AllMovie

This somewhat incoherent movie of the group Einstürzende Neubauten was filmed in Tokyo on May 28, 1985 at the ruins of the Nakamatsu Ironworks. The ten shorts are combined in thirteen chapters to visually display the music from the artist's 1986 release, 1/2 Mensch. Directed by Sogo Ishii the fifty-three and a half minutes (fifty-seven and thirteen if one includes the credits) consist of suitably bizarre stream-of-consciousness with a script bordering on highly indulgent Cinéma vérité. John Bush on All Music.com calls the music that is this soundtrack "in a way, the group's masterpiece", the key words being "in a way". The audio provides one message while the visuals give the brain information it would never have conceived without the aid of Ishii's direction. For English-speaking people, it is the clash of German and Japanese ideas, the two main countries that were defeated in World War II, combining battle with dance in a somewhat uncomfortable display. If you are looking for the fun of Godzilla to emerge from the rubble in a sort of tongue-in-cheek retribution, don't look here. The minimalist / industrial sounds are put alongside an Eraserhead-style group of vignettes, David Lynch having a definite effect on much of the film that emerges from the genres embraced by Einstürzende Neubauten. Where the world in Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii is brighter and dependent on the music of the band in order to keep the viewer's interest- playing in classic ruins where Neubauten is content to document modern day destruction - this film at least makes the effort to add to the audio of 1/2 Mensch without depending totally on the provocative musicians. Die hard fans of Neubauten may feel director Sohgo Ishii succeeds, others, along with the general public, may just think "what?" The use of fire preceding upside down water in the next segment is sandwiched between worms that work their way around the foot of man and eat away at him. Not-so-coincidentally, these worms perfectly reflect the twisted metal displayed in a broken building at the onset of the movie. Disturbing images which reflect the deconstruction of humanity in the same way that the buildings are deteriorating. As the band plows through titles like "Z.N.S.", "Die Zeichnungen des Patienten" and "Der Tod ist ein Dandy" there's somewhat compelling artsy footage utilizing dark walls and walking through water, though the sumo wrestlers become a bit much, haunted by a chorus which sounds like a play on the word "spiderman" (it isn't), the choir very catchy in its church-like chant. The director takes too many liberties throughout and what could have been an intriguing and thought-provoking mini-epic ends up being predictable industrial fodder with too much emphasis on dark footage, rough MTV influenced edits and few surprises. The final piece works the best, perhaps, because there's at least some ingenuity - as well as daylight - in it. Picture Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator barreling down on The Beatles Abbey Road cover as the band is involved in making music simultaneous with doing construction work only to devolve and degenerate into violence and, ultimately, desolation.