After seeing the Tetsuo series, and a foray into other Japanese cyberpunk films, I decided to delve into Shinya Tsukamoto’s filmography following the purchase of Arrow’s Heavy Metal Nightmares collection. Bullet Ballet was my boyfriend and I’s first choice to watch.

A cast of a lonely businessman and teenage gangsters, headed beautifully by Tsukamoto himself - and Kirina Mano; Essentially push themselves to the edge before contemplating life, and whether or not anything besides the claustrophobic environment they’re in and cycles of their days can be found. 

This surprised me by being the most emotional Tsukamoto film I’ve seen to date. Despite constant conflict between Goda, Chisato and Goto - they all manage to raise questions within each other about the nature of their destruction. In stark B&W, Tsukamoto realizes this in a sharp vision of a hail of bullets, dark nights, and beautiful, but visceral violence. 

Without a doubt I love both Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer; For a period, even considered that sufficient for exploring what Tsukamoto had to offer. Shortly before to this viewing - and even more so after, I have come to realize that assumption was incorrect entirely.

Outside of the collection, I plan to make my way through the remainder of Tsukamoto’s filmography. I’m thrilled I got to kick off the New Year with this one, and hope to explore more of his films in the near future :)