Urbanized Man: Shinya Tsukamoto and His Films
Abstract
Shinya Tsukamoto’s films explore the influence of the technologically transforming urbanized environment on its inhabitants. In his films the changes are taking place in the human body. What Tsukamoto depicts in his movies is the crisis of the perception of corporality, proper to modern city residents, and the process of stripping of physical experiences that are replaced by an automated existence. The characters of Tsukamoto’s films treat their bodies as machines - they incessantly improve them so that they fit the disintegration-free surrounding environment. Tsukamoto knocks off his characters from dangerous inactivity and shows their transformation; it allows them to attain a state of corporeal self-consciousness. The motif of a transformation of the human body evolves from an absolute modification through acceptance of its limited provenance to metaphysical reflections. Tsukamoto’s individual vision is a very important statement in the cinematic description of the condition of contemporary men.
Keywords:
Shinya Tsukamoto, body, alienation, Japanese cinemaReferences
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Authors
Agnieszka Kamrowskakwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Jagiellonian University Poland
Doktorantka Instytutu Sztuk Audiowizualnych UJ, przygotowuje pracę doktorską poświęconą motywom cyberpunkowym w kinie Wschodu i Zachodu.
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Copyright (c) 2005 Agnieszka Kamrowska
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