Your browser lacks required capabilities. Please upgrade it or switch to another to continue.
Loading…
Tetsuo the Iron Man is a sci-fi body horror film that made its debut in 1989, It was directed by Shinya Tsukamoto a prominent player in the development of the science fiction horror genre.
<img src="https://media2.giphy.com/media/CJJoQTNQuteve/giphy.gif" width="500" height="300" alt="Two foxes">
Tetsuo’s significance comes from the time and place it was created. With its release in the late 1980’s the world was seeing significant change in digital counter culture due to the ongoing [[conflict of the Cold War.->Cultural Context]] With its strong aesthetic that pulls from the cyberpunk and cyborg cultures that were taking over cinema in the 1980’s the film takes the cyborg transformation process to another level and depicts the grittiness of [[the marriage between metal and flesh.->Influences]] Tetsuo’s heavy industrial aesthetic was a baseline for the “second wave” Industrial-techno scene that emerged [[from the ashes of the then modern technology scrap heaps that developed in the 80s to early 90’s.->Legacy]]
[[Sources]]
Tsukamoto's contribution to the body horror genre is demonstrated by his creative use of the transformation sequence to show viewers the grotesque reality of body modification. His genius is in his subtle critique of technology and the immense power it holds. By censoring the identity of the victim of the mutation and turning him into a mass of metal with torn flesh that is hell bent on destroying the Earth with his new found powers, Tsukamoto preys upon the fears of the world. The process is not just gore for the sake of gore but it illustrates the “contemporary nightmares… from debilitating diseases to excessive industrialism” ([[Revert 4->Sources]]) and recontextualizes these modern fears into a visual depiction of what the inhabitants of the world are inflicting on the world itself and to each other.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0gwRG9uForA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Tetsou has spawned three sequels with the possibility of more on the way and is a mainstay in the body horror and sci-fi genres. Its repulsing morphing scenes and skin bulging special effects leave audiences in dismay. Its heavy machinist look and feel plays right into our human nature of flinching when harm is being done to an organic being by a non organic material, similar to getting a hand caught in a big industrial machine. In the late 80’s- early 90’s industrial music founds it way back into popular culture in the form of the “second wave” ([[Woods Vii->Sources]]) Tetsou's focus on the metamorphosis of an average salaryman into an abomination alludes to the ideals of the counterculture being developed by the industrial music scene. “ This aesthetic challenges popularity and social sameness by the appropriation of taboo, in a sense by remaining separate and accepting nothing.” ([[Woods 86->Sources]]) Woods encapsulates what it means to partake in the second wave industrial movement, Tetsou’s soundtrack is littered with heavy almost sludge like guitar riffs and frantic drum beating that resembles clunky machinery in a crowded factory mixed with synth to make the listener think its being played by robots themself. This composition paired with the metallic visuals creates a visual experience that the industrial counterculture could grasp onto and hold as an icon for the lifestyle as its only resemblance to music is the fact that it is restricted to an audio format.
[[Synopsis]]The 1980s saw a lot of impact from the beginning of the cold war that lasted from 1947 to 1991. Post war Japan was in the midst of an identity reconfiguration. After the atrocity that was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese director Ishirō Honda used the event as a catalyst for his re contextualization of the United states actions that caused a catastrophic change in the way life went on after World War II. This film was known as Godzilla, The mutation of this city destroying reptile was caused by the careless mindset that the United States government exhibited ([[Cornett 30->Sources]]).
<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ECtpPvXbo__fnZ0w4slVAwxuVDLFHkUVjt6vhrz2f8VLYb3VGG3SoAfVjLhvNRmYLur9nNOuOntfrVlXDLQi1fsnRCpkyrdCLo_d9DhrmdwtxVFbZhYzwkR3M0312WOZTeiVz-8I_OnIUwEy_ACw57EOFXS9Lo1cEKd9KuCjOlwoLl3i6-WhTnNbYxadmdOcLP5ecth4es88tSIbhJjIjJBk0i-u342MA2T5R697SzzqGDoVaZwsYGe6D-VvUjTWpAwtEQbvqWuvzvExr77ZWHI0EXSu9wE0r-utlVcFg8hri-UohiLqkyY3cZy4Hl23NXSwrW7_Hl15BjpqgNUQvZVw5v60qyXxluEVv9IJjIBcBmLSLdda38SIgzSbs5z0ymqJmHThEZU_BlLsxn_HnEJmzWmhtxd4WxiAeI1zS92sQmMjvPl1XuzVHyA1vXPYnLPjqUdhq7KEQlfLP9PTjbcecNGk0VFbnhzqOQO7l55L-u2AOxr39PH01hPJm51Vm8CfCNS45Nuqy_aUhAS1O_VHrY764CRyxlKNagd5D99kW193eFXZ-m71VQZpSqKnz6L1yiCuxZWNJhbZqzS9EO1QQigZxp8yN4eb3t2OCE8L6su8yjIrO3adt7P5JO3AHX4oVq5EF5R4RZu4oMJdzcyHVEBjSNndk3rPE5bXpzAEB2LrUBL76w=w1200-h891-no" width="500" height="300" alt="Two foxes">
In 1987 Tsukamoto directed a lesser known film called that goes by many names depending on the area its being shown. It's more notable name is The adventure of Denchu Kozo the film follows a boy named Hikaru who has a light pole protruding out his back. The film exhibits some of Tsukamoto’s earlier ideas surrounding the cyberpunk aesthetic with cybernetic vampires who use the blood they expell from their victims to feed their doomsday device that will aid in their vision to create a permanent dystopia. ([[Patocaro->Sources]])The film also is an example of how Tsukamoto was trying to contextualize his fascination with fetishization of metal components interacting with an organic host, the vampire's machine is an overtly sexualized women seen as a device rather than as an actual human but still has a mixture of lust from a sexual nature and the desire to create a dystopian world.
