Bullet Ballet

In Bullet Ballet Tsukamoto takes a great leap forward in his very personal analysis of Japanese post-war society, that he started with Tetsuo the Iron Man, Tetsuo II and Tokyo Fist. The protagonist from Tetsuo who turned into Iron Man was typical of an economically successful society that rapidly became dependent on machines. In Bullet Ballet it becomes clear that Tsukamoto thinks that national collectivism, represented by the salary man, has led to an unbearable alienation and loneliness.Goda (brilliantly played by Tsukamoto himself) is a Tokyo yuppie. But his luxury life as a TV producer comes to an abrupt end when his lover suddenly announces she doesn't want to marry him and then shoots herself through the head. Despite being overwhelmed by sadness, Goda tries to resume his life. He is lured by the punk girl Chisato and sorely humiliated by her friends. It is youth that has no feeling left, nor for their own pain nor for that of others; they are no longer even able to form an iron existence. Goda seeks revenge and this leads to a frightening clash between first and second generation mutants. The almost intimate hand-held black & white photography bolsters the mood of doom, that may be less strange than in Tsukamoto's earlier cult, but that doesn't make it any the less frightening.