User reviews

Here's an early Super 8 film that Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo, Tokyo Fist), made after Phantom of Regular Size and before Tetsuo. It actually quite elaborate for something done in 8mm, in fact nearly as elaborate as Tetsuo and it's nearly as long as well, clocking in about 50 minutes. It's also done in color, like Phantom of Regular Size, is in color, so it kind of looks more like Tetsuo II than the Tetsuo. I saw the film in raw Japanese, so the plot made no sense whatsoever, but I'm pretty sure that even if I perfectly understood Japanese I wouldn't get the plot. It does has far more dialogue than Tetsuo, however, so maybe there's something I'm not getting. It involves a boy with a weird electric pole sticking out of his back. He's constantly being bulled by other kids and he only has one friend. And to make things worse, he's then whisked off to an alternate dimension world where these weird vampires rule the planet (Tommoro Taguchi and the director himself both play vampires). Then the plot gets really weird, as the kid teams up with this lady with a book on her head to fight them. Then there's lots of sick blood draining, nudity, blood curdling screams, transformations, and the kid learns to use his electric pole to light bulbs and meets another electric rod man like himself.

As I said, this movie is very, very weird, but it has that wonderful independent film spirit that most of Tsukamoto's films have and it's very interesting to watch someone's early movies. A better quality, subtitled version would be nice someday and maybe I'd be able to understand this plot just a bit better.

I saw an untranslated copy of this film, so I'm certainly missing something of the story. But I really like it anyway. It seems to be about a young boy who has a lumpy metal pole that is growing out of his back. He finds some kind of apparatus that transports him to an ominous nether-world where he and a fierce woman with a book attached to her head fight some scary motorized vampire-thugs. Eventually he meets a heroic older guy who also has a pole growing out of his back--I think this guy might be sort of an idealized version of himself. Then he is transported back to his own world. This film has all the visual kicks of the first Tetsuo, but it's much more raw, and in color. It seems to have been produced on 16mm. It has a weird, fun, dorky innocence that the later Tetsuo films only vestigally had. It is very punk rock. I loved it... I wish I could see it shown on actual film, with English subtitles.

There's something oddly comforting about the fact that Shinya Tsukamoto has always had such a penchant for the strange and fantastical. Some horror, some sci-fi, sped-up footage, the fusion of flesh and metal and machine, and of course a production that's largely his baby from top to bottom: even on Super-8 film stock, there can hardly be confusing 'The adventure of Denchu-Kozo' as anyone else's work. Homemade, indie, and very low-budget, still we see the imaginative costume design and art direction, effects, editing, and cinematography - not to mention stop-motion animation - that in short order would build his fame with 'Tetsuo: The iron man' two years later. I don't think there's much arguing that the viewing experience here is a little bit of a rough one just owing to the frenetic action and rapid sequencing of some moments, and especially with a slight comedic edge on top, this is outrageous even by the standards we assume of the man. Even at that, however, it's indisputably wild and creative, and highly entertaining from the very start.

After all: why wouldn't one toss together time travel, dystopian futures, vampires, and doomsday devices, and make the protagonist a boy with an electric pole growing out of his back? Tsukamoto was clearly still refining his techniques and style, but the skill, intelligence, and cleverness are unmistakable; however cheeky and ridiculous this may be in no small measure, the effort is completely earnest, and the results speak for themselves. Everything here is genuinely well done and admirable: the smart, compelling, weird, fanciful story; the appreciable and sincere acting, and the filmmaker's wholehearted, committed acting; even the lighting, to say nothing of those facets that are part and parcel of the flair that made Tsukamoto famous. While heavily laying on the science fiction, some bits really are funny; elsewhere, the horror facet is strong and meaningful. It's a very odd swirl of flavors here, but I'd simply be lying if I said it wasn't terrific, and maybe downright brilliant.

It's extraordinarily peculiar, and it definitely won't appeal to everyone. Yet 'The adventure of Denchu-Kozo' is surprisingly, honestly great, reflecting unfettered vision and originality, and it looks and sounds marvelous in every capacity, down to the excellent, flavorful music that lends to the mood of key select moments. It succeeds with regards to all its constituent genres, and as an unsung classic of indie cinema; it's a landmark early in the career of an icon of Japanese cinema, and an exemplar of what can be achieved on a very modest budget with nothing more than a keen mind and unwavering determination. By all reason an amalgamation this preposterous shouldn't work, but in the hands of a shrewd, talented director like Tsukamoto - even at so humble a level of operation - the end result is tremendously entertaining, and far more worthwhile than the concept may seem to portend. Simply put, this is an underappreciated delight that deserves much more recognition. As far as I'm concerned 'The adventure of Denchu-Kozo' is well worth seeking out, and I'm happy to give it my very high and enthusiastic recommendation!

A boy with an electric rod growing out of his back is taken into the future to battle vampires that plan to block out the sun. I see this as a preview to future Tsukamoto works with many of the styles, visuals and techniques that are used here are used in later works. The use of metal and it mixed with various forms of flesh was familiar as well as the stop motion movements of the chase scenes. The comedy was nice and got a good few chuckles out of me. Obviously it being his early work and being low budget its special effects were vastly limited and poor in execution. Even still the low quality of the effects had a certain identity that really made it pop. The camera work was as bad but didn't have that personal style. If you liked House (1977) and Tsukamoto's works then you'd enjoy this, if you're not a fan of absurd or cartoony story lines then I would skip.