When was the last time your city was ravaged by an enormous metal phallus? A typical office worker and his girlfriend are driving when they accidentally strike a pedestrian. They then transport him to a field and abandon him. It turns out the couple had been engaging in sexual activity while driving, and their actions intensify until they're having sex at the scene with their (presumably dying) victim watching. The following morning, the salaryman discovers a shiny metal growth on his cheek. Soon he’ll experience disturbing encounters with transformed individuals and sexually charged nightmares featuring his girlfriend as a demonic hermaphrodite—or at least sporting an unusually large bionic attachment. What's happening in this film? Shinya Tsukamoto's 1989 feature-length directorial debut is a reimagining and expansion of his earlier short, *Futsu Saizu no kaijin* (“Monster of Regular Size”). It’s more akin to an outburst of suppressed anger and desire than a conventional movie. Working with a limited budget, Tsukamoto employed techniques reminiscent of early Sam Raimi films, applying them to a striking vision of urban Hell that shares elements with *Eraserhead*, Cronenberg's body horror, and draws influence from manga and the early days of MTV (think Talking Heads videos). Filmed in stark black and white 16mm, *Tetsuo* conveys the grimness and decay of Tokyo’s cityscape through a grainy texture, and is edited rapidly to the point that it can be difficult to follow without repeated viewings. The images depict a world buried beneath societal debris, with metal refuse piled high like a fungus over civilization; very little natural imagery appears besides the human body itself. *Tetsuo* also has a sound design that complements its chaotic and disjointed appearance, feverish in tone. What's often overlooked when discussing the film is that it’s also quite funny—Tsukamoto infuses it with a darkly humorous sensibility ranging from absurd to slapstick. So what exactly is going on? That's open to interpretation. Some viewers see an anti-homosexual message, while others perceive it as pro-gay (Tsukamoto, known for his humanism and empathy, wouldn’t deliver a message of intolerance). The director says the story developed from his complicated feelings about city life and being removed from nature. The narrative reveals that the man struck by the salaryman has a fetish for metal and an appetite for violence through sexual means; he had previously attempted to fuse metal pieces with his body. When he witnesses the driver’s lustful reaction to hitting him, the fetishist recognizes a kindred spirit and becomes infatuated. He then begins to harass the man using strange psychic methods—we see his perspective, memories, and messages conveyed through television-like imagery—an unusual courtship designed to awaken the salaryman's hidden desire for destruction. The driver’s psychological transformation manifests physically as his body increasingly turns into a mass of iron. Any further explanation is likely just viewers projecting their own ideas onto the film; it's highly suggestive but never explains itself directly. Tsukamoto structures his story around two men and a woman, a recurring pattern in much of his early work, with the woman often changing through her relationships with the men. What I find particularly interesting about *Tetsuo* (is that the name of the fetishist or the salaryman? I’m not sure!) is that the office worker seems to have mixed feelings about sex and women—he avoids an encounter with a stern businesswoman on the subway, although she's admittedly quite intimidating—while the metal fetishist clearly identifies with women and female sexuality, using both the girlfriend and the subway rider as his representatives, ultimately appearing as an androgynous punk sprite during his final seduction. *Tetsuo* isn’t my favorite film by Shinya Tsukamoto, but it improves with each viewing. Initially, I was exhilarated by its intensity but unimpressed with its substance. Having seen it several times now, it continues to resonate with me. *Tetsuo* would pair well as a double feature with Cronenberg's *Crash*.

Source on TMDB