Roundtable with the Artist

“Play it loud-VERY LOUD,” are Sogo Ishii's instructions for screening this raucous valentine to his twin loves: manga comics and industrial noise-rock. But beyond the noise lies an audacious attempt to use cinema to overwhelm all sensory perceptions. Half-men, half-machines, Dragon Eye Morrison and Thunderbolt Buddha battle across the skyline of Tokyo with their high-voltage powers of evil. However, one secret weapon may turn the tide in their violent combat: GUITAR!!! Plugging into wall sockets, electric beds, and even neighborhood power stations to recharge, these two super-boys need their ultra-noise, if only to calm the beast-or the machine-within. Mega-heartthrobs Tadanobu Asano (Japan's Johnny Depp) and Masatoshi Nagase (Mystery Train) supply the cheekbones as the two men-machines, while Ishii's band Mach 1.67 supplies the soundtracks that rattle them. Shot with no dialogue (intertitles provide description), Electric Dragon is a head-rattling, experimental return to the beginnings of cinema-a cinema of attractions.