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Gojira (1954)
Gojira (1954): Text
In 1954, Ishiro Honda, Eiji Tsuburaya, Tomoyuki Tanaka, and many others would release a monster movie film that explores Japan's nuclear fears and anxieties that would go on to be one of Japan’s most recognizable cinema icons. The film is a Japanese monster movie modeled after Western monster movies. However, the film became more of a disaster movie. The Lucky Dragon Number Five incident would change what Gojira would become. In his book, Disaster Movies: The Cinema of Catastrophe, Stephen Keane defines a framework for how to look at disaster movies as they carry “ideological signs of the times in which they are made” (14). Just as American movies explored nuclear threats, Japanese filmmakers would also start to explore the subject. This also made Gojira a symptomatic text, meaning a text that illustrates, communicates, or in some way provides a register for social concerns. As Suzanna Danuta Walters states, “symptomatic texts provide information about a cultural moment rather than state the origin of that moment” (6). Gojira offers a lens in a moment of cultural and societal fear and anxiety concerning nuclear proliferation.
Gojira (1954): About
The concept of the film was born when Tanaka, the film's eventual producer, was coming back to Japan from Indonesia after a failed deal for a joint Japanese-Indonesian production due to political tensions between the two countries. Tanaka himself states that as he was looking out the plane’s window on his way back to Japan, he asked himself “what if a dinosaur sleeping in the Southern Hemisphere had been awakened and transformed into a giant by the bomb? What if it attacked Tokyo?” (Kalat 27). He would look at The Beast from 20,000 Phantoms as inspiration for the narrative. However, the monster movie that was initially pitched was transformed into a disaster film that tackled social and political issues facing Japan. Disaster movies are just as much of a reaction to the fears and anxieties of a society and culture as they are a spectacle. With monster movies, the fears and anxieties are embodied by massive creatures and ask how people would handle the situation. What marked Western science fiction B-movies in the 1950s and 1960s was the realization that with the simple push of a button, the world could end (Keane 11). Japan did not have to imagine such a scenario; they lived it.
As a movie producer, Tanaka felt the pulse of the Japanese public who experienced fear and anxiety from the Lucky Dragon Number Five incident, making him want to create a movie that would address these issues. He would hire Honda as the director and Tsuburaya as the special effects director. Tsuburaya wanted to create his own monster film ever since watching the original 1933 King Kong as the film inspired him to go into special effects (Ryfle and Godziszewski 88). However, it was Honda that would transform the monster movie into a disaster film that echoed the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as Lucky Dragon Number Five. At the beginning of the film, Honda did not wait and hide what the creature represented as, in the opening scene, a boat would be engulfed in flames and destroyed after a bright flashing light consumed the ship. This is in direct reference to the nuclear blast that the crew of the Lucky Dragon Number Five saw before nuclear ash fell. After three more rescue boats go missing, authorities try to calm the families of the rescuers. The government did not know what was going on in their own oceanic backyard, very much resembling the events and response to the nuclear incident.
Gojira (1954): About
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Aside from the beginning, the film follows the format of western sci-fi and monster movies laid out by Susan Sontag. In her essay "The Imagination of Disaster", Sontag breaks down the tropes of the genre during the 1950s as they all follow a similar formula. First, the arrival of the threat, which could range anywhere from a giant monster to alien invaders, is observed by a scientist or the hero of the film. This leads to no one believing their claim. Second, the confirmation of the threat by witnesses because of the threat’s path of destruction. Local authorities are then called to try to handle the threat but to no avail. Third, scientists and the military have conferences and meetings with the protagonist who gives all of their information to them. Forth, further destruction happens as cities are trampled and the protagonist’s lover is in danger. The final part of the equation is finding the threat’s weakness and one last plan is enacted with the hero leading the charge. This last-ditch effort usually involves an untested or nuclear device. The threat is defeated as the protagonist and their lover embrace. While there are slight variations made to this formula, they do not stray from the overall theme, “science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster” (Sontag). Disaster films are more focused on the chaos and destruction on screen that offers an escape and reflection of societal fears.
Gojira (1954): Testimonials
Where the film subverts the conventions of the genre is with Yamane’s exposition as he expresses his view to keep Godzilla alive to study it. This leads to the reveal of a nuclear threat to the Japanese public, leading to the two opposing politician groups arguing. The first is composed of old men wanting to keep the discovery a secret from the public, citing political and economic relations. The other group is composed of younger women wanting to reveal the truth to the public, stating that “the truth is the truth.” At face value, while nothing really stands, this exchange was a reflection of the political landscape and class status in Japan at the time. Older generations wanted to keep the status quo and downplay the events of nuclear testing while newer, younger, women-led organizations wanted change (Ryfle and Godziszewski 101). Following the political chaos, reports are released and reveal news of radioactive findings. The film does not hold back as pedestrians fully acknowledge the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as one woman on a train says that she barely escaped Nagasaki. Another man states they have to evacuate again, with a second man saying that he is tired of this. The characters in the film are fully acknowledging Godzilla is standing for nuclear weapons within the narrative itself.
