Now that we have passed Blade Runner in the timeline, I will greet 2020 with my first Jimmy’s Notes of the decade. This one is on Nathan’s mini-analysis of 1955’s Half Human. Admittedly, these bullet points are all from his independent study on director Ishiro Honda back in his grad school days. They are more akin to an actual review of the film. I do not have much to add for this one.
Nathan’s Notes on Half
Human
Begins like a film noir in an alleyway in the rain
Masaru Sato’s score is quite good. Perhaps better than Godzilla Raids Again. It switches between whimsical and foreboding.
The skiing sequence does feel like padding.
Filmed on location, and it shows. The scenery is beautiful.
“Burning Hell Valley freezes over.” (A joke from my brother Jarod)
The clock in an early scene looks like Mom and Dad’s cuckoo clock back home.
The phone call with the gunshots and screams is eerie.
Footprints. Echoes the real-life events around “discovery” of abominable snowman at the time.
It is strange that the Snowman murders everyone in the cabin (it seems) but is kind later. The scene seems to point to him (fur, bent bar). Unless it was the tribe and he was just present?
“Wait for the spring thaw.” As in find the body of Takeno.
Akira Takarada and Momoko Kochi, the star-crossed lovers of Godzilla, appear in this film together as a couple.
Takarada tells Kochi, “You have to be strong,” because of her brother’s death.
Snowman’s roar is a bit unnerving. Like an elephant.
Oba Incorporated: biggest animal dealer in Japan. Villains. They get more over-the-top as the film progresses.
The Snowman appears about 39 minutes in. His face is a combination of a mask and make-up. The costume is covered in goat fur. Even appears to be balding.
Is the Snowman smitten with Kochi? I don’t know. Possibly. He is lonely. The last of his kind. Adam Noyes proposes that the Snowman, in his rage, takes Kochi because she’s important to everyone like his son was to him. Planned to kill her in front of everyone.
50 minutes in we learn that the Snowman has a son (Snowboy?). Is he his biological son? Adam Noyes theorizes he’s adopted.
Peter H. Brothers argues that Chika clings to a knife, a phallic symbol.
The scene of Takarada dangling from the cliff has a great matte painting. It’s an homage to King Kong when the Snowman pulls him up. The birds do look a little fake, though. The Snowman shocks Takarada by helping him. Unexpected and atypical.
Chika is the best character in the film (aside from the Snowman). She’s multidimensional, and the actress gives a great performance. She’s curious but fearful.
The Snowboy sounds like a screeching monkey.
Chika reveals Snowman’s location after Oba gives her a ring. Throws rock to mark location of his cave. I thought she was throwing the ring away. She is essentially cursed by the elder when he’s shot for doing this.
Snowboy saves Snowman from truck.
These villains are cartoonish. “I’ll teach you to balance a ball!” Are they evil because they like French girls?
The dummy thrown over the cliff looks terrible.
Like Godzilla (and Kong), the Snowman is tragic and sympathetic monster.
Chika tries to save the abusive elder when the Snowman destroys the village (like Kong does), but he says not to. Nuance?
Chika blames herself for what happened even though she was deceived by Oba.
Shinsuke is told to be strong when he cries over his dead brother.
Snowman’s kind died from eating poison mushrooms (Matango? :P) How could they? Animals are good about realizing something is poisonous. Bad science.
The Snowman is lonely because he’s the last of his kind. Chika is lonely because her tribe is isolated and savage. Kinship.
The one stop-motion shot of Snowman climbing is awkward.
Chika confronts the Snowman to save Kochi as redemption. Dies with the Snowman.
Tragic ending like Godzilla. Monster and hero(ine) both die.
Tacked on “happy” ending to soften tragedy.
There you have it.
Come back next week when
Nathan is joined by Ben Avery to discuss the 1976 remake of King Kong!
As part of Nathan’s
continuing series on films covered in his absence on Kaijuvision Radio, this
mini-sode examines Ishiro Honda’s 1955 film Half
Human, which is infamous for being banned by Toho. Heck, it was stashed so
far back in the Island’s film vault, it took Goji-kun and Bro Kong (the podcast
mascots and possibly Godzilla and Kong’s “little” brothers) a long time to find
it for Nathan to watch. Strange as it may sound, it’s serendipitous that this
episode was released on Christmas Day because the film takes place partly on
New Year’s Day. It follows a group of scientists and students investigating the
appearance of the Abominable Snowman in the Japanese Alps, where they encounter
a savage tribe who worships the Snowman. Nathan’s analysis focuses on the
natives, their parallels to the Ainu (Japan’s indigenous people), and how this
portrayal got the film banned. He argues that, despite possible insensitivities,
Half Human is unfairly censored and
deserves to be viewed by a wider audience.
All this plus our first
listener feedback letters and the Monster Island Christmas party—wherein Nathan
learns that kaiju can sing Christmas carols (or so his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA,
tells him even though he hasn’t fixed the ORCA yet).
Another “Kong Quest”
(ba-dum-tish) episode has come and gone, and I find myself feeling the weight
of my contractual obligations as Nathan dumps asteroid-sized notes on me. I’m a
busy man, and as much as I like my blog, I have other things to do with my time
(like finish rebuilding Mechani-Kong).
