Godzilla (1954)

Toho decided to appoint Ishirō Honda, who was willing to take on the challenge of directing a Japanese monster film based on an idea that Tomoyuki Tanaka had envisioned after The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and the Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident.

Ishi Tsubaraya, the special effects director, was eager to experiment with stop motion animation for the movie, but since he didn’t have the means or knowledge to do so, he ended up inventing Suitmation, which is a form of special effects that involves a performer in a costume using miniature sets.

Unbeknownst to them, the path that they had set out on would grant them the creation of a classic and later, an entire multimedia series.

The freighter Eiko-Maru is suddenly struck by an explosion (don) and mysterious flash (pika) near Ohto island. Subsequently, a Bingo-Maru vessel is sent to investigate the incident, but instead, they become engulfed in flame while trying to pass through the strange light surrounding the water.

After some time, a fishing vessel rescues three people. Their trip to Ohto Island, however, meets the same dreadful ending as the other two ships. One fisherman, Masagi predominantly survives. When the fishermen complain that the nets keep coming out empty, a village elder Kokuten Kodo shocks everyone by suggesting Godzilla might be the reason. That same night, a storm destroys the village and some of the village people see a monstrous figure.

At the Diet Building, Kyohei Yamane, an expert palaeontologist, Takashi Shiura manages to convince the military to send a research team to the island in order to get to the bottom of this startling turn of events. It isn’t long before Yamane and his team confront a massive radioactive foot print, as well as a long extinct trilobite. Soon, the team encounters the colossal dinosaur that plagues the region.

As one analyzes the initial account of Godzilla, the risk of mistreating this image is always present. Indeed, many scholars and general commentators have gone through this process of seduction. As much as it is true that Godzilla can be interpreted in multiple ways, that is also the essence of its importance. Godzilla, as Ishiro Honda suggests, is a visualization of that which could not be depicted, that which devastated the flesh, wood, and rocks of Nagasaki and Hiroshima (General Note 2). What Honda does is reeling a fictitious narrative around the atom bomb and giving it a monstrous countenance. This allows the Japanese audience to process the wartime trauma and demystify the trauma laden skewed reality.

The story brilliantly draws a comparison between the unseeable Real and the fictional depiction of the threat, the paradoxical impossibility, and the imaginary possibility to represent the traumatic Real. Whenever Godzilla begins as an example, the viewer is made uncomfortable right away by a mix of rhythmical sounds like the multi directional stomp of feet along with bizarre roars, and the music which evokes ‘something enormous and awe inspiring’. This strange mixture of sounds is not just the function of its anticipatory state, it also provokes the existence of a threat that is very much still hiding, calling back to the true horror of the atomic pika and don.

Additionally, the opening scene of Godzilla, underlines the date of March 1 1954, when the American military conducted a 15 megaton hydrogen bomb test named Castle Bravo at Bikini Atoll, by focusing on how atomic devastation is so hard to see. A Japanese fishing boat known as Daigo Fukuryu Maru was exposed to the explosion and suffered radioactive debris. Afterwards when Ohto island is shown, and the storm which infests it, Honda understands the Godzilla phenomena so well that he continues to keep him unseen by showing the horror on the faces of the villagers who see stupendous Godzilla.

However, the unnoticeable danger eventually takes on a form, which makes it easy for the audience to fear the danger rather than be anxious of it. The effect of giving the horror of the invisible its monstrous correlate is complimentary to the destruction of the demon juxtaposed with the ravishing monster covered with wartime like imagery. This includes frigates in the sea, clearing tanks and other military materials, evacuating people, setting off cannons, trails of destruction, fiery city blocks, evaporated citizens and hospitals full of wounded people. The fact that Godzilla’s rampaging is accompanied by the echoes of city shattering atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki only bolsters the fact that Godzilla works as a direct representation of the invisible atomic horror.

