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Tetsuo, the Iron Man, Thu & Fri February 9 & 10
2023, 7:30 PM

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Tetsuo, the Iron Man shows at IFS on Thu & Fri February 9 & 10, 2023, 7:30 PM

Tetsuo, the Iron Man

Thu & Fri February 9 & 10
2023, 7:30 PM

Cinema is full of the bizarre. From rockets being launched into the eye of the man on the moon, to Arnold Schwarzenegger getting pregnant, the beauty of film is that it can offer up a doorway, of almost limitless imagination. Japanese cinema has often been a front runner for the weird and wonderful. There’s something to be said about a film so unique and odd that it defies categorization (almost). One such film is TETSUO: THE IRON MAN.

In the intervening years the film has spawned into a trilogy (the last of which was made a decade ago). Neither sequel quite lived up to the surprise and utterly head scratching insanity of a David Lynch-esque body horror. TETSUO: THE IRON MAN follows a metal fetishist who, having inserted a metal bar into his flesh, develops a maggot infested infection. As he runs from his small dwelling in pained horror and panic, he’s hit by a car driven by a salaryman who then disposes of the fetishist’s body. From then on the salaryman is cursed and begins slowly turning into metal.

From its odd stop motion sequences to its blitzkrieg edits, this black and white film, shot on 16mm, kind of looks ahead of its time. It’s a film that wants to push you away, before you suddenly find yourself accustomed to its style. It’s most certainly influenced an array of films since with its style, with everyone from Guy Ritchie to Darren Aronofsky owing nods (directly or indirectly) to the frantic insanity of how this was put together to show the mental degradation of the central salaryman.

Likewise there’s just this underlying Manga style that seeps into the film too. This comes in conjunction with grotesque deformities inflicting the man, and fetishistic and batshit crazy sequences which include such wondrous moments as power drill dicks. Just for a laugh while watching this recently I sent a clip to a friend of the salaryman chasing his wife (complicit in disposing of the fetishist’s body) with his drill dick buzzing away. Friends response, ‘What in the actual fuck is this!?’ Another asked, ‘Is this the greatest film ever made?’

Tetsuo isn’t an easy film to watch, to consider, to ingest, but it’s engaging and one can’t help but admire the low budget creativity, unrepentant nature and energy that this hour long film manages to achieve. Shinya Tsukamoto conceived the film (based on a play he’d written in college…as you do), as well as starred as the fetishist. Quite what ran through his mind when he was creating this is another matter.

Tom Jolliffe, Flickering Myth

To see a trailer and read a review, visit InternationalFilmSeries.com.

Tickets

10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission. $7 w/UCB student ID, $7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.

Parking

Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.

RTD Bus

Park elsewhere and catch the HOP to campus

International Film Series

(Originally called The University Film Commission)
Established 1941 by James Sandoe.

First Person Cinema

(Originally called The Experimental Cinema Group)
Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.

C.U. Film Program

(AKA The Rocky Mountain Film Center)
First offered degrees in filmmaking and critical studies in 1989 under the guidance of Virgil Grillo.

Celebrating Stan

Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.

C.U. Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.

Thank you, sponsors!
Boulder International Film Festival
Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

Looking for a gift for a friend?
Buy a Frequent Patron Punch Card for $60 at any IFS show. With the punch card you can see ten films (a value of $90).

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