{"id":306,"date":"2020-01-01T03:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-01T03:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/?p=306"},"modified":"2019-12-30T03:38:27","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T03:38:27","slug":"jimmys-notes-on-episode-7-half-human-mini-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/01\/jimmys-notes-on-episode-7-half-human-mini-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy&#8217;s Notes on &#8216;Episode 7: Half Human (Mini-Analysis)&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"783\" height=\"327\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/JIMMYS-NOTES.jpg?resize=783%2C327\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/JIMMYS-NOTES.jpg?w=783&amp;ssl=1 783w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/JIMMYS-NOTES.jpg?resize=300%2C125&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/JIMMYS-NOTES.jpg?resize=768%2C321&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 783px) 100vw, 783px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Happy New Year!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now that we have <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/-fu7jN2_2pE?t=178\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">passed <em>Blade Runner <\/em>in the timeline<\/a>, I will greet 2020 with my first Jimmy\u2019s Notes of the decade. This one is on <a href=\"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/25\/episode-7-half-human-mini-analysis\/\">Nathan&#8217;s mini-analysis of 1955&#8217;s <em>Half Human<\/em>.<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Nathan\u2019s Notes on <em>Half\nHuman<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Begins like a film noir in an alleyway in the rain<\/li><li>Ashes in a box. Cremation. Foreshadowing.<\/li><li>New Year\u2019s holiday (<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Japanese_New_Year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Japanese_New_Year<\/a>); told in two flashbacks. First by youth and then by professor. It\u2019s weird. <\/li><li>Masaru Sato\u2019s score is quite good. Perhaps better than <em>Godzilla Raids Again<\/em>. It switches between whimsical and foreboding.<\/li><li>The skiing sequence does feel like padding.<\/li><li>Filmed on location, and it shows. The scenery is beautiful.<\/li><li>\u201cBurning Hell Valley freezes over.\u201d (A joke from my brother Jarod)<\/li><li>The clock in an early scene looks like Mom and Dad\u2019s cuckoo clock back home.<\/li><li>The phone call with the gunshots and screams is eerie.<\/li><li>Footprints. Echoes the real-life events around \u201cdiscovery\u201d of abominable snowman at the time.<\/li><li>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?<\/li><li>\u201cWait for the spring thaw.\u201d As in find the body of Takeno.<\/li><li>Akira Takarada and Momoko Kochi, the star-crossed lovers of <em>Godzilla<\/em>, appear in this film together as a couple.<\/li><li>Takarada tells Kochi, \u201cYou have to be strong,\u201d because of her brother\u2019s death.<\/li><li>Snowman\u2019s roar is a bit unnerving. Like an elephant.<\/li><li>Oba Incorporated: biggest animal dealer in Japan. Villains. They get more over-the-top as the film progresses.<\/li><li>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.<\/li><li>Is the Snowman smitten with Kochi? I don\u2019t know. Possibly. He is lonely. The last of his kind. Adam Noyes proposes that the Snowman, in his rage, takes Kochi because she\u2019s important to everyone like his son was to him. Planned to kill her in front of everyone.<\/li><li>50 minutes in we learn that the Snowman has a son (Snowboy?). Is he his biological son? Adam Noyes theorizes he\u2019s adopted.<\/li><li>Peter H. Brothers argues that Chika clings to a knife, a phallic symbol.<\/li><li>The scene of Takarada dangling from the cliff has a great matte painting. It\u2019s an homage to <em>King Kong<\/em> when the Snowman pulls him up. The birds do look a little fake, though. The Snowman shocks Takarada by helping him. Unexpected and atypical.<\/li><li>Chika is the best character in the film (aside from the Snowman). She\u2019s multidimensional, and the actress gives a great performance. She\u2019s curious but fearful.<\/li><li>The Snowboy sounds like a screeching monkey.<\/li><li>Chika reveals Snowman\u2019s 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\u2019s shot for doing this.<\/li><li>Snowboy saves Snowman from truck.<\/li><li>These villains are cartoonish. \u201cI\u2019ll teach you to balance a ball!\u201d Are they evil because they like French girls?<\/li><li>The dummy thrown over the cliff looks terrible.<\/li><li>Like Godzilla (and Kong), the Snowman is tragic and sympathetic monster.<\/li><li>Chika tries to save the abusive elder when the Snowman destroys the village (like Kong does), but he says not to. Nuance?<\/li><li>Chika blames herself for what happened even though she was deceived by Oba.<\/li><li>Shinsuke is told to be strong when he cries over his dead brother.<\/li><li>Snowman\u2019s kind died from eating poison mushrooms (<em>Matango<\/em>? :P) How could they? Animals are good about realizing something is poisonous. Bad science.<\/li><li>The Snowman is lonely because he\u2019s the last of his kind. Chika is lonely because her tribe is isolated and savage. Kinship.<\/li><li>The one stop-motion shot of Snowman climbing is awkward.<\/li><li>Chika confronts the Snowman to save Kochi as redemption. Dies with the Snowman.<\/li><li>Tragic ending like <em>Godzilla<\/em>. Monster and hero(ine) both die. <\/li><li>Tacked on \u201chappy\u201d ending to soften tragedy.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There you have it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Come back next week when\nNathan is joined by Ben Avery to discuss the 1976 remake of <em>King Kong<\/em>! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy New Year! Now that we have passed Blade Runner in the timeline, I will greet 2020 with my first Jimmy\u2019s Notes of the decade.&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/01\/jimmys-notes-on-episode-7-half-human-mini-analysis\/\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Jimmy&#8217;s Notes on &#8216;Episode 7: Half Human (Mini-Analysis)&#8217;<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,114],"tags":[222,213,216,13,211,198,223,19,66,14,224,214,79],"series":[],"class_list":["post-306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-jimmys-notes","tag-222","tag-abominable-snowman","tag-chika","tag-godzilla","tag-half-human","tag-ishiro-honda","tag-japanese-new-year","tag-jimmy-from-nasa","tag-jimmys-notes","tag-king-kong","tag-masaru-sato","tag-snowboy","tag-toho","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307,"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions\/307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}