap metal into his own body. Our hero suddenly begins to feel a bit under the weather, and who could blame him with sharp pieces of steel and iron sprouting throughout his frail frame? And while he’s growing new metallic appendages, he’s haunted by strange, nightmarish sexual fantasies involving dubious pieces of metallic instruments. As the man evolves into an eerie human/machine hybrid, he develops telepathic powers with the metal fetishist who is undergoing a similar transformation, and the two engage in a deadly battle through the streets of Tokyo.
If one were to micro-analyze the film, an obvious conclusion could be drawn that it’s a metaphor for the over-industrialization of our world and the consequences that may arise if things go unchecked. However valid or not, on the surface Tsukamoto’s surreal imagery, frenetic feel and disturbing effects make the film one helluva sick and twisted ride. Sure there are elements of Lynch and Cronenberg, but the film stands on its own for its extraordinary premise, not to mention its jarring, mind-numbing pacing which includes stop-motion and film-speed techniques. All of this is presented in grainy 16 millimeter black-and-white, which only serves to heighten the chaos.
Tartan’s excellent reissue features the original film in DTS Surround Sound 5.1, plus a few extras, including previews, and a second disc of music inspired by the film—with goth/techno icons Gary Newman, Frontline Assembly and others. Here we have a worthy reissue that serves this bizarre little film very well—nice to see it back on the shelves, at realistic price.
+ Jim Kaz
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