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Tetsuo (1988)
Country of Origin: Japan
Year of Production: 1988
Running Times: 67 mins
Length: 2412 feet
Format: black and white 16mm
Ratio: 1.37:1
Sound: mono
CREDITS
PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Kaiju Theater / Japan Home Video / K2 Spirit
/ SEN
Producer: Shinya Tsukamoto
SCRIPT
Script: Shinya Tsukamoto
English Language Subtitles: Kiyo Joo, Tony Rayns
DIRECTION
Director: Shinya Tsukamoto
Assistant Director: Kei Fujiwara
PHOTOGRAPHY
Directors of Photography: Shinya
Tsukamoto, Kei Fujiwara
EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Shinya Tsukamoto
MUSIC
Music: Chu Ishikawa
Insert Music: Akio Okusawa
Music Operator: Mitsuhiro Ozaki
SOUND
Sound: Asahi Sound Studio
MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Wardrob: Kei Fujiwara
SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Shinya
Tsukamoto
DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Shinya
Tsukamoto
MISCELLANEOUS
Production Assistants: Nobu Kanaoka, Hiroyuki Kobato, Tomoko Ishigami,
Tomoko Kodaka
CAST
Tomorowo Taguchi (the salaryman)
Kei Fujiwara (his girlfriend)
Nobu Kanaoka (woman in glasses)
Renji Ishibashi (tramp)
Naomasa Musaka (doctor)
Shinya Tsukamoto
(young metals fetishist)
PLOT SUMMARY
After an encounter with a deranged 'metals fetishist',
an unnamed salaryman starts to undergo a bizarre transformation, mutating
into a cyborg. After having violent, mutant sex with his girlfriend,
the salaryman again meets the telepathic fetishist who needs to merge
with his victim to combat the rust that is eating away his body...
CAPSULE REVIEW
Bizarre, disturbing and innovative, Tsukamoto's
professional debut is a deliberately provocative and extreme piece
of filmmaking that remains unique and shocking. Reminiscent of the
films of David Cronenberg,
it put Tsukamoto
on the international map and started a career that would be constantly
interesting but which would never be quite this confrontational again.
Essential viewing.
AVAILABILITY
Japan
Theatrical Distributors: Kaijyu Theater / There's Enterprise Inc
UK
Theatrical Distributor: ICA Projects
Video Distributor: ICA Projects (ICAV 1002)
USA
Theatrical Distributor: Original Cinema
Video Distributor: Fox Lorber Home Video
Laserdisc Distributor: Image (ID 2555 FL)
DVD Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID 4266 FLDVD)
CENSORSHIP HISTORY
Australia
Rating: R
Finland
Rating: K-18
Japan
Rating: R
UK
Rating: 18
AWARDS
1989
Fantafestival, Rome, Italy
Best Film (Shinya Tsukamoto) - winner
1998
Sweden Fantastic Film Festival, Sweden
Audience Award Best Feature (Shinya Tsukamoto) - winner
TIMELINE
1992
April
14: USA - press screening at the Film Forum, Los Angeles, California
1993
August
6: Finland – theatrical release
October
5: France – theatrical release
1998
April
1: USA - DVD release (Image Entertainment (ID 4266 FLDVD))
ALTERNATIVE TITLES
The Ironman
Tetsuo: The Iron Man
LINKS
REMAKE OF
Futsu saizu no kaijin (1986)
SEQUEL
Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992)
SEE ALSO
Akira (1988)
Chôjin densetsu Urotsukidôji (1989)
Crash (1996)
Eraserhead (1977)
Indian Fetish Cult (1997)
Pi (1998)
Scanners (1981)
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
The Evil Dead (1981)
Videodrome (1983)
INCLUDES FOOTAGE FROM
Denchu Kozo no boken (1987)
REFERENCES
MAGAZINES
Interview vol.22 no.5 (May 1992) p.70
(USA)
review (by Henry Cabot Beck)
Premiere vol.4 no.11 (July 1991) pp.29-30
(USA)
illustrated article (Cyborg Chic, Marquis Madness by J. Hoberman)
Sight and Sound vol.1 no.5 (September
1991) p.52 (UK)
illustrated credits, synopsis, review
Sight and Sound vol.1 no.8 (December
1991) pp.12-15 (UK)
illustrated article (by Tony Rayns)
Sight and Sound vol.3 no.6 (June 1993)
pp.69; 70 (UK)
review (by Peter Dean); illustrated article (Wind Up by Peter Dean)
Sight and Sound vol.12 no.7 (July 2002)
p.61 (UK)
DVD review (by Ben Walters)
Variety 27 April 1992 p.81 (USA)
credits, review (by William Stevenson) KEYWORDS
businessmen; cars; car crashes; cyberpunk; fetishists; gore; hit
and run; metamorphoses; pixilation; possession; psychics; remakes;
rust; sex; splatter; surrealism; telekinesis; toilets; transformations
Last Updated:
15 October, 2008
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