Filed under: Cinema of Japan
An International Masterpiece of World Cinema, Gojira is by far the staple of the Science Fiction genre and the prowess of Classic Japanese Cinema. Now celebrating over a Half-Century since the 1954 debut, Ishirô Honda’s Gojira continues to reveal itself as far more than simply the Monster Film for which pop-culture has recognized this Epic story of Human Nature. Directory Ishirô Honda trained under his discipline at TOHO Studios, at the time one of Japans premier film studios. Although best known for his work in Science Fiction cinema, Honda found a more fulfilling design to his work, both politically and intellectually. Initially titled project “G” for giant, Gojira was an unlikely film for its time in Japanese Cinematic history, and especially so considering Japans withdrawal from one of the most dramatic chapters in Human History.
As a Documentary Filmmaker, Director Honda, Story Writer Shigeru Kayama, and Screenwriter Takeo Murata explore the story of a Prehistoric creature, awakened by the rupture of an Atomic weapon detonated within the Pacific Ocean. Honda and Kayama allow their audience rich sub-text and provide substantial reference to develop a rather concise and altruistic portrayal of these many Human characters. A critical portrayal on intergeneration politics and the responsibility which our lives carry, Ishirô Honda and Shigeru Kayama provide an encompassing philosophical analogy on the ethical and moral paradox of a century on the cusp of self destruction and presents the sacrifice from which a New Era in Human History was engendered.
The Focal Characters of Gojira, unlike Western films of the same era, are far from the anecdotal Action Heroes found in such films as King Kong. Further, Honda and Kayama present these characters and the events which unfold through a complex of intertwined lives, connected either through family or profession. However, the substance and reference which frame these characters are found in their moral construction and the consequence of their actions. Perhaps the most significant character we are presented with is Dr. Serizawa-hakase (Akihiko Hirata), whom although is disciplined in his manner, is conflicted by the discovery of his work – the Oxygen Destroyer. Essentially a weapon the caliber of the Hydrogen Bomb, Dr. Serizawa’s Oxygen Destroyer is all which can redeem Humanity from Gojira’s threshold. Though reluctant to recognize what others see as the answer to Gojira, Dr. Serizawa holds the conviction to examine and learn from this creature.
As Film makers, Honda and Kayama portray the Human Nature to great effect. In the midst of catastrophic danger, these Characters and those near them strive towards the perseverances of their own identity, as a reflection of their own conscience, even as a nation of people converge. Over the course of eight years, Honda was drafted by the Imperial Army three times, eventually becoming a POW during the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japans eventual withdrawal from World War II. Upon his return to Japan and his haunting discovery of the aftermath suffered by his countrymen, Ishirô Honda had uncovered the deepest wound from his service to the Imperial Army, but more so, to the Honor and Sovereignty of Japans great ambitions. The reality and consequence of War had proven to be an overwhelming devastation. Director Honda and Writer Kayama soon found opportunity in this almost accidental story; the product of another failed project resulting from heightened political tensions in the East.
What allows Gojira to preserve and persist, both politically and socially, and triumph as far more than what is expected from a Film of this genre, is due in great part to the Literary excellence of Shigeru Kayama. It should be know that Director Honda was determined to make the argument towards Weapons of Mass Destruction on the moral principal of the Characters and Storytelling of this tragic Film. Even after the recent withdrawal of American censors from Japan, Honda knew that for this warning to be received, it could not be that Gojira was an anti-American film. If this were so, Gojira may have been nothing more than propaganda – no more like the Japanese before, or like the Americans later. For Director Honda, Gojira was not the manifestation of antagonistic political tension directed towards America and the West. Gojira was an Allegory, a correlation, and the manifestation of what today has evolved in Nuclear War. For Honda, Gojira was a protest that Human Life not destroy itself beyond recognition.