Gojira (1954): Text
Throughout the film, Yamane makes his stand that he wants to study Godzilla as the creature was irradiated by nuclear weapons and survived. Yamane does not seem to regard Godzilla as a problem. Instead, he views Godzilla as a creature that can benefit humanity as Godzilla might be the key to surviving nuclear radiation. In doing so, Yamane becomes the character wherein the audience can learn to sympathize with Godzilla as the creature is characterized as a victim within the narrative. When the decision is made to set depth chargers around the area where Godzilla might be resting in an effort to kill him, Yamane becomes irritated. Given that Godzilla is the manifestation of nuclear energy, the conversation with his daughter’s lover, Ogata, is also telling of his perspective. Ogata tries to give a reason as to why Godzilla should be killed and compares him to the same anxiety from the atomic bombings that Japan still feels. Yamane storms off in anger when killing Godzilla is offered as the only solution to get rid of this disaster.
Metaphorically, Ogata’s argument more seems to be one routed in nuclear disarmament as killing Godzilla would cease nuclear attacks. Yamane, however, firmly believes that Godzilla, and more importantly nuclear energy, has benefits that outweigh the devastation that is brought. The conversation being had here is that, on one side, Godzilla is looked at as walking atomic energy that cannot be controlled as it can only lay waste and destruction. On the other hand, there is another argument that despite the dangers, there is a possibility of coexisting with atomic energy. Yamane seems to know that no matter what the Japanese Self Defense Force does, nothing is going to hurt a physical embodiment of nuclear energy. As he tells the Japanese fishing businessmen, Godzilla was “baptized in the fire of the H-bomb.” Yamane is not the only scientist in the film as Dr. Serizawa is introduced, acting as the opposite of Yamane.
Gojira (1954): Bio
Serizawa is the second scientist character who has been wounded by the war as seen by his eye patch. While the character does follow some tropes of the genre, there are layers to him with the theme of guilt. When a reporter learns that Serizawa might have been doing research that can stop Godzilla and even mentions his ties with Germany from the war, Serizawa denies any implications. While this is a small piece of dialogue, Serizawa is shown as remorseful and, in this instance, an acknowledgement of Japan’s actions during the war. Serizawa does not follow the template of a typical mad scientist as many would fall under the trope of having hubris and arrogance about their research and experiments, wanting to display it to the world. Serizawa is instead fearful and guilty of what he has done, and this is further established as he makes Emiko keep this a secret after showing it to her. Emiko, however, breaks her promise and tells Ogata after Godzilla lays complete and total destruction to Tokyo, revealing Serizawa developed a weapon called the Oxygen Destroyer.
Gojira (1954): Bio
The weapon itself is also a subversion of the genre as many movies in the west do not explore the ramifications of new and untested weaponry. Gojira asks the question, what are the ramifications of developing a weapon that is more powerful than a nuclear bomb as a main central conflict The film draws on the conflict of Serizawa’s extreme hesitancy of using this new weapon. Much like the scientists that created the atomic bomb, Serizawa feels guilty about creating the Oxygen Destroyer. As Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski denote, Honda characterizes Serizawa very much in a similar manner as J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the central scientists working on the creation of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer would fear that the weapon he helped create would lead to the end of the world (Ryfle and Godziszewski 99). Shannon Victoria Stevens would also draw on the connection between Serizawa and Oppenheimer, as both experience “terrible anxieties about the potential destructive use of their research, Serizawa is terrified that his discovery will be used as a weapon that would “destroy humankind” (93-94). Serizawa’s weapon has the ability to first remove oxygen in the water to suffocate any organism, then liquify the organism into bone before that too is also liquified. Serizawa states that politicians would soon come for this weapon and himself to create one of their own the same as how the atomic bomb was sought after, “A-bombs against A-bombs. H-bombs against H-bombs. As a scientist, no, as a human being, adding another terrifying weapon to humanity’s arsenal is something I cannot do.” Serizawa does not flaunt his research or his weapon like many of his western movie counterparts. He is afraid that he will potentially have the blood of millions on his hands should this Oxygen Destroyer be used.