[[Legacy]]Through the exploration of the cybernetic fantasy Tetsuo the Iron Man is an evolution from the atomic bomb. With the end of the cold war in sight, Tsukamoto ustualizes the cyborg trope in a way that contributes to the “epistemological revolution” a term author David Porush uses to describe the development of technologies like computers, robots, and artificial intelligence and their role as popular icons for generation X and Y. ([[Porush 3->Sources]]) Tsukamoto’s animated sequences of scraps of metal having a mind of their own when they fuse with the main character reflects the methodology where “the computer is a brain and the brain is a computer” ([[Porush 9->Sources]]). This way of thinking represents a shift from constant fear of advancing technology to trying to understanding it by comparing it to human qualities.
<img src="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--t8IQLH0h--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/18yptzqv5fdd8jpg.jpg" width="500" height="600" alt="Two foxes">
Tsukamoto utualization of mechanical fetishism to demonstrate a lust for knowledge, as the creation of cyberspace was dangerously close to being colonized by systems of government that had corrupted technologies in the past. The rebellious nature and sense of wonder of the counter cultures who identified with the science fiction genre found refuge in the creation of technologically besieged dystopias that were a “condensed image of imagitionation and reality… structuring any possibility of historical transformation” ([[Haraway 7->Sources]]). The cyborg is often seen as an enhanced being who saves or contributes to some sort of victory much like the famous Akira manga created by Katsuhiro Otomo which depicts a post atomic bomb reality where the government is conducting top secret activities behind closed doors ([[Akira->Sources]]). The distrust of the government to handle technology responsibly is a prominent aspect of the cyberpunk genre, the settings for sci-fi at this time often was created due to the mismanagement of technology.
[[Influences]][[Synopsis]]
[[Cultural Context]]
[[Influences]]
[[Legacy]]
“Akira.” Manga Rock - Online Manga Reader, 19 Jan. 1970, https://mangarock.com/manga/mrs-serie-9986.
Cornett, Joshua. “Bombs, Bikinis, and Godzilla: America's Fear and Fascination of the Atomic Bomb as Evidenced Through Popular Media, 1946-1962.” January 2017. PDF File
Deisl, Heinrich. “your body is a battleground: Lust Machines, Cyberflesh and Man-Meat in the film tetsuo” August 2003. PDF File
Fuoco, Robert. “Anxiety in a Technological World: Tetsuo: the Iron Man.” Offscreen, Aug. 2015, https://offscreen.com/view/tetsuo-the-iron-man.
Haraway, Donna. “Cyborg Manifesto” 1986 PDF File
Patocaro. “# The Adventure of Denchu Kozo (1987).” Samurai Revolta, 18 July 2014, https://samurairevolta.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/the-adventure-of-denchu-kozo-1987/.
Patocaro. “# The Adventure of Denchu Kozo (1987).” Samurai Revolta, 18 July 2014, https://samurairevolta.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/the-adventure-of-denchu-kozo-1987/.
Porush, David. “THE RISE OF CYBORG CULTURE OR THE BOMB WAS A CYBORG.” THE RISE OF CYBORG CULTURE, https://www.pum.umontreal.ca/revues/surfaces/vol4/porush.html.
Sharp, Jasper. “Where to Begin with Japanese Cyberpunk.” British Film Institute, https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/where-begin-japanese-cyberpunk.
Sconce, Jefferey. “Static and Stasis,” (excerpt) Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from Telegraphy to Television, Durham, Duke University Press, 2000
Revert, Jordi "The horror body: ttransgressing beyond the anatomy's boundaries" 2016 PDF File
Woods, D Bret “Industrial Music for Industrial People: The History and Development of an Underground Genre” 2007 PDF File