tetsuo

[Joseph C. Schaub]

On Tue, 06 Jul 1999 12:29:02 GMT ".m e." 
<runawayslinky at hotmail.com> wrote:

> 
>      is the sequel
>      to tetsuo as
>      hilarious/visually
>      appealing/etc.
>      as the original?

Actually, TETSUO II: BODYHAMMER is less a sequel than a 
reworking of the same fertile material with a focus on the 
postindustrial anxieties of the nuclear family rather than 
the homoerotic anxiety of the first film.  Tsukamoto and 
Tomoro Taguchi are, again, the stars, with a larger role 
for Nobu Tanaoka, who also had a role in the first film 
(the woma-chine in the subway). The film is visually 
stunning, every bit as appealing as the original, only on 
color stock rather than B&W.  It also has a bit more depth 
than the first film, though it took me several viewings to 
catch many of the allusions.  It's full of them, and they're
very subtle--brief cuts referencing Shinoda's Double 
Suicide, or Eisenstein's Potemkin, Cocteau's Orphee.  
Tsukamoto's extremely film literate.

It's hard to imagine a film that could rival THE IRONMAN, 
let alone surpass it, but BODYHAMMER manages to (give it 
several viewings--you'll need them).  TOKYO FIST is also 
great.  Haven't seen Bullet Ballet yet.

Joe
----------------------
Joseph C. Schaub
js326 at umail.umd.edu