Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2009) **
I am a massive fan of Shinya Tsukamoto's Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), a true cult classic, which I first witnessed in the early 90s (I still have my VHS copy). It was a formative film for me—bizarre, abrasive, hilarious, disturbing and like nothing I'd ever seen before. It still has the power to move me in ways I can't even describe—it's very much like Eraserhead (1977) (my review here) in that way.
I only got around to seeing the sequel Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) five years ago when I picked up Third Window Films' excellent Blu-ray of the first two films. Both films are also available in an upcoming Tsukamoto box set from Arrow Video that my friend Michael Mackenzie produced (which to be honest looks super nice and I would pick up if I didn't already own all but one film from that box set in versions from Third Window). I remember being worried that I might not like Body Hammer because it's in color (the original film's grainy B&W 16 mm look is part of what makes it work so well) and has a more narrative approach, but I ended up loving it too. I wish I could say the same for the third film in the trilogy, Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2009), which I finally got around to seeing once I noticed that it's available to watch on Hulu.
The Bullet Man has a hell of an opening but after the promising credits sequence (which pays homage to the original film), I can't say much of it captivated me, sadly. It plays like fan fiction, the effects are not very good and actually rather goofy, the storyline is uninteresting (I'd rather have less narrative than this cliche stuff, honestly) and the choice to have a white actor play the lead and Japanese actors speak stilted English feels all wrong.
There are some interesting shots of sped-up footage that harken back to one of the series trademarks but they are few and far between. Not to mention that literally the entire film is shaky cam shots. I'm not a fan of that technique at all but I realize that the other Tetsuo films utilize it. It must have something to do with film versus digital—in the first two films it works, here it just annoys the piss out of me. It's unfortunate that TBM the film doesn't live up to the enticing poster design and the incredible theme song by Nine Inch Nails (played over the end credits), which sounds like the best combination of old and new school industrial imaginable.
Tsukamoto films don't always work for me, and this one very much sits at the bottom of his filmography. But I will always be interested in his work because I find him to be a true artist, one who is always willing to try new things while still retaining his style and themes. I respect that and I respect him, even if I don't love all of his films.
You can find my Shinya Tsukamoto Films Ranked list here.
I only got around to seeing the sequel Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) five years ago when I picked up Third Window Films' excellent Blu-ray of the first two films. Both films are also available in an upcoming Tsukamoto box set from Arrow Video that my friend Michael Mackenzie produced (which to be honest looks super nice and I would pick up if I didn't already own all but one film from that box set in versions from Third Window). I remember being worried that I might not like Body Hammer because it's in color (the original film's grainy B&W 16 mm look is part of what makes it work so well) and has a more narrative approach, but I ended up loving it too. I wish I could say the same for the third film in the trilogy, Tetsuo: The Bullet Man (2009), which I finally got around to seeing once I noticed that it's available to watch on Hulu.
The Bullet Man has a hell of an opening but after the promising credits sequence (which pays homage to the original film), I can't say much of it captivated me, sadly. It plays like fan fiction, the effects are not very good and actually rather goofy, the storyline is uninteresting (I'd rather have less narrative than this cliche stuff, honestly) and the choice to have a white actor play the lead and Japanese actors speak stilted English feels all wrong.
There are some interesting shots of sped-up footage that harken back to one of the series trademarks but they are few and far between. Not to mention that literally the entire film is shaky cam shots. I'm not a fan of that technique at all but I realize that the other Tetsuo films utilize it. It must have something to do with film versus digital—in the first two films it works, here it just annoys the piss out of me. It's unfortunate that TBM the film doesn't live up to the enticing poster design and the incredible theme song by Nine Inch Nails (played over the end credits), which sounds like the best combination of old and new school industrial imaginable.
Tsukamoto films don't always work for me, and this one very much sits at the bottom of his filmography. But I will always be interested in his work because I find him to be a true artist, one who is always willing to try new things while still retaining his style and themes. I respect that and I respect him, even if I don't love all of his films.
You can find my Shinya Tsukamoto Films Ranked list here.
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