Of course, Godzilla also needs to be read as a social critique. But it is necessary to put Godzilla in context with his social surroundings. Besides, Godzilla was the first movie which gave an identity to the invisible destruction of the atomic bomb. Godzilla also used this monstrous identity to symbolize the societal and political desire of waging war General-note 2). Furthermore, this also means that Godzilla’s appearance is a symbol against masculine obsession of dominance, which fuels the desire for nationalism, imperialism, and militarism.

This social critique is made explicit via the character of Dr.

Daisuke Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata). The one-eyed scientist has developed a way to weaponize oxygen atoms, but, according to him, this monster of a weapon is not something to be used against Godzilla. The reason being that Godzilla would open a devastating political show that nations would perceive as a power grab for this new technology weapon and add it to their ‘phallic’ arsenal. This silent war would only worsen the political climate around the globe. He, like many others, is worried that powerful nations would use the technology for purely self-serving goals and that the creation would only become a problem.

This second interpretation becomes congruent with the realistic ending of Godzilla.

The last scene emphasizes both a consolation of the hope for the Japanese ‘subject’ and a ‘peace statement’ that they can come together and overcome the bushman ‘thirst’ that destroyed the imperialistic Japan. Just like the subject underwent trauma because of the atom bomb during the war, similarly so did Godzilla and used it as a reason to construct anti-nuclear and anti-war sentiments. Some scholars argue that his elements are not American friendly, but rather he is a victim of the weapon race sympathizer who managed to instill a powerful message within commoners. These elements themselves are so powerful that they abduct commoners and make them die a premature death.

Godzilla does have some basic composition, but it has a mixture of dynamic and static components. His Honda’s composition does manage to amplify the post-atomic-bomb tragedy and capture the destructive elements of the Godzilla in his rougher edges.

Even though the attack on titan miniature sets and special effects are from earlier decades and look outdated, they still to manage attract audiences even after all these years.

This comes from the great quality of the miniature sets and the smooth integration and fusion of these shots with those taken of the actors and actresses. It is true that by making an elegant and exquisite sense of spatial continuity, Honda and Tsuburaya make the illusion of special effects, whether on miniature sets or not, much more believable and manages to reproduce the eerie precision of the horror of the atom bomb.

With Godzilla, Honda made a classic monster film. While its anti-nuclear and anti-war sove has no subtlety whatsoever, the powerful imagery of atomic-horror, of the destructivity of the unseen, still resonates with the modern day spectator. Godzilla is sort of a tragedy, but a tragedy that, in addition to the social critique, has enabled the Japanese audience to be relieved from the pangs of the war era trauma.

This is in regards to ‘the markers of identity in Godzilla movies’ and from within the content mark by Jacobson.

In saying ‘Godzilla is a reptilian id that lives at the bottom of the collective unconscious which cannot be reasoned with, a merciless undertaker who broaches no deals’, not only does he deface the Freudian psychoanalytic theory, but also completely overlooks what Godzilla seeks to symbolize.

Director Ishirō Honda did not only deploy the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to develop the Tokyo rampage but also put it this way, “had Godzilla been a dinosaur or some animal, he would have been killed by just one cannonball. But if Godzilla étaient un atomic bomb, we would not know what to do. The Godzilla effect is a form of atomic bomb.” Ryfle S. 2005. Godzilla’s Footprint. Virginia Quarterly Review. P44/68.

What is important to notice is that the above statements fall within the social and psychological violence paradigms which are difficult to grasp without understanding what their consequences are. In general, the trauma is the destruction deepened by the war and the callous damages the bombs inflicted. What makes this form of violence an injury is that it does not oblige narration or representation. Why?

As a result, President Honda serves the ability to cope with warfare. His people need a catalyst to ignite a psycho-informative healing process. Honda symbolizes the trauma of warfare with the help of a visual shockwave. Along these lines, people will be able to heal the painful scars left of the horrific experience.

‘Pika’ is what the light generates and ‘don’ can be derived from the explosion. Tackling underwater explosions in particular strengthen a person’s ability to tackle the negative impacts of battles. Honda uses this concept to remind people of the horrifying effects of atomic bombs.

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