Film Reviews

Godzilla

• Rating:
• Director: Ishiro Honda.
• Starring: Takashi Shimura, Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi.
• Details: Japan, 96mins, PG.

Made in 1954, nine years after the atomic bomb devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Godzilla - the first in a long line of Japanese monster movies - can be appreciated when put into context. Fall-out and radiation sickness were a big issue in Japan when director Honda first stood behind the camera, and here he presents Godzilla, a soulless rampaging monster with no delusions of morality, as a metaphor for what weapons of mass destruction can do when they are unleashed on an innocent community by uncaring men. When several ships are exploded and sunk off the coast of Odo, a tiny island south of Japan, local authorities dispel any rumours of a 150-foot monster attributing the causes to an underground earthquake. But all doubts are vanquished (along with several towns) when Godzilla stomps his way ashore. The authorities turn to Dr. Serizawa's brilliant 'oxygen destroyer' to repel the monster - but will it work? Minus the twenty minutes that was tacked on for the American release (Raymond Burr appearing as an American reporter to explain to the English-speaking world why Godzilla is such a threat), Godzilla is presented here in its original form. Honda is regarded in Japan as a master of science fiction and utilizes what Steven Spielberg did with Jaws over twenty years later - delaying the introduction of the beast until the last possible moment.

Review by Gavin Burke