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Classification: Good Originally Published: Pop Thought, 5/10/04 |
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When you generally think of old Godzilla, words like “cheesy” or “camp” or “awkward dialogue dubbing” come to mind. But watching the uncut version of the original Japanese Godzilla (or Gojira as it is known in Japan) the words that came to my mind were “ferocious” and “intense” and “surprisingly scary.” Relatively campless and impressively powerful, the first Godzilla is currently being shown in American theaters in its original length (and without the American version’s addition of Raymond Burr) in honor of its 50th anniversary. I think a lot of people will be surprised by it. I certainly was.
Yes the film is about a guy in a monster outfit destroying models of buildings, and sometimes the effects leave something to be desired. But the film is also a powerful statement from the Japanese about the horrors of nuclear war (remember, the film was made just nine years after the end of World War II) and the continued threat of nuclear annihilation. We’re used to seeing Japanese people fleeing from Godzilla or one of his Monster Island chums while a poorly dubbed English voice screams, “Godzilla is coming! We must flee!” But in Godzilla, with the acting untouched (the film is subtitled), the performances are so hysterical and terrified they’re chilling. When a typhoon hits the inhabitants of Odo Island (coupled with a simultaneous, but unseen, Godzilla landing), watch the performers as they are separated from their loved ones and their homes are wrecked and destroyed, howling for them to run and get away. This isn’t silly monster fun - this is sweaty atomic horror at its spookiest. Fishing boats are being wrecked at a single mysterious spot of the Pacific Ocean. Soon after, nearby Odo Island is wrecked in that storm, but paleontology expert Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura) finds evidence (including giant footprints) of the work of some sort of sea dinosaur. Soon, they find the beast, who is named after a legendary creature the elders of Odo Island used to fear. Godzilla, it turns out, was buried underwater since the Jurassic era, but recent nuclear testing has reawoken him and forced him up on land. Soon, the giant beast is laying waste to Tokyo in a scene that has at least one disturbingly beautiful shot, like the one of Godzilla silhouetted against the burning Tokyo skyline, for each doesn’t quite work. The use of forgiving black and white photography, along with the choice to limit most of the Godzilla footage to night scenes, gives the film an edgier look than you expect it to have. And since this was made long before Toho Films decided that Godzilla sold more tickets as a hero than as a villain, the giant lizard is, appropriately, a bit of a jerk. We’re told he has come to land to feed, but we never see him eat anything! He just seems to enjoy destruction. Even the Godzilla makeup is scarier and more ferocious, with lots more teeth, than the later sequels. Though Godzilla is a pop cultural icon all over the world, the one we see in Godzilla is not really the one we’re familiar with. His look, his powers, his motivation, were all different this first time around. Like lots of characters with lives as long as his, he wasn’t born fully formed - Superman, for example, couldn’t fly when he first appeared in Action Comics #1. But what’s interesting here is that Godzilla is way more interesting this way, and believe it or not, he’s actually scary too. Even if he hadn’t been made into a more heroic figure, the march of time, poor special effects, and the endless series of sequels would have diminished his horrific power. Enjoy Godzilla’s James Dean years here. |