Gojira (1954): Text
What ultimately changes Serizawa’s mind to use the Oxygen Destroyer was a choir of schoolgirls singing in memorial of Godzilla’s attack. After burning all his notes of the Oxygen Destroyer, the film transitions to Ogata and Serizawa getting ready to dive into Godzilla’s resting place as Serizawa prepares to use the weapon. As Ogata starts to resurface, Serizawa stays behind as he sees Godzilla getting closer before cutting his oxygen line and wishing Emiko and Ogata happiness. Once the Oxygen Destroyer is activated, Godzilla starts to cry out in pain before resurfacing and letting out one last roar. Serizawa does not survive like many protagonists in similar roles that save the world from a destructive threat. He dies along with his weapon, making sure no one can try to replicate such a device. This is a complete reworking of the mad scientist archetype; Serizawa does not die from his own creation because of his ego, he dies as this would “secure his guilty secret” (Stevens 75). The is a somber ending that contrasts the hopeful ending of Western monster movies.
What follows is Professor Yamane’s own moral plight as he states that as long as atomic testing continues, another Godzilla will appear somewhere in the world. Yamane has seemed to have changed his opinion on Godzilla as coexistence with the creature, and more importantly nuclear energy, does not seem possible anymore. The devastation that such a force caused was too much of a danger to coexist with. This is a fact that Yamane tried to reconcile with the potential benefits until he was affected by the disturbing reality of the death of Serizawa. Much as the scientists working on the construction of nuclear weapons, they would come out and oppose their use as they “experienced terrible anxieties about the potential destructive use of their research” (Stevens 93). This would be the start of the atomic age and the devastating consequences of such weapons and technology.
Gojira (1954): Text
Without a doubt, the most important character in the film is Godzilla himself as he would be a departure from genre conventions. Godzilla is not necessarily an obstacle that the main characters need to defeat nor a simple allegorical manifestation. For monster movies, the monster is usually a manifestation of a nebulous threat to society. Godzilla, in this case, is the manifestation of nuclear weapons, and the connection is seen early when Godzilla first makes landfall on Odo Island. Yamane’s investigation of the attack finds the presence of Strontium-90, an element found in nuclear bombs. Everything that is in close contact with Godzilla is irradiated, from his giant footprints to a village’s well, to even people. His attack on Tokyo further emphasizes his allegorical meaning as any conventional weapons fail to even hurt him as buildings are crushed and his atomic breath melts anything it touches. The film is a combination of spectacle that is customary for disaster movies and imagery that reflects the atomic bombings as Godzilla finally displays his signature atomic breath. For Nick Roddick, a disaster movie must meet certain requirements such as being diegetically central, factually possible, and ahistorical (Keane 13). The disaster needs to be situated in realism and be possible, and while a giant monster does not fit any of these categories, the film’s characteristics very much speak on nuclear disasters. One scene during Godzilla’s attack shows a mother clutching her children saying that “we will be joining your father in just a moment” as Godzilla destroys the building. Make-shift hospitals are made as Emiko, Yamane’s daughter, volunteers as a nurse, comforting children as parents are taken away in stretchers. Geiger counters are used on children and long shots are used to show the injured, and a panning shot is used to show the devastation left behind by Godzilla’s attack. Some of the destruction resembles the devastation of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima.
In addition, Godzilla is given character traits that stand out from other monsters. Within the narrative, Godzilla is also displayed as a victim of the nuclear weapons he metaphorically represents. Immediately contrasting Godzilla to western monster movie counterparts, western monsters were not creatures that the audience is supposed to sympathize with. Yamane theorized that Godzilla slumbered beneath the ocean until his home was destroyed by nuclear tests. Godzilla’s skin texture resembled keloid scars like those that survived Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While this can be easily explained by the different suits and puppets made for the production as Toho did not give the production team the money or time for stop motion effects as Tsuburaya dreamed, Tsuburaya came up with a fast and inexpensive method for Godzilla known as suitmation. Tsuburaya placed actor Haruo Nakajima in a latex rubber suit that was stuffed with bamboo and urethane foam to provide sturdiness and bulk to play Godzilla (Kalat 38). Godzilla’s attack on Tokyo is also seen as retaliation for the military’s depth charges in their first attempt to kill the creature. However, it is how Godzilla screams before his death that changes what is thought to be a God of destruction into a being that was also the victim of humanity’s use of nuclear weapons.
Gojira (1954): Bio
Sources
Kalat, David. A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series. 2nd ed., McFarland & Co., 2017.
Keane, Stephen. Disaster Movies: The Cinema of Catastrophe. (London: Wallflower Press, 2006).
Stevens, Shannon Victoria. “The Rhetorical Significance of “Gojira”.” Order No. 1479099 University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2010. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 30 Jan. 2021.
Sontag, Susan. “The Imagination of Disaster.” Commentary (New York), vol. 40, no. 4, Commentary, Oct. 1965.
Ryfle, Steve, and Ed Godziszewski. Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. 2017.
Walters, Suzanna Danuta. Material Girls Making Sense of Feminist Cultural Theory. University of California Press, 1995.
Gojira (1954): Text
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