This screening is part of Filmfest Aachen 2025

Crazy Thunder Road

Japan, 1980, 98 min, Gakuryu Ishii, Japanese
Original version with english subtitles

Gakuryu Ishii is considered the godfather of Japanese cyberpunk; his films were the starting point and cornerstone for movies like Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Tsukamoto, 1989) and 964 Pinocchio (Fukui, 1991). More than his contemporaries, Ishii embodies PUNK: against rules, against aesthetic standards. His later career produced cult classics like Electric Dragon 80.000V, but above all stands his graduation film, though he never actually finished his studies. In an interview, Ishii said he was only enrolled to use the film equipment - there is probably no better description of his cinema. In Crazy Thunder Road, the police and a biker gang face off in an industrial wasteland. The air is thick, the world hasn't ended yet - but does it really make a difference?

Gakuryu Ishii is considered the godfather of Japanese cyberpunk; his films formed the basis for works such as Tetsuo: The Iron Man (Tsukamoto, 1989) and 964 Pinocchio (Fukui, 1991). More than his contemporaries, Ishii embodies PUNK against the rules, against aesthetic norms. In his later career, he made cult classics such as Electric Dragon 80,000V, before that: his graduation film, although he never completed his studies. In an interview, Ishii said that he only went to university to use the film equipment - there is no better description of his cinema. In Crazy Thunder Road, police and biker gang face off in an industrial wasteland. The air is heavy, the world hasn't ended yet - but does it make any difference at all?

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