19 May 2004
Gojira
We've all seen the movie Godzilla. It's cheesy and quaint, good for a laugh but not especially interesting. Actually, it turns out that's just the stinky remains of Godzilla after Hollywood devoured it, pooped it out, and sold tickets to it.
A newly-restored and subtitled print of the original Godzilla has been playing at The Castro. It's actually a serious, sophisticated, provocative movie! It's very frank about post-WWII anxiety in Japan. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are fresh memories to both the young and the old, and their aftermath dogs the country. One character laments that, as if the radioactive tuna and the black rain weren't enough, the H-bomb has also set loose a really cranky, city-smashing lizard that refuses to fuck off! Did we survive Nagasaki only to be crushed under Godzilla's scaley foot? Should the lizard be captured and studied for science, or should we just blow it up and be done? If we use our hitherto-secret "Oxygen Destroyer" technology to kill Godzilla, won't we also unleash a terrible new weapon on the world, much like the H-bomb? Who gets to decide? All of these crucial plot elements were removed from the American release. Can you guess why?
The citizens of Tokyo all have strong feelings about these questions! And amid all the terror and the heated debates, some of them change their minds before the end. Who knew that Godzilla was such a tight, thought-provoking story? The original ending is surprisingly emotionally engaging. And really, the special effects are pretty great by 1954 standards. Or maybe they just look more convincing on the big screen.