1/2 Man (1986)

Excellent but underrated film

Boring

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

"1/2 Mensch" or "1/2 Man" is a Japanese German movie from 1986, so this one had its 30th anniversary last year. The director and also one of the writers is Gakuryû Ishii and he was not even 30 when he made this one collaborating with the German underground band Einstürzende Neubauten. The version I watched was not as short as it says here on IMDb, but it still stayed comfortably under the 1-hour mark. Not a long work by any means, even if it may feel long. The band I mentioned is still known very well here in Germany these days over 3 decades later. Eventually it will all come down to how much you like Einstürzende Neubauten (which means "Collapsing new buildings") in determining how much you will like this concert. I guess you can call it that. If you enjoy the music, you will enjoy the setting and atmospheric take. If not, you will find it all very annoying and amateurish. And sadly, the latter is true for me here as I never made a connection with anything I saw or heard in here. I would still call it very raw, brutal and authentic, it's just not to my liking. So I can see why people love the band and also see an artistic impact here somehow. I don't think it is really necessary for me to give a recommendation here. Those who love EN (the older, but still rebellious generation), can go for it as it may bring back some nice memories too, but everybody else makes the best decision when skipping the watch here. I for once was glad it was a relatively short film as honestly it bored me pretty quickly. So from my very personal subjective perspective, I give this one a thumbs-down here as you can obviously see from my rating too. A bit baffled by the high rating here on IMDb to be honest.

Noise band Einsturzende Neubauten, filmed performing in a seemingly post apocalyptic abandoned warehouse in Japan, which looks as though the entire building may collapse around them at any minute during the film. Completely devoid of anyone in the building to interfere, the only "audience" is the ghosts of the old building and its machinery. Anything within reach of the band could be, and was, used as instruments: springs and coils, sheet metal, saws, hammers and mallets, concrete blocks, even a shopping cart. Film slightly reminds me, in principle anyway, of Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii. Floyd filmed their performance at an empty amphitheatre for the music to stand or fall on its own merit, Neubauten filmed their performance in a completely empty and crumbling warehouse, without any audience and let the music stand or fall on its own merit.Personally I'm more of a fan of Neubauten's more recent music (Ende Neu, and Tabula Rasa in particular) and this film was marred by putting its two best songs (Armenia, from Zeichnungen des Patienten O. T. (Drawings of Patient O. T.), and Sehnsucht, from Kollaps) at the very start of the film. It's interesting to watch this haunting, mesmerising, and genuinely creepy mini movie in segments at a time; its oppressiveness and gloominess wears a person down after a while, and made me want to shower afterward.

This nowadays rather unavailable piece of film is a great introduction and statement of the musical and visual artistry of Neubauten and their Japanese collaborate in the mid 80s. This ought to be made available shortly on DVD, if only the band, the director and the labels could find the sensibility to get along, and provide the growing number of fans a well deserved release. According to the band, their company (mute) don't find it a worthwhile investment (as they claimed in 1997-Quart Festival, Norway).

This one hour feature just has to be seen. Director Sogo Ishii filmed the famous German Band "Einstürzende Neubauten" in a deserted factory loft (the perfect industrial setting for their music). It all looks very rough as you would expect it from one of Japans most influential filmmakers (his influence on Shinya Tsukamoto cannot be ignored). This film is rarely to be seen. If you get the possibility to watch it, do not hesitate. The images and the experimental sounds build up a perfect connection, which you do not get that often in concert documentaries.