Regardless, here are my
notes on episode six, wherein Nick Hayden and Nathan discussed King Kong Escapes.
Something they didn’t bring up that I thought was funny was while they watched the film, Nick theorized the old hermit was exiled from his tribe because he spoke in bizarre poetry.
John Pertwee played the Third Doctor on Doctor Who from 1970-1974. His archnemesis, the Master, first appeared in 1971 played by Roger Delgado. So yes, the Dr. Who of King Kong Escapes predates both of them by several years. (He also looks like William Hartnell, the first actor to play the Doctor, as you can see by the image below). Too bad Nathan’s affinity for their capes ate up most of his paycheck this week. (Gotta read that contract, man!)
William Hartnell (left) as the Doctor and Hideyo Amamoto (left) as Dr. Who.
Did these two forget Peter Cushing is British? At this time he was acting in British films exclusively and only has a few American films (most notably Star Wars: A New Hope) to his credit. I mean, come on? Does his posh accent not give it away?
As I was instructed, here’s a link to the “Diggy Diggy Hole” video.
The Burj Khalifa (or “the tower in Dubai,” as Nick called it) is the tallest building in the world currently at 2,717 feet (or 828 meters). The Empire State Building is number 49 at 1,250 feet (or 381 meters). It was the tallest building in the world from 1931-1972.
Linda Jo Miller was dubbed over by Julie Bennett, who is best known for voicing Cindy Bear on The Yogi Bear Show. She was also a voice on Fractured Fairy Tales, a segment of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
The “Warren” caveman story from Latitude Zero was named after Warren Lewis, and it was an acid pool he was dropped into.
Nick says I’m jealous of Disney Star Wars. Me, jealous of a space war franchise being given lots of money by the biggest movie studio in the world while my space war film fades into obscurity? Not at all! Nope, I’m not crying.
How could I forget to pipe in to mention that Nick Adams is my spirit animal and astronaut Glen trained me?! I need to be more intrusive!
There were a lot of kaiju films released in 1967. Toho released two (Son of Godzilla and King Kong Escapes) and every other studio in Japan released one. These were: Gamera vs. Gyaos (Daiei Film), The X from Outer Space (Shochiku), and Gappa: The Triphibian Monster (Nikkatsu). Meanwhile, Keukdong Entertainment Company and Toei Company made Yongary, Monster from the Deep in South Korea that year. (And you thought there were too many superhero movies this year).
Well, RKO isn’t quite the true “parent” of Kong. His copyright is more convoluted than Commander Hell’s world conquest plan. But that’s a discussion for a future episode.
Nathan does contradict John LeMay a bit from the previous episode about the genesis of Ebirah: Horror of the Deep, but I think it’s because that was the first theory he read. He’s forgiven…this time. 😛
My
corrections/additions/riffs are done, so here are Nathan’s leftover notes.
The Film:
Carl Nelson: not to be confused with Clark Nelson [from 1961’s Mothra]. (Nathan has to remind himself of this when he watches this film).
I retract my statement on KVR about there being no snow in kaiju films.
“IU data”? Indiana University is in league with Dr. Who?! I’d think it’d be Purdue the engineering school.
Kong’s grunts were later used for Godzilla.
“It can’t get any worse,” [says Nelson]. Famous last words. Star Wars, anyone?
Except in the Japanese films, Kong didn’t survive a movie until Kong: Skull Island.
Kong uses a rudder as a weapon to destroy a ship before he uses in in Kong: Skull Island!
Mechani-Kong came from the Japanese fascination with giant robots that started with Tetsujin 28 in 1956 and the anime series in 1963. He paved the way for Mechagodzilla later.
Seiji Tani resented having to work with the narrowing constraints of the genre. “Toward the later years, the human drama aspect got thinner and thinner. We had this discussion. [Producer Tomoyuki] Tanaka was there with us, and I asked him directly, ‘Why can’t we make the same sort of films, but geared toward adults?’ Honda-san didn’t say anything; maybe he couldn’t say anything. [Tanaka] looked at me with a troubled face. He replied, ‘The company keeps telling us to target the kids’ market, and if we don’t attract the kids, we can’t get enough box office.’ …Honda-san had a very bitter smile on his face.”
Tsuburaya’s TV shows often depicted superheroes slicing and dicing monster foes, but he shied away from it in films, thinking it was inappropriate. He put his foot down when making this film, compromising that Gorosaurus would vomit a white foam.
Kinema Junpo writer Chieo Yoshida was positive about the film. “I see this as the filmmaker’s [satirical] view of the modern world, where everything must be mechanized. But if they are aiming for kids, what’s Mie Hama’s irrepressible sex appeal doing here? Perhaps that’s a little present for the dads who have to bring kids to the theatre?”
Tsuburaya emphasized the rare moments of Kong’s cuteness and not the innate dread. Comes from telling stories about Kong to youngsters during WWII bombing raids. Perhaps saw him as an inspiration to kids. Or he wanted to create a positive hero to counter Godzilla’s destruction. Didn’t want to frighten the kids. More like a chimp than a stereotypical gorilla.
