[This and the coming posts are a bit more cathartic than anything else. A good friend of mine passed away. He was a writer, a historian, an artist, and a huge influence on me. More than anything, he inspired and encouraged my interest in Godzilla films. We discussed them at length. We made jokes about them ("Like crap through a goose" was a common reference, along with his feigned blindness to the strings holding up the airplanes and pulling the toy-tanks forward). And we generally absorbed as much about these films, and the culture around them, as possible. So, these are for you Zach ("Mothra's #1 Fan"). I wouldn't have my deep love, appreciation, and knowledge of these movies (and many, many others) if not for you.]
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| #1 - Gojira (1954) ***** |
The original. The place where it all started. The backbone of this film is the allegorical connections it makes to the atomic bomb and the shadow of World War II cast throughout its, roughly, 90 minute running time. Only 9 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed by the United States, Japan still felt the heavy presence of such a cataclysmic power and what the war had done to its people. This film captures the weight of the war and its end through casual references to a fishing boat being destroyed mysteriously to the films savior having lost an eye in the war and a casual reference to Nagasaki.
This is our first glimpse of the physical embodiment of nuclear power and destruction:
Sure, he looks a little silly now. But putting aside the old special effects, the artistry and ingenuity of this original film paved the way for all to come after. Our collective consciousness of Godzilla is tainted by the self-parody that he eventually embodied, but this is before all that. If we can view it through the same serious lens in which it was created, there are powerful historical lessons to take away.
The original Gojira was created as a frightening representation of unbridled scientific discovery and the implications of those discoveries on an unprepared world. Not only is it a successful film, but it gives emotional weight to to what is effectively a man in a rubber suit stomping around a miniature city. That's no small accomplishment.
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| #2 - Godzilla Raids Again (1955) ** |
After the success of Gojira (1954), Toho Studios rushed to make a sequel. That "rush" created one of the worst Godzilla films in the series (though, there are a lot of bad films, so it's not alone towards the bottom of this long list).
Still a serious take on the idea of Godzilla as a force of nature, this second film is about two pilots who encounter a second Godzilla creature on an iceberg after crash-landing there. This discovery that there are others like the first creature (and no Oxygen Destroyers to take it out, unlike the last time) creates the movie's drama. Not only that, but there is also a second giant monster, Anguirus. This is the first of many times that Godzilla has someone to fight.
Like the last time he made a visit to Japan, conventional weapons do little to affect Godzilla's assault. So, the plan is made to bury him in ice, so he won't return to destroy Japan some more.
The main plot of the movie (outside of the Giant Monster stuff) is about those two airplane pilots and the girls they're in love with. This duality of including a human, personal side in a movie about a giant monster destroying buildings and infrastructure on a grand scale is juggled throughout the entire film series. Some accomplish it better than others, and for all its faults, this one does include sympathetic, human main characters.
[This series/remembrance continues soon with the Middle Godzilla Era (1962-1975)]
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| Zach and his wife, Mackenzie. |
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