The Code Name Is Asia Strikes Back / 1/2 Mensch
Gakuryu ISHII 石井岳龍
The Code Name Is Asia Strikes Back
アジアの逆襲
A rock band was at the source of ASIA STRIKES BACK, originally made to accompany live performances by The Bacillus Army, a punk super group with ISHII on vocals. The film is one of the earliest entries in Japan's cyberpunk cycle, a status only emphasised by the new soundtrack supplied by Hiroyuki ONOGAWA (Mach 1.67), composer of GOJOE and ELECTRIC DRAGON 80,000 V.
アジアの逆襲
Ajia no gyakushu
Japan 2006
30 minutes
Director
Gakuryu ISHII
Script
Shunichi NAGASAKI, Go RIJU
Cinematography
Norimichi KASAMATSU
Music
Hiroyuki ONOGAWA
World sales
Dragon Mountain
Cast
Yoshiki ARIZONO, Jun TAKEUCHI, Hidemaru, Isamu UNO, Johnny
About Gakuryu ISHII
石井岳龍
Gakuryu (Sogo) ISHII was born in Fukuoka in 1957. His dystopian punk rock musical BURST CITY (1982) made him one of the precursors of the Japanese cyberpunk movement of the 1980s. Since then he has worked with renowned Japanese actors and international punk bands on numerous short and feature films. NIPPON CONNECTION dedicated a retrospective to his work in 2013.
Gakuryu ISHII 石井岳龍
1/2 Mensch
半分人間
After having caught ISHII's CRAZY FAMILY at a festival screening, Einstürzende Neubauten invited the director to film their Japanese tour. The band's philosophy that all noise is music gave ISHII the perfect platform to explore his emerging fascination with metaphysics: at the level of the atom, everything is equal.
半分人間
Hanbun ningen
Japan 1985
50 minutes
Director
Gakuryu ISHII
Script
Fumiaki NAGASHIMA, Goro NAKAJIMA
Cinematography
Akihiro ITO
Music
Einstürzende Neubauten
Production
Directors Company, I.D.O. productions
World sales
Dragon Mountain
About Gakuryu ISHII
石井岳龍
Gakuryu (Sogo) ISHII was born in Fukuoka in 1957. His dystopian punk rock musical BURST CITY (1982) made him one of the precursors of the Japanese cyberpunk movement of the 1980s. Since then he has worked with renowned Japanese actors and international punk bands on numerous short and feature films. NIPPON CONNECTION dedicated a retrospective to his work in 2013.