“Tanaka and Beck made their money and got their fame, and all it cost was O’Brien’s spirit, Honda’s principles, and Tsuburaya’s reputation” (“The Kongs of Tsuburaya: Obie and Smoke” by Peter H. Brothers). That seems harsh. I think the film has garnered more credibility since he wrote this.
[Brothers] argues that the original image of Kong can’t be improved or updated.
“…while O’Brien worked with Kong, Tsuburaya played with him” (Peter H. Brothers).
[Brothers] says these different approaches come about because O’Brien was a hard-drinking Irishman besets by tragedy and setbacks while Tsuburaya didn’t face any major trauma as an adult.
Dr. Who and [James Bond villain] Dr. No are both Asian geniuses who wear black gloves and tinker with radioactive substances. (Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men by Peter H. Brothers).
Transmitter conversation takes cues from Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story. (ibid).
This is Nakajima’s finest monster performance, in [Brothers’] opinion.
Susan is the highest-ranking woman in a Honda film. (ibid).
Honda denied there was a “love affair” between Kong and Susan; that it was just a friendship. However, he winked and added, “After all, if Kong and Susan really do fall in love, then I can make a sequel, right?”
[Fillipo] says King Kong Escapes makes Kong a “Modern Male” and Susan a “Liberated Woman” who spends her time “cajoling, cooing, hectoring, chastising.” (“The Myth Goes Ever Downward” by Paul di Fillipo).
By only having one native, it further removes Kong with the racial connections. (Fillipo).
By making him a hypnotized slave, he becomes what he was meant to stand against (despite breaking free later). (Fillipo).
John LeMay speaks very highly of the film in his book, The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies, Volume 1 and Kong Unmade.
Stuart Galbraith says the head on this Kong suit is less Eighth Wonder and more Homer Simpson (Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films). He says the film is enjoyable so long as one remembers it’s based on a cartoon.
Toku Topic: Notes on Frankenstein Conquers the World
Honda insisted
that the American backers honor the Japanese system and give the director “the
right of final decision.” But things didn’t always go smoothly. (Five of
Honda’s nine remaining 1960s films would co-productions with Americans).
Adams wrote an
article for the Los Angeles Times
about his experiences working in Japan, saying Honda and Tsuburaya were the
world’s greatest sci-fi directors.
Adams was Honda’s
guinea pig, his first foray into having a foreign star speak English while the
Japanese cast spoke Japanese. This often led to confusion, but thanks to Adams’
enthusiasm and interpreters, they pulled it off.
The authors say this
is the first Japanese film to portray a relationship between a Japanese and a
foreigner, a taboo subject scandalized in Japanese literature.
The film was
touted as the first sci-fi movie co-produced by Japan and the US with
“Hollywood star Nick Adams.”
Well, that covers everything.
I’ll see you again on New Year’s Day.
Cover art by Tyler Sowles, who also created the MIFV logo.
It’s Christmastime on
Monster Island, and in the spirit of the holiday, I want to give three lucky
kaiju lovers a signed copy of my giant monster novella, Destroyer, which I co-wrote with Natasha Hayden, Nick Hayden,
and Timothy Deal
(two of whom you’ve heard on the podcast). The rules are simple:
Write a review of
The Monster Island Film Vault on iTunes.
BONUS: For every other
podcatcher besides iTunes on which you write a review of the podcast beyond the
first, you get a bonus entry added to the drawing.
BONUS 2: You’ll
get one extra entry if your review includes a 5-star rating.
BONUS 3: If I get
enough entries, I will add two more
copies of the book to the drawing as prizes!
Reviews must be posted and entries submitted between
December 16, 2019, and December 31, 2019.
Easy!
Destroyer
is a pulpy sci-fi thriller wherein:
The American Alliance army recruits scientists Dr. Steiner and his daughter, Eva, to build a superweapon to end the long war with the Russo-Chinese Coalition. The towering cyborg they create possesses the image of a dragon, the brain tissue of a once-living T-Rex, and the weaponry of an entire army. Dubbed “Rex-1,” the cyborg’s mission is to destroy military targets in Moscow. Closely followed by its creators and military commanders and controlled by telepathic technology, Rex-1 wreaks havoc on the Russians, smiting them like a demonic god. Then the unthinkable happens: Rex-1 goes berserk, defying all orders, and attacks the ship transporting the Americans. Crashing behind enemy lines in the heart of Moscow, Dr. Steiner and his group are caught in the middle of Rex-1’s rampage. Now with distrust and madness tearing his fellow survivors apart, Dr. Steiner has only one goal: DESTROY REX-1! This new deluxe edition features the bonus story “House of the Living” by Nick Hayden, presented here in print for the first time!
Can you guess which
Godzilla film inspired the story?
You can read “Chapter
6: Berserk” of the novella on a previous blog on podcast website.
Merry Christmas!
(I guess I better get
Jimmy From NASA a gift now…).
There isn’t much to add
to the
latest episode (although I heard most of it after it was recorded), but
here are a few points I noted.
