Takashi Shimura – Tripping Through Gateways

Being set in sixteenth century Japan, some might question including this film in my series on westerns. But having run through the Magnificent Seven films, not looking at the film that inspired them, that created one of the most memorable western motifs seemed downright criminal.

A small mountain village is being raided by bandits and after they leave, the town sends out a party to find help.

They find Kambei, an older Ronin and watch him save a baby from a thief. While he is not initially interested in helping them, he relents and assembles six more Samurai to both teach the villagers and help them defend the village.

Kurosawa had apparently planned to make a film about a “day in the life of a Samurai” before research brought him to a story about Samurai helping farmers. And thank goodness for that. Because Seven Samurai is a pleasure to watch. It is humorous, exciting and touching.

Clocking in at three hours, we get to know the Samurai very well. We see their friendships (both with themselves and the villagers) grow. A beautifully shot film, Seven Samurai is a masterpiece that has and will continue to influence cinema.

Filmmakers wanted to bring Godzilla to American audiences, and what they thought Godzilla needed was a white guy’s perspective. Godzilla: King of Monsters was not so much a remake as it was a revision of the original film. Adding footage of Raymond Burr, the film becomes a narrated flash black.

Opening in the wake of Godzilla’s attack, Burr’s American journalist Steve Martin starts to recount the destruction. The story is basically the same, except it is now all told through a white American’s eyes. Suddenly, the human stories of the film feel less personal and more foreign than they should.

The atomic fears are not removed, but altered a bit by changing the perspective of the story to America’s eyes. It is still an entertaining story, but it feels like the cliff notes version.

In 1954 with fears of nuclear annihilation feeding filmmakers hearts, it is no surprise Japan provided the most memorable monster of all.

The film begins with a series of mysterious freighter accidents. As attempts to determine the cause turn up no answers, an unseen threat is creeping towards Tokyo. This is, of course, our titular monster. Godzilla makes land and starts to terrorize the locals.

A lot is made of what Godzilla himself represents in the fears of the atomic age. Certainly, the dramatic images of Godzilla’s destruction evoke the horrors of Hiroshima. But when it comes to the fears of atomic weaponry, we see it in the character Serizawa-hakase, a scientist who stumbles upon the creation of a weapon so horrible, he dare not share it with the world. When it is discovered, he is called upon to provide it for stopping Godzilla…but is it worth the sacrifice?

While Godzilla is pretty obviously a man in a suit smashing miniatures, the storytelling is very effective and the characters compelling. Ishirô Honda tells a tale that overcomes the limitations. Which says a lot, considering this first incarnation of Godzilla is a bit bug eyed and flails like Donald Trump at a rally.

Tag: Takashi Shimura

All Stand Together Pt 6 (Seven Samurai, 1954)

The Bigger They Come Part 8 (Godzilla: King of Monsters, 1956)

The Bigger They Come Part 7 (Godzilla, 1954)