I thought the number 13 being unlucky was just a superstition.
Until now.
Much like Yamato Takeru from The Three Treasures, I’ve been beset by misfortune after posting episode 13 of the podcast. During my livestream of Override: Mech City Brawl, Jimmy From NASA started a betting pool with the Island’s Board of Directors, the science team, and pretty much everyone else who worked here. It was based on my performance in the game—and he bet against me. And I played the game on hard mode. Jimmy made out like a bandit. He even cleaned out the Board. So much so, he used that money to buy Metageckon (the mech I used in the game) on eBay. That’s not the unfortunate part. He used his newfound leverage with the Board to make himself the host of MIFV! Now I’m his producer. This means I have to do the follow-up blog to last week’s episode on The Three Treasures and every episode after this.Jimmy was kind enough to give me his notes from the episode, which wasn’t much, so this blog will be relatively short. That’s probably good since the blog on episode 12 was as long as Peter Jackson’s King Kong!
Here’s all that Jimmy had on the episode:
- There is some debate over whether Toshiro Mifune was a Christian. This Wikipedia discussion board questions it because he has a traditional Buddhist gravestone. He was the son of Japanese Christian missionaries who worked in China, and he had a traditional Methodist wedding, though. This Reddit thread (so take it with a grain of salt) says there was a rumor that he was part of something called the “Ikeda cult,” but that just seems to be the cult trying to claim a celebrity as a member to find legitimacy. (The post references the potentially inaccurate Wikipedia article, mind you).
- What? I was tired from working in my garage all day! Of course I’d fall asleep watching a three-hour movie! I’m a busy man.
- Nathan mispronounced the name of the eight-headed dragoon. It’s “Yamata no Orochi” not “Yamato.” I don’t think the dragon is part of the royal family. (But I could be speaking in ignorance. Weirder things have happened. I should know. I lived them).
My Leftover Notes from Watching the Film:
- Credits over an eclipsed sun? “Land of the rising sun”?
- “In the beginning…” Opening narration sounds biblical and mythical. Old woman.
- These village scenes are reminding me of The Ten Commandments with the enslaved Israelites.
- “Old stories are full of beautiful life.” -Old woman storyteller
- The set design is incredible. Very DeMille.
- A lot of court drama and intrigue.
- Are the prince and Otomachibana meant to parallel the god and goddess from the beginning?
- Day for night scene at river!
- Torii gate is entrance to temple grounds. Like Hebrew temple or tabernacle.
- This is a response to another numbered religious epic: The Ten Commandments ~ The Three Treasures.
- Is that Hirata? I almost don’t recognize him.
- Those fire effects were a little awkward.
- A woman be stoned for loving a man from a different clan. Very ancient.
- These people look Mongolian?
- Kumaso (Takashi Shimura) is undone by his lust. Even checked for a man before this.
- Kumaso tells the prince to kill him. He hesitates, then takes the prince’s sword and slits his own throat. Seppouku?
- There are flashbacks to the gods as told by an old woman storyteller. Oral tradition.
- What do they mean by “nag”?
- I thought the prince and the gods would interact.
- Criterion should release this.
- “Laugh festival”? “Festival of laughter”?
- While this festival seems like revelry, it is meant to bring the sun goddess (and light) back to the world.
- The rooster’s crow when light and the goddess return.
- Is there an intermission? Was it removed?
- Yes. These myths are meant to parallel the prince. Susan-o = the prince. Susan-o’s tears drained all the world’s water. The prince’s mother says he must not be like him.
- The flashbacks/stories increase as the film progresses.
- “Orochi” just gets translated as “dragon.”
- Last daughter transformed by Susan-o into hair braid for safety.
- Orochi’s approach blows out torch. Nice!
- Proto-Ghidorah! The heads do kinda flop around. They just appear to be heads. No body. In water. The glowing eyes are cool. Looks better fighting Susan-o. Nevermind. It has a body. He must have a magic sword or its heart or brain in in its tail. He pulls a sword from the dragon, which is now used to defend Japan. The prince now has it.
- Just as Susan-o became a hero, so does the prince.
- Mt. Fuji is active in this. Village elder says it protects them. The prince says the smoke reminds him of the evil in men’s hearts.
- The location scenes are gorgeous.
- Spectacular fire scene where the prince uses the flint from the bag given him as a gift to change the wind.
- The smoke from Mt. Fuji turns red. Passion? Rage?
- Like Susan-o, the prince is unloved by his father.
- Yamato is a region.
- A storm happens when the prince decides to return as a plebian to marry Otomochibani against his father’s orders. Wrath of the gods? Otomochibani says it is her fault for breaking her vow and angering the sea god. She throws herself overboard to placate him. Reminds me of Jonah and the big fish. A green light appears in the sea after she jumps. Her kimono floats up. The storm clears. Taken by the gods? “The princess has become my sacrifice.” Most supernatural thing that’s happened in the “present.”
- This ambush is the film’s big climax. It’s spectacular. Nobody makes movies like this anymore. It isn’t quite Ten Commandments huge, but it’s still great. Cuts between on location shooting and sets.
- The prince is killed and his soul rises in the form of a white crane. Mt. Fuji erupts. Even in death he is victorious. His wrath is poured out on his enemies. Symbolizes Japan. This was foreshadowed earlier. The effects for this are great. The compositing and everything. This is also like The Ten Commandments when the unrighteous Israelites are swallowed by the earth. And now he uses water from a lake to cause a flood and drown other enemies.
- Oh, man…death by lava. Horrible.
- I’m pretty sure lava is more viscous than that, but we’ll go with it.
- The crane flies toward a rainbow, symbolizing how the prince enters the realm of the gods. The people follow the bird.
Yamato Takeru
- In the original legends, Otomachibana was his wife and not a fiancé, but she did sacrifice herself to placate the sea god. Her comb washed ashore seven days later, and her tomb was built around it. He did later marry Miyazu.
I didn’t take notes from all my sources, so I recommend referencing my bibliography for the episode if you want to learn more. (I’m gonna miss writing those).
Time to settle into my new job on Monster Island, I guess.
Follow me on Twitter: @NathanMarchand7
My author website: www.NathanJSMarchand.com.
#MonsterIslandFilmVault
Comments closed