Mary Shelley’s
original Frankenstein novel is in the
public domain, but as John said, other incarnations like the Universal film
versions aren’t. There have actually been several lawsuits related to Frankenstein
copyrights, including way that arguably saved
the VCR.
John calls the
island in Son of Kong, “Skull Island,”
when that name isn’t stated—but I’m not arguing with him because he’s John
LeMay. 😛
Now, as Nathan said on the podcast’s Twitter last week, here’s a revamped (though tentative) 2020 schedule for the show. We’ll be returning to the original format—one full episode and one mini-sode each month—with Godzilla vs. Kong being delayed to November.
January King
Kong (1976) The Mysterians (Mini-Analysis)
February King
Kong Lives
Varan the Unbelievable (Mini-Analysis)
March King
Kong (2005) 3 Treasures (Mini-Analysis)
April Kong:
Skull Island
Battle in Outer Space (Mini-Analysis)
May Rebirth
of Mothra
The Last War (Mini-Analysis)
June Rebirth
of Mothra II
Gorath (Mini-Analysis)
July Rebirth
of Mothra III
Matango (Mini-Analysis)
August Daimagin
Atragon (Mini-Analysis)
September Return
of Daimagin
Space Monster Dogora (Mini-Analysis)
October Daimagin
Strikes Back
Frankenstein Conquers the World
(Mini-Analysis)
November Godzilla:
King of the Monster (2019)
(Mini-Analysis) Godzilla vs. Kong
December The
Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
War of the Gargantuas (Mini-Analysis)
Hopefully, we won’t have
to redo this again. (Got that, Legendary?)
(FYI: This was recorded before the news that 2020’s Godzilla vs. Kong would be delayed).
Hello, kaiju lovers!
In this special “side
Kong Quest” ( 😛 ), Nathan is joined by author John LeMay (who is a gentleman
and a scholar) to talk about two unmade King Kong films with connections to King Kong vs. Godzilla. The first was “King
Kong vs. Frankenstein,” a project that special effects legend Willis O’Brien
tried to get made in the late 1950s before it ended up at Toho. Then Godzilla
and Kong almost had their rematch in the 1960s with Shinichi Sekizawa’s “Continuation:
King Kong vs. Godzilla,” where the Eighth Wonder becomes a surrogate parent to
a Japanese baby! Hear all about them in this episode! These and many other lost
Kong films are covered in great detail in John’s book Kong
Unmade: The Lost Films of Skull Island, which is part of Monster Island’s
library and one of Nathan’s go-to resources for the podcast.
Jimmy From NASA is absent
for most of this episode because Kong and Godzilla were upset that Nathan
skipped their 1962 monster mash movie, so Jimmy left to calm them down with the
ORCA. The thing is, Nathan
covered that film on his previous podcast, Kaijuvision Radio. Here’s a link if
you want to listen to it before the next episode:
So, with the
episode on Son of Kong, I was
surprised to hear Nathan and Tim telling me what to do with my notes. It’s my
blog, dangit, and I’ll not be told what to include! Then I discovered that,
unbeknownst to Nathan (supposedly), I’m contractually
obligated to include whatever he tells me to research.
(sigh) I was a NASA
engineer once….
Anyway, here are my
notes:
Kiko already has a gif, Tim! It’s one of several.
There hasn’t been an incident where any of the monsters on the Island ate any children. That was just a joke by Nathan and Tim. I assure you, Monster Island has an excellent safety record…so long as alien disco nuns aren’t involved.
If we go by authorized publications, there were actually two book sequels and one prequel to Gone with the Wind, although none of them were written by Margaret Mitchell. Tim was probably thinking of Scarlet by Alexandra Ripley (no relation to Ellen) published in 1991, which was made into a TV miniseries featuring Timothy Dalton in 1994. There was also Rhett Butler’s People by Donald McCaig in 2008 and Ruth’s Journey (also by McCaig) in 2014.
Tim calls it the island in the film “Skull Island”…again. And Nathan didn’t correct him. What the heck?
They got the dates for the Universal horror sequels pretty accurate.
Merian C. Cooper pitched a sequel to RKO in March 1933 and principal photography started April 4. Yeah, it was that fast!
I reached out to one of Nathan’s grad school professors, Dr. Kaufmann, about 1930s film credits, and he pretty much agrees with Nathan and Tim: “I wouldn’t call it common, but it certainly was done at times. I couldn’t say when or where it originated, but I haven’t seen it in film for a while now except as a joke. It seemed more like a TV thing back in the day (70s and 80s).”
Sadly, Noble Johnson isn’t in the opening credits of this film.
I can’t believe I researched this, but “the finger” (“flipping the bird” or whatnot) actually dates back to ancient Greece and ancient Rome and had essentially the same meaning as it does now. The first usage of it in the U.S. was in the 1890s when it was brought to the country via Italian immigrants, although the first documented use of it in the U.S. was in 1886 when a baseball player was photographed making it. In other words, it was a thing in the 1930s. Read all about it here.
Tim says, “Anna,” when he meant, “Ann.” I guess the lost “A” from MPAA moved to her name. 😛
Do Kiko and Kong get along? Well, Kiko is now a kaiju clown. He entertains the kids who visit Monster Island, which disappoints Kong a little. Thankfully, he forages his own make-up from plants growing on the Island, so the Board doesn’t have to allocate any of their budget to his shenanigans.
According to John LeMay’s new book, Kong Unmade, the “midquel” Kong film would’ve been titled The New Adventures of King Kong. Nathan said it would’ve been set in Africa when it actually would’ve been the Malay Archipelago. I don’t recommend he audition for Where in the World is Carman Sandiego?
The Wizard of Oz was and wasn’t set in the 1930s. It’s weird. According to this thread, the Kansas scenes seem likely to be in 1900 (when the novel was written), but the Oz scenes use what was then modern technology (which is odd if it was all Dorothy’s dream). So, it’s strangely (and brilliantly) ambiguous.
The 1932 film I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang was actually based on a book published the same year titled I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! by Robert Elliott Burns. So, the book at least is set in Georgia, not Alabama. The book is about the author’s time in a chain gang in the 1920s, but the film has a fictional protagonist. Burns was still in prison in New Jersey when the film was released. He and many other chain gang prisoners were able to appeal and be released in January 1933 as a result of the social outcry from the film. So Tim got some of the details between the film and book mixed up (but then again, so does Wikipedia, which at one point lists Burns as the film’s protagonist when it was James Allen. Got to love crowdsourcing).
The MPAA was actually started under a different name in 1922 and had its name changed in 1945 (and now they’ve dropped the second “A”). You missed that date by a lifetime, guys. 😛
On a related note, the Hays Code wasn’t a government mandated thing. It was an industry standard adopted by the MPAA under its first name while Will H. Hays was its president (1922-1945).
Notorious was released in 1946. I’m surprised the Criterion crowd hasn’t sent Nathan any hate mail for getting this wrong…yet.
There was one other sequel to the original King Kong, and it supplants Son of Kong. It was a short story written by science fiction author Philip Jose Farmer titled, “After King Kong Fell.” I showed Nathan a video on it from the Omni Viewer, and he now wants to read it. It’s noteworthy for cameos by Doc Savage, the Shadow, and the Shadow’s girlfriend Margot Lane.
With these out of the way, here are Nathan’s leftover notes from the episode. Most of these are excerpts from his sources.
“Escapism is the avoidance of unpleasant, boring,
arduous, scary, or banal aspects of daily life.[2] It can also be used as a
term to define the actions people take to help relieve persistent feelings of
depression or general sadness.”
“The word ‘escapism’ often carries a negative
connotation, suggesting that escapists are unhappy, with an inability or unwillingness
to connect meaningfully with the world and to take necessary action.[5] Indeed,
the Oxford English Dictionary defined escapism as ‘The tendency to seek, or the
practice of seeking, distraction from what normally has to be endured.’[6]”
“However, many challenge the idea that escapism is
fundamentally and exclusively negative. C. S. Lewis was fond of humorously
remarking that the usual enemies of escape were jailers;[7][8] and considered
that used in moderation escapism could serve both to refresh and to expand the
imaginative powers.[9] Similarly J. R. R. Tolkien argued for escapism in
fantasy literature as the creative expression of reality within a secondary
(imaginative) world, (but also emphasized that they required an element of
horror in them, if they were not to be “mere escapism”).[10][11] Terry
Pratchett considered that the twentieth century had seen the development over
time of a more positive view of escapist literature.[12] Apart from literature,
music has been seen and valued as an artistic medium of escape, too.[13]”
“Freud considers a quota of escapist fantasy a
necessary element in the life of humans: ‘[T]hey cannot subsist on the scanty
satisfaction they can extort from reality.
“We simply cannot do without auxiliary constructions”, Theodor Fontane
once said’.[14] His followers saw rest and wish fulfilment (in small measures)
as useful tools in adjusting to traumatic upset;[15] while later psychologists
have highlighted the role of vicarious distractions in shifting unwanted moods,
especially anger and sadness.[16][17]”
“In 1938 social science researchers hypothesized that
unemployment leads to emotional instability. These studies seemed to indicate
that the longer a person was unemployed, the more likely his or her personality
would become fatalistic and distressed. In an attempt to escape from this
psychological state, it was speculated that people were turning to popular
forms of entertainment such as the movies, radio, or reading. Such speculation
is not unreasonable given studies that show children will play even during the
worst of times. The fact that very few popular culture forms dealt with the
realities of the Great Depression in any explicit way further supports popular
culture as a vehicle of escape. Using pop culture to escape emotional stress
can also be supported through the generally accepted psychological idea of ‘flow.’”
“Flow is that point within any activity when you lose
your sense of self and become one with whatever you are doing. With the
complete absorption in an activity, time disappears, along with the sense of
self and all that it might have been feeling prior to absorption. It is
plausible that becoming absorbed in an off the wall comedy, a radio adventure, melodramatic
pulps, or dancing to the Lindy Hop would provide relief from the uncertainties
associated with everyday life.”
“Nine years into the Great Depression the National
Recreation Association completed a study of five thousand people asking them to
name the recreational activities in which they participated the most. Among the
most frequently mentioned activities were reading newspapers, magazines, and
books; listening to the radio; going to the movies; visiting or entertaining;
motoring; swimming; writing letters; conversation; card parties; picnicking;
going to the theater; attending parties and socials; hiking; family parties;
tennis; and serious study.”
“A more positive legacy of the period may be that
popular culture allowed the United States to become a more integrated society.
For example, the enormous popularity of swing allowed for more interactive
relations between black American and European American communities. At least
one scholar has argued that American popular culture is far more pluralistic,
dynamic, and tolerant than United States legal and political culture. The Great
Depression also was an era in which folk music became popularized as large
numbers of people simultaneously learned of its ability to communicate the
hardships of daily life and as a musical form able to contain a political
purpose. This legacy was first fully realized during the protests by young
people during the 1960s.”
“Even in the depths of the Great Depression, between
60 and 80 million Americans went to the movies once a week or more, and back in
those days they really got value for money. In the early 1930s, an American
movie ticket would buy you a cartoon, a newsreel, a B-feature and the main
film, which amounted to something like four hours’ entertainment for a nickel,
the price back then of a gallon of petrol or a packet of cigarettes.”
“How bitterly audiences must have laughed when, in
Duck Soup, Groucho’s Rufus T Firefly sang ‘If you think this country’s bad off
now, just wait till I get through with it!’”
“Though the studios rode out the first few years of
the Depression comfortably enough, by 1933 their massive debts were catching up
with them. All had borrowed heavily to finance the mass purchase of movie
theatres and their conversion to sound, leaving them with combined debts of
over $400m.”
“And by 1933, as mass unemployment took hold of
America, cinema attendances began to fall — in that year by a massive 40pc.
Attendances would not recover until the late 1930s, and by that time Hollywood
had to cope with the strictures of the newly formed League of Decency, which
had raised a formidable political lobby and attacked films for their immoral
content. From that point on, Hollywood would have to start selling America
instead of attacking it.”
That’s all the important
stuff.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other things to research. Like auditory theories related to space kaiju.
After Jimmy From NASA flies him back to Indiana to get his microphone, Timothy Deal of the Derailed Trains of Thought podcast returns to Monster Island to continue the “Kong Quest” with Son of Kong, the almost forgotten sequel to King Kong. If the 1933 masterpiece is a grand myth, the sequel is a pleasant bedtime story. Screenwriter Ruth Rose, when talking about writing this film, said, “If you can’t go bigger, go funnier,” which is an apt statement about this film and sequels in general. Nathan and Tim’s lively discussion connects Son of Kong to the Russian film Battleship Potemkin, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day—and gives Jimmy a lot of work for “Jimmy’s Notes.” They also theorize about what happened to “Mrs. Kong”/Kiko’s mother, which actually puts this and the first film into perspective…sorta. The Toku Topic builds off of the previous one with a philosophical discussion of how 1930s filmmakers addressed the Depression in their movies, touching on themes like escapism and collective rage.
Most of this blog on Nathan’s overlong, contract-breaking “minisode” on the Godzilla anime trilogy will be notes he took while bingeing it in the screening room while I was monitoring Godzilla Earth on the beta site. (Nathan still owes me for helping him on the air with the board of directors). I’ll also be sharing some messages from listener Kyoei Toshi (who’s as good at nitpicking as I am), concerning some Japanese language and culture items.
Here we go.
Additional Notes: Godzilla:
Planet of the Monsters
Opens with a
desperate, almost nihilistic scene. Sending old people to a planet to die to
conserve resources. They accept it. Ship explodes. Haruo is against it. Relates
to Exifs’ nihilistic religion. Essentially euthanasia.
Alien Refugees.
Ties into current events?
Metphies offers
confession (catholic priest). Will take false confession too. Foreshadows his
falsity.
Meant to be a
Netflix miniseries; theatrical releases just warm-up; placeholder while
Legendary makes films; meant to help them, brand maintenance.
Return to Earth is
hopeful, wonder-filled. Respite.
Admittedly, the
aliens don’t look too different from humans, even by Star Trek standards. Exif
have pointy ears (elves). Bilusaludo are dwarves (Klingons?) (beards and
slicked back hair and dark skin).
“As you all
know….” x3 Ugh! (A bad writing mistake).
The animation does
look like a cel-shaded video game. Weird given its made by same studio as Clone Wars, which is more dynamic.
Money? (Polygon Studios).
Other Exif priest
prays over soldiers. Are they followers? Or is it just comfort?
Metphies: “As long
as we have the hero to guide them.” Haruo. “The one true path to glory can only
be opened by devotion.” True?
Metphies
manipulates Leland’s retreat plan so he gives up after attack and goes with
Haruo’s plan.
This trilogy (at
least in part 1) tries to have some pretty hardcore science. Gets crazier as it
goes.
Metphies says the
Exif have seen countless civilizations fall in their wanderings; says it was by
similar creatures to Godzilla (lie?). “He is the vengeful hammer for the
arrogant. Those species who pronounce themselves as lords of creation will be
struck down by his divine fury.”
The vehicles in
this trilogy are pretty cool. The flying speeder bikes and flying mech suits
are my faves. Spider-tanks.
Yuko calls Hauro
“senpei” in Japanese.
Most of the last
third of part 1 is action. Why did people complain?
“Life is a process
of change. Even decay and ruin.” Godzilla continued to evolve.
Godzilla Earth
designed to look like an aged tree. Ancient. Powerful. Long-living. (Plantlike)
In true Marvel
fashion, each film has a stinger. This one sets up part 2 nicely. New
character, new mystery.
Additional Notes: Godzilla:
City on the Edge of Battle
Exif opposed to
abandoning survivors. Irony.
“Powder-like
substance on their skin.” Mothra reference. Keeps them safe.
Bilusaludo want to
exterminate Houtua because they see them as degenerates.
The twins speak in
broken words but articulately in telepathy. Not used to speaking. Use odd
naturalistic metaphors.
Now people are
questioning Haruo’s authority and plans and desire to fight Godzilla. His
authority is coming undone, his hubris showing. Yet he still insists on his
way. But he’s also questioning if he’s doing the right thing. Thinks of
Metphies. (I’m seeing more depth even in part 1 than I did before).
“As you know….” x1
“Earth chose
Godzilla as its lord of creation.” Terminology comes back.
The controversial
Mechagodzilla City. Fans hated this because they wanted a “proper” MG. I can
understand why. Misled by promotions and toys. But it makes sense. The AI would
evolve like this, especially against a foe as huge as Godzilla. It would’ve
been cool to have it transform like Trypticon, but I went with it.
The Houtua call
nanometal “poison.” Appropriate.
41:50: Tron/Daft
Punk music. I love it!
MG’s body
destroyed by Godzilla, but head kept fighting and evolving. Fits with
Bilusaludo idea of discarding inefficient body.
Some complain that
the climax of part 2 is the same as the first, only bigger. That makes sense,
though. They’re trying to use a plan that worked before. But this one is
spearheaded by the Bilusaludo.
Metphies
manipulates even the Bilusaludo to use their tech in his scheme.
“Those who are
lost possess intelligence. However, if you remain lost and arrive at God’s
gate, you shall not ever pass through.” -Metphies
“They’d make a
competent unit.” –Galu-gu (or Belu-be?) Dehumanization.
Haruo and Yuko
have a scene where Yuko says the terrible beginning gave them hope, pushed them
to go home. Tries to redeem the tragedy.
“Everything is
destiny.” The entropy they see coming. Metphies claims his race are
missionaries.
Bilusaludo
thinking is too robotic. Logic. Metphies doesn’t like it. Neither does Houtua.
Says they want to become one with monsters. Ironic statement. Exif believe
words have tremendous power.
When Metphies
whispers in Haruo’s ear, it looks like he’s gonna kiss him. Interesting timing.
Yuko kisses him in the next scene. Shocks the twins. Jealousy?
“Machines and
humans aren’t the same.”-Haruo.
Faith is
discussed. Haruo and humans have to put faith in something. Part 1: themselves.
Part 2: nanometal tech. Part 3: Exif cult.
Admittedly,
there’s a lot of characters describing what’s happening during action scenes.
Galu-gu: “Haruo…I
want to believe you’re different.” “Relax and surrender yourself.” “After the
fusion, we’ll be brothers.”
Metphies convinces
Haruo to destroy MG City by speaking of dignity and warning against nanometal
propagation. Competing interests.
The battle ends
with Burning Godzilla on steroids.
Now Haruo faces
the consequences of his actions. Just like Capt. Ahab. Unlike him, he’s
actually affected by them. He holds Yuko in a wat similar to “Pieta”
sculpture.
This post-credit
is weird. Almost no new footage. Just shows previous scene from new perspective
to namedrop Ghidorah.
Additional Notes: Godzilla:
The Planet Eater
Opens with a
speech by Metphies. Says they’ve been watching humans for centuries,
intervening toward their goal. Confirms humanism. Says they wouldn’t listen to
the words of a god but will listen to a human.
Hence why a human is needed to reveal a God’s will. They desire heroes
who embody the thoughts of the era.
Martin
nihilistically theorizes that humanity existed only to make Godzilla.
A soldier suggests
the Bilusaludo were punished by God, and Yuko with them. Haruo was saved to
help them.
Metphies lets
humans think they survived nanometal because of a miracle, but it’s actually
because of the Houtua powder.
Metphies tells Haruo
his hate for Godzilla will overcome his doubt of God, and he will defeat
Godzilla. Says he’s more noble and proud than anyone. Again, imperial Japan.
Just as humans
resist Bilusaludo after defeat and are undone, so they do the same with the
Exif.
Martin says this a
great opportunity for a missionary to win converts after the destruction of MG
City. “They can only escape despair by clinging to God.” A common atheist
argument.
Metphies’ blessing
gesture looks like a karate chop to the neck. Symbolic?
“What causes
Godzilla to be Godzilla is your undying hatred.” -Metphies in Haruo’s dream
I hate that the
dub changes “golden death” to “golden demise.” It sounds dumb.
Earth is a seed.
Humanity a flower. Godzilla a fruit. Ghidorah’s day of harvest. An offering to
Ghidorah. The Exif offered themselves to Ghidorah while a select few priests
were spared to spread his “blessing” around the universe.
Metphies holds
Haruo in a manner like the “Pieta” sculpture.
The end of this
film becomes a battle of philosophies. Metphies makes him confront Leland and
Yuko, who died. Metphies says humanity crossed the threshold of their potential
when they created monsters with atom bombs. Depicts the atomic bombings and is
on a flying fortress. This is the first and only Godzilla film to depict the
bombings, which is bold. Death is a natural conclusion, and so all beings must
accept the destruction of their worlds and the peace in their deaths. Godzilla
was punishment on mankind for arrogance and their desire for more. Haruo must
end it to purify mankind’s souls. “A monster becomes a monster because of fear.
A person becomes a hero because of hatred. Therefore, a god will become a god
because of a hero’s prayer” (Metphies). Haruo can do this because he chose not
to become a monster because of his hate. Now he must offer himself to Ghidorah
to complete everything.
Metphies warns
(curses?) Haruo will always have Ghidroah watching him because his hatred
“burns so bright, it’s blinding.”
Nathan’s Miscellaneous Notes
Tony Davies
acknowledges that, after the horrific experiences of the wars of the 20th
century, “it should no longer be possible to formulate phrases like ‘the
destiny of man’ or the ‘triumph of human reason’ without an instant
consciousness of the folly and brutality they drag behind them.” For “it is
almost impossible to think of a crime that has not been committed in the name
of human reason.” Yet, he continues, “it would be unwise to simply abandon the
ground occupied by the historical humanisms. For one thing humanism remains on
many occasions the only available alternative to bigotry and persecution. The
freedom to speak and write, to organise and campaign in defence of individual
or collective interests, to protest and disobey: all these can only be
articulated in humanist terms” (Wikipedia).
“If God did not
exist, it would be necessary to invent him” (Voltaire).
Kyoei Toshi’s Messages:
Message #1: Hi,
the base word used is ‘Jii/じい’. It’s used to denote men in their 60’s or beyond as
opposed to men in the 40’s/50’s ‘Ji/じ’. The simple ‘ji’
basically means ‘uncle’ but in Japan it’s used to address any man in that age
group that’s older than you are. ‘Jii’ means ‘grandfather’ and likewise is used
to refer to any man in that age group (again, that’s older than you are). Jii would be someone you know well, with
Ojii, Ojiisan, Ojiichan being
used for someone you know but are not quite as close to. A real grandpa would
be usually be referred to as ‘Sofu/Osofu’ formally or ‘Jii/Jiisan’ informally.
Sofu is usually written in kanji as ‘祖父’ and Jii in kana ‘じい’ although they are the same word (most Japanese
kanji/compounds have at least two different pronunciations, the onyomi (Chinese) and kunyomi (Japanese, can be more than a
dozen of these).
Anyway, in the first film
Haruo uses ‘Jisan’ which would imply a very close relationship since it lacks
an ‘O’ at the beginning. It’s vaguely possible that it’s not even his real
grandfather, since he doesn’t use ‘sofu’. But given he was surprised when he
used it and they were shown together in the preface when Godzilla attacked the
airport, it’s almost certain he is. Yuko on the other hand uses ‘Ojiichan’
which is the polite way of referring to SOMEONE ELSE’S grandfather. This holds
true with mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, etc. When you refer to yours,
you just use the base word. When you refer to someone else’s parents, you add
on an ‘O’ at the beginning and ‘san’ at the end as an honorific. For sisters
and brothers, just add the ‘san’ at the end. And even though they use the same
base word they will be pronounced differently (like father is chichi for real
father, otousan for someone else’s
father). So by Haruo using ‘Jii’ and Yuko using ‘Ojiichan’ it shows that
they’re not almost certainly not cousins and that ‘grandpa’ is just used as a
term of respect/endearment by Yuko. Hope I didn’t lose you there, the correct
form of address/correct level of respect is much more complex in Japan than in
the USA.
(Her second message
regards something I would’ve pointed out, too. Nice work!)
Message #2: Hi,
I think you might have gotten the Mothra twins a bit mixed up in Planet Eater.
Here’s a message I sent someone a few months back–it’s really easy to get
confused, the movie doesn’t make things clear.
In Planet Eater, it’s Miana (the extroverted twin with the better
Japanese language skills) that is turned down by Haruo. She leaves and notices
something is wrong, and goes off to investigate (eventually confronting and
being captured by Metphies). It’s Maina (the introverted one with the poor
Japanese skills…Haruo called her ‘mean eyes’ in the last movie) that connects
with Haruo (that’s the point of him mentioning which twin would know how to
unlock his space suit-that it was Maina who gave him medical treatment at the
end of the first film). So both of the twins made a play for Haruo, they did so
because they could tell he was suicidal and wanted him to ‘connect with life’
again.
Conclusion
Wow, this “Jimmy Notes”
is as overlong as the episode. Thankfully, there isn’t a clause in the contract
regarding the length of my blogs (which is weird, honestly).
I don’t have much to say
myself on this episode. It’s easier for Nathan to script his research for solo
episodes.
The Son of Kong episode will be a different story. 😛
