Tsukamoto's "experimental entertainment" vacillates wildly between kinetic, pulse-pounding powerhouses (TETSUO, TETSUO II: THE BODY HAMMER, TOKYO FIST) and sometimes plodding- if not downright sleep-inducing- cinema (GEMINI, A SNAKE OF JUNE, VITAL). BULLET BALLET falls somewhere between these two extremes. There are too few of the patented strobing, kaleidoscopic sequences that have made Tsukamoto such a dynamic director for this to be considered one of his best; still, the scene where he brands himself with a hot iron before pistol-whipping himself into a killing frenzy is the kind of semi-sensual cinematic savagery that he does best and it singlehandedly saves this one.
Review of Bullet Ballet
