Shinya Tsukamoto is a legend in his own right. Ever since making the cult phenomenon Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Tsukamoto has garnished international praise and fandom, stemming from his unconventional and unique style. Part of what makes his films so visceral and terrifying is the raw energy and madness in the themes he chooses to dwell on, while always fully immersing himself in the filmmaking process from shooting, to acting to even designing the special effects make-up. Personally, he’s one of my favorite working directors in the world and has made of myriad of amazing films in his almost twenty year career.
I had the privilege and honor of sitting down with Mr. Tsukamoto at the Tribeca film festival to talk about his latest film, the third installment in the Tetsuo franchise and his first film in English. In the interview, Shinya discusses making Tetsuo: The Bullet Man and offers up some advice to budding filmmakers. He also wanted me to mention the fact (which isn’t in the video below) that Nine Inch Nails heard about the film and being fans themselves, wanted to donate some music to the project. Last minute, before the film was to screen at Tribeca, Shinya inserted the song into the end credits using Apple’s Final Cut Pro editing software. The song is amazing for those NIN fans out there and is appropriately fitting to the industrial neo-noir mood of the film.
So enjoy the video below, check out my early review of Tetsuo: The Bullet Man and watch some Shinya Tsumakoto’s films if you haven’t had the privilege of seeing any (you can Instant Stream the original Tetsuo: The Iron Man on Netflix).