I found it very interesting, and I think the friend I went with agrees on that. But it was more of a study of an interesting artefact than enjoying a great movie.
Actually, the movie is quite bad in my opinion (but not as bad as what I have seen of the American remake...). Not very well directed, no interesting twists in the story, a poorly devised sub plot of youthful love and to be frank appalling acting (even though some of the actors were very well known at the time, and had worked with giants like Kurosawa). Plus, even for that time and age I think the special effects would be rated second grade.
That said, considering the story and background of the movie (which I read up on before leaving work), it was an interesting watch.
To appreciate it I guess you must know and keep in mind that the original Godzilla, Gojira, was made as a political statement directed towards the American nuclear testing going on in the pacific at the time, building on the Japanese collective fear (and being released only nine years after the bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki I guess that fear reigned strong in the minds of the Japanese people) of the atomic bomb.
Actually, the inspiration of the movie was a real life fishing boat that happened to navigate into a nuclear testing site and was exposed to the blast.
So in the right mindset, it is an interesting movie. There are a few really nice scenes in it too, like when a girl choir sings a prayer for Tokyo, or a mother about to be killed by Gojira's radioactive breath comforts her kids with the words "Don't worry, soon you will join your father..." and of course when Gojira wreaks havoc on Tokyo. Which, as someone said in a review I read, looks a bit like a big guy in a 200 pound lizard suit stomping on cardboard boxes (which probably is exactly the way it was done...).
A thing I found really funny was the news reporters, the way they talked and described what was going on. It really sounded like 50s journal movies, really overly dramatic and corny.
Towards the end the message is very clear. The creators of the movie certainly didn't want the viewers to miss it. In order to kill the monster spawned by the atomic bomb tests an even more dreadful weapon is used. In order to contain its secret, the inventor of the weapon plants it himself at the feet of Gojira and then kills himself. Doctor Yamane, the paleontologist who is one of the main characters of the movie, is awarded the closing speech. We shouldn't mess with nature. Some things are simply best left unknown or undiscovered. And surely this wasn't the last Gojira to walk the face of the Earth...
Looking at what has happened in the world this year, tsunamis, tornados, earth quakes, war and famine... ...I guess Dr Yamane was right. But I guess the only time Gojira takes on the shape of a giant lizard breathing radioactive fire is in the movies.
How is that for a pretentious ending? Suitable, since we saw it at the ICA and Tannith even got her arm slapped by the person next to us when I tried to whisper some silly Gojira facts to her... Geez, calm down, pretentious cineast twats. It was during the opening credits, written in kanji! Really...
Silly fact example:
Gojira is made up of the Japanese words for gorilla and whale. That was also the nick name of the marketing guy at Toho, the company that dstributed the movie.
