Friday     19:00
Municipal Theatre of Marienbad
1989, 69 min, Japan, Japan with Czech and English subtitles
introduction by film curator Si Edwards

Director, screenplay, cinematography: Shinya Tsukamoto
Music: Chu Ishikawa
Cast: Tomorowo Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, Renji Ishibashi, Shinya Tsukamoto, Naomasa Musaka
Editing: Shinya Tsukamoto

Tsukamoto's fascination with the transformation of man into machine culminated in the 1988 feature film Tetsuo. The film was shot in black and white and mixed from 35mm and 16mm film. The film tells the story of a Japanese businessman who gradually mutates into a human-robot. The film is characterized by nervous camerawork, wild editing and stop-motion which Tsukamoto adopted from Jan Švankmajer, whom he admired. Tsukamoto made the film with a crew made up of members of the Kaiju Theater and financed most of the budget, which was 13 million yen, out of his own pocket. The film was a major success abroad and gained cult status among sci-fi and body horror fans.

Shinya Tsukamoto is one of Japan's most distinctive and acclaimed artists was born on January 1, 1960 in Tokyo. He was one of the first to start a new wave of Japanese film and the first to achieve international success among his peers. His enthusiasm for film began at the age of 14 when he received his first Super-8 from his father. One of the major themes of his work is his fascination with the physical and psychological transformation or mutation of man. In addition to directing, he is also an actor and has studied oil painting. His most recent acting performance in film to date is the 2023 action film Shin Kamen